Do I have any rights?....

ebaybaby

Hi all,
Just thought I would do an update on this.
My Mum spoke with the neighbour who assured her that because of privacy etc she would no longer be going up as high as she planned, so everything seemed fine........until today when the work started.
The neighbour, In her wisdom, a few years back installed 2 "flower beds" approx 2ft high. She then filled these with soil and plants. My parents were worried about these at the time, damp etc on the adjoining wall. She is not removing these, instead she is doing the decking over them, so it will be just as high as originally planned. Coming out to her back yard from the house, she has to go down approx 4 steps, she has instructed the builder to make the decking so it starts just underneath her back door and she walks straight out onto it. She has an external back yard door that goes out to the entry, from what we can see she has closed this door, never to be used again and made another door further along the wall? So she now has 2 back yard doors? Underneath the decking is access to the drains which she will not be able to get to incase of emergencies once this decking is finished.
My parents are planning to go to the City Council tommorrow and check it all out. I was told today by the planning dept that she can build the decking, but we are wondering can she start tampering with the outside walls.
My parents are so upset about this, especially my mum, who is unwell at the moment. they are planning to put there house up for sale in the coming weeks and hope this doesnt put anyone off.

real1314

from the link I gave earlier:

"Where decking is positioned within 9 metres of the boundary of the house plot, and where there is a view of neighbouring private / rear garden area(s), the erection of side screens or boundary screening shall generally be required."

As this will be within 9 metres, they'd need to put up screening.

and then this means:

"Irrespective of the distance from the heel of the footpath or road to the rear of the decking, if the overall height from ground level to top of handrail is greater than 2 metres -
Planning Permission is required."

Ok it may be Inverclyde, but I'd be surprised if there aren't very similar rules nationwide. Perhaps a print out of that web page would be useful when visiting the planning dept tomorrow?
Maybe ask the city council what their guidelines are for decking?

which city is it?

ebaybaby

Yes, I will do that.
Its Liverpool.

Gold_Shogun

Remember also that there is a further limitation where the rear-handrail/high-point is within 20 metres (66 feet) of a road AND you describe the backyards as being small ...

In Liverpool (where many houses are not all that deep), I would imagine that there is a good chance that there may well be a road (ANY road) within 66 feet, meaning that the hight-limit is consequently reduced from 2 metres to 1 metre before Planning permission is required.

CB1979_2

just go out there and deck her!

sorry lol

Tiger_greeneyes

I find it bizarre what people think is actually acceptable. They must think that it's only them who live in this world. You usually find it's people with that mentality that would shout loudest to contest it if their neighbour proposed something similar

If your parents are going to market their house for sale then I don't suppose this would have any ill effect.

Your parents need to think seriously about the conflict side of things though - if your parents lodge a complaint about the neighbours, it will have to be declared in the conveyancing that they are in dispute with a neighbour - that won't go down too well with any purchaser and may well abort any sale.

If I was in their position, I'd just leave it and carry on with my plans. The purchasers may well not care about the decking - and may even like the idea and do it themselves! There is no law governing bad taste or selfishness

ebaybaby

Well, My Dad went to the council today to see the Duty Planning Officer. Bad news....she can do it. It's so unfair, and Tiger_greeneyes, you are so right. The neighbour is really selfish and would be the first to complain if it was my Mum & Dad doing somthing like this to her. It just beggers belief why she wants to do it at all. It means that she will be sitting out on this raised decking with a view of my Mums backyard/kitchen window and neighbouring ones. If anyone walks along the entry she will be sat high up like a bloody queen on a throne. Who wants to do that anyway??????
The only thing they can oppose is that she wants to put up bamboo screening above and beyond the walls, because she wont actually have much of a wall anymore as the decking is so high. Apparently she cant do this.
Some people are just so selfish.

lush_walrus

Ok one last thing to look out for, is it going to be within 300mm of your boundary? If so and it will in anyway shape or form interfer or undermine the party wall between you and her, then she needs to get a party wall award (search party wall etc act). It won't help you stop it from happening, but it will make sure that your party wall doesnt collapse into your garden!

Tiger_greeneyes

Ebaybaby, it's such a shame for your mum and dad to have a neighbour like that. The plus side is that it's not going to be their problem for much longer - and it may not be a bugbear for their purchasers. It would be awful if it caused a fight between them and the neighbour - I know it's horrible thinking about it, but they're going to be away from there soon enough Maybe there's something they can do - ie a couple of tall bamboo plants in pots in strategic positions to stop the neighbour having a view of their kitchen? They can take them when they leave

I hope they don't get too stressed over it, it's not worth it