Neighbour's side extension soffits and gutter overhang property we are buying.

Manual_Reversion

Thanks for the comments.

The overhang doesn't cause any harm so there would be no benefit whatsoever in trying to get it removed, particularly if we placed any kind of value on neighbour relations!

It seems the only practical effect would be if we wanted to extend to the boundary in a similar way (effectively creating a terrace), in which case we would then have to remove the overhanging bits in order to be able to build right up to the boundary.

I guess what I was thinking about was more to do with the neighbours being able to shift the boundary, if they can show they've occupied the foot of airspace unhindered for so many years then it is effectively now theirs. I guess our solicitor will eventually come up with the answer.

Slinky

Our neighbour's soffits and gutters overhang the path down the side of our house. They do with almost all of the houses in our street (not ours as we have a wider gap between us and next door on the other side due to the location of the sewers). It's not a problem in the slightest, nobody assumes that their neighbour has acquired the path below because of the overhang.

pararct

The planning consent for the extension would have involved a condition that they must not build up to the boundary. It would also probably have needed buildings control to sign off sections of it as structurally sound as it it was being built.

This leads me to suspect that it may not actually have Planning Permission. General rule of thumb is no building up to 18 inches from a boundary.

If they never obtained permission in the first place it is extremely unlikely that buildings control have inspected and signed off the structure as safe.

All that said this is still not your problem as you do not own the property.

If it was me I would ask me solicitor to check the records and to see if it has PP. If it has you should then take the view that the boundary may be in the wrong place.

Just because there is a fence along a like this does not make it an established boundary it can be a few inches in either direction.

Ultimately it is your decision to purchase and your heart will rule your head particularly at this late stage but this could be a huge can of worms particularly if the house holder has overridden planning law.
Make sure you get all the relevant questions answered from your solicitor and be aware you may well have issues some point down the line when you come to sell it. Just because you want to become accommodating doesn't mean the next lot will be.

In certain parts of the Country widespread abuse of the planning rules took place particularly through the boom years. Granny flats and all sorts turned up at the bottom of peoples gardens and adjoined to peoples houses where there was once a garage.

These were the sort of structures which would not usually have been granted PP so people went ahead anyway. They were also mainly built without buildings consent.

jules888

We moved 6 months ago.Our house in a row of 5 is the only one extended at the back.Our neighbour said the other owners all disapproved the extention,which was at 1st turned down for pp.The owners applied again though and were approved.It"s to our advantage now as we have a bigger house but we would"ve never got the extention done ourselves as would"nt want to fall out with the neighbours.

happycamel_2

JQ. wrote: »

To me, it would provide a good insight into the type of person you are going to be living next door to for the foreseeable future.

^^ this