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Neighbour dispute, conversion to residential
dragon32_2
Posts: 3 Newbie
A 2-storey building next to the garage of my house has been empty for years. Its building class is warehouse / storage. Recently a developer bought it and has converted the 1st floor to residential as a so-called Permitted Development.
During the summer I was able to view the construction work and it looked like both floors were being converted for residential use.
He also removed 3 fence panels which lie between our properties without writing to me. We spoke in person about this and he said he believed that they were on his land and therefore belonged to him, as they were within the line of his existing building. I told him I believed they were mine. He said he would contact his solicitor and the next thing I know they have been removed.
Now he is seeking to convert the ground floor to a residential class (1 bedroom flat) as well, for which he has applied for planning permission. I have opposed this (via an official objection to the application) on the grounds that the work has already been done, there is little space around the building, and the main room will receive little light through only 1 window.
In response, he phoned me and called me lots of rude names, including c*nt. He said if I do not withdraw my opposition then he will make life difficult for me, by refusing permission for me to enter his land to do maintenance on my garage, by not removing the satellite dish which his 1st-floor tenants have erected and that overhangs my garage, by saying they can park where they like including blocking my garage, and by not repairing the two small areas of my garage roof which he told me he would repair as a goodwill gesture.
Although he does not live there, it sounds like he will do his very best to be as difficult as he can be.
Does anyone have any advice?
During the summer I was able to view the construction work and it looked like both floors were being converted for residential use.
He also removed 3 fence panels which lie between our properties without writing to me. We spoke in person about this and he said he believed that they were on his land and therefore belonged to him, as they were within the line of his existing building. I told him I believed they were mine. He said he would contact his solicitor and the next thing I know they have been removed.
Now he is seeking to convert the ground floor to a residential class (1 bedroom flat) as well, for which he has applied for planning permission. I have opposed this (via an official objection to the application) on the grounds that the work has already been done, there is little space around the building, and the main room will receive little light through only 1 window.
In response, he phoned me and called me lots of rude names, including c*nt. He said if I do not withdraw my opposition then he will make life difficult for me, by refusing permission for me to enter his land to do maintenance on my garage, by not removing the satellite dish which his 1st-floor tenants have erected and that overhangs my garage, by saying they can park where they like including blocking my garage, and by not repairing the two small areas of my garage roof which he told me he would repair as a goodwill gesture.
Although he does not live there, it sounds like he will do his very best to be as difficult as he can be.
Does anyone have any advice?
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Comments
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A 2-storey building next to the garage of my house has been empty for years. Its building class is warehouse / storage. Recently a developer bought it and has converted the 1st floor to residential as a so-called Permitted Development.
That doesn't sound to me like permitted development, but anyway...I have opposed this (via an official objection to the application) on the grounds that the work has already been done
Not a relevant objection, you're allowed to apply for retrospective permissionthere is little space around the building, and the main room will receive little light through only 1 window
Those may be relevant planning objections (have you checked the policies about those points?), but do they actually matter to you? It's not clear whether you have a difficulty with the change of use or are just upset by the dispute about the fence panels.0 -
My first question is "Who does the fence belong to?". Have either of you got any evidence that it belongs to you?
If its your fence then he shouldn't be touching it. If its his fence, then his reaction is understandable.0 -
Council planning department is the only people who can help you, they will know what he can and can't do and act on it accordingly.
No one on here can offer any relevant advice, you don't even know if it's your fence so what chance do we have of offering advice.0 -
What's your real objection to the redevelopment?0
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Although he does not live there, it sounds like he will do his very best to be as difficult as he can be.
Yes, it's called reciprocation. If you have reasonable grounds for rejecting the planning application, go ahead. Alternatively, work with guy to come to a mutually agreeable solution. I can't understand why you think bringing a brownfield site into residential use is a bad thing."Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance" - Confucius0 -
A general rule regarding who's boundary is who's is -
Stand facing the front of your property and the boundary to the right is yours, whilst the boundary to your left is your neighbours.
By the way, how did the Sky man errect the dish ?. Did he climb on YOUR garage roof to fit it ?.
If he did and the dish is fully overhanging your garage roof, write a stern letter to Sky giving them 7 days to remove the dish as it is on your property without your permission.
If they don't comply, send them another letter stating that should one of their engineers enter your property, you will consider it trespass and will call the Police.
As for planning objections, some stuff cannot be accepted as an objection. You need to be clued-up to raise a successful objection.
For instance, if parking is an issue, you could have raised an objection based on insufficient parking (if none is provided as part of the development).
As it appears to be a change of use from 'commercial' to 'residential', you would be well advised to speak with the local planning officer (and copy everything to your local Councillor as well).
If he has jumped the gun with the first floor flat, he will have to apply for retrospective PP for change of use & also for the construction of the flats.
Anyway, it might be worth finding-out if he needs to enter in to a 'Party wall agreement' for such a development, if so, then he may be on a sticky wicket.Never Knowingly Understood.
Member #1 of £1,000 challenge - £13.74/ £1000 (that's 1.374%)
3-6 month EF £0/£3600 (that's 0 days worth)0 -
Sadly, a load of ****!A general rule regarding who's boundary is who's is -
Stand facing the front of your property and the boundary to the right is yours, whilst the boundary to your left is your neighbours.
Even if this were a 'general rule' ( which I doubt), it does not help since only the specific circumstances of these properties matter.0 -
A general rule regarding who's boundary is who's is -
Stand facing the front of your property and the boundary to the right is yours, whilst the boundary to your left is your neighbours.
By the way, how did the Sky man errect the dish ?. Did he climb on YOUR garage roof to fit it ?.
If he did and the dish is fully overhanging your garage roof, write a stern letter to Sky giving them 7 days to remove the dish as it is on your property without your permission.
If they don't comply, send them another letter stating that should one of their engineers enter your property, you will consider it trespass and will call the Police.
As for planning objections, some stuff cannot be accepted as an objection. You need to be clued-up to raise a successful objection.
For instance, if parking is an issue, you could have raised an objection based on insufficient parking (if none is provided as part of the development).
As it appears to be a change of use from 'commercial' to 'residential', you would be well advised to speak with the local planning officer (and copy everything to your local Councillor as well).
If he has jumped the gun with the first floor flat, he will have to apply for retrospective PP for change of use & also for the construction of the flats.
Anyway, it might be worth finding-out if he needs to enter in to a 'Party wall agreement' for such a development, if so, then he may be on a sticky wicket.
Do you have a source supporting your "general rule". I would have thought who actually owned the fence, or who was responsible for maintaining the physical boundary according to the deeds would have been more important. As for the legal boundary, it's an imaginary line between two properties, and cannot be owned in that sense.
Isn't trespass on land usually a civil matter? OP, please don't waste police time on this."Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance" - Confucius0 -
It's my understanding that there isn't a "general rule" as to whose boundary is whose.
In my last place the left-hand boundary was mine (and I was quite clear on that, as my solicitor had pointed at the plan and told me "That one is yours"). In this place, the right-hand one is mine.
EDIT: I would say that by "boundary" that most of us mean "the physical thing that is sitting on the boundary line" (eg fence/wall/etc) rather than the "boundary" itself iyswim.
It's my understanding that trespass is a civil matter. I've been researching this somewhat recently, due to neighbours of mine having trespassed on my property a noticeable number of times since I moved here and I'm having to put a stop to it.0 -
I've posted before at some length about my family's boundary dispute so I won't bore anyone again, but suffice to say it began with a dodgy planning permission issue and ended in Court after six years at a cost of tens of thousands. Although, actually that wasn't the end as neither party could bear the sight of the other and things were frostily painful with lives lived in fear and dread until we moved.
The whole dispute was the neighbours' retaliation for the planning permission issue, which we didn't even object to!
Tread carefully...0
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