Nuisance Neighbour - Home extension

phoenix_w

Another vote for "leave it and let them complain to the council". When our neighbour did some off-plan tweaking and encroached on our property the local planning department didn't want to know, their formal advice was to take it up with citizens advice... Unless your neighbour is a councillor or you've wildly violated the plan they just won't be interested, so let them moan.

MisterBaxter

If the neighbours do indeed complain and there is something in the local planning requirement around the height of fences between gardens then the planners will almost certainly write to you to tell you of the contravention; how far they would be willing to go with enforcement will depend on how busy they are and how much your neighbour pushes them. If the fence doesn't affect any planning regulations then the planners will just tell your neighbour that it is a civil matter that they won't get involved in.

Did the PWA award make any reference to the reinstatement of the fence; if it did then you should reinstate as per the agreement.

Other than that their only course of action would be a civil claim against you but that is going to take effort on their part as well which they may not want to put in.

Davesnave

I wouldn't stress too much. This is a small matter in the overall scheme.

You have your extension and they have the impression that they can now make a demand and you'll jump. Just ignore them and see what transpires.

If the council go for compliance, comply.

Otherwise, this won't affect the value of your property, as you have all the paperwork in place. All you'd have to say on Form TA10 is that the neighbour was in disagreement with the council regarding the eventual fence height, but that you are happy with it.

umeedify

:j All thank you so much for all your support and advice. Just to clarify. It was the neighbours that wanted the extra privacy from us overlooking their garden. It is their fencing that we have installed 2 panels on top of to grant them what they wanted.(privacy)

Original fence standard 6ft (1.8 metres) we added another 2 foot ( 0.6 metere) at their request

Their concrete post is not 100% vertical which they have asked to put right, which I will do, but in no rush due to time of year.

Since I posted the question, they have hand delivered 2 letters, one on the concrete post and the other on the fencing.

Concrete post: they state - shoddy work with the post, unauthorized access without permission (not true) even though the the contractors accessed their garden 5-7 times for rendering painting, fencing etc. So they decide to moan about this now. Using language like dispute etc.

On the fencing: planning rule breach, the new fencing could damage their panels in windy conditions (although it is very secure and well installed), if you cant remove it we can remove it and fencing will be returned to you. etc etc.

These letters received 48 hours after the initial complaint.

So it cost money to put it up now they want it taken down at cost. Also found out that they wanted their neighbor to dance to their tune when they also did their extension.

Should I write back next week?:A

Mojisola

umeedify wrote: »

It was the neighbours that wanted the extra privacy from us overlooking their garden. It is their fencing that we have installed 2 panels on top of to grant them what they wanted.(privacy)

Original fence standard 6ft (1.8 metres) we added another 2 foot ( 0.6 metere) at their request

On the fencing: planning rule breach, the new fencing could damage their panels in windy conditions (although it is very secure and well installed), if you cant remove it we can remove it and fencing will be returned to you. etc etc.

Should I write back next week?:A

I wouldn't. You've already told them that the fence post will be fixed - no reasonable person would expect this to be done before January.

I would let them take off the extra panels and return them to you. They will then have returned themselves to the position they weren't happy with originally.

I don't think you'll ever pacify them. As you do more to try to keep the peace, they will find more things that are wrong.

Time to start being polite but distant from them.

MisterBaxter

I wouldn't grace them with a response. If you want to p*ss them off just move the fence panel(s) so that it is wholly on your land (assuming it currently straddles the boundary), if they want something different they can put their own fence up and maintain it.

You will never satisfy them so why try.

paddy's_mum

umeedify wrote: »

:j

Should I write back next week?:A

No!

Leave these petty-minded despots to stew in their own juice and let them worry that they might have displeased you. It's all gone their way up till now .....

They ought to have realised long ago how lucky they are to have a decent neighbour, Wish I'd had one like you instead of the dementia'd old man who made our lives an absolute living hell for years!

Good luck but take back control over your own property. You've been almost too nice for your own comfort.

stator

If the fence panels are on their land and affixed to their fence then just agree with what they have offered. Let them remove the fence panels and return them to you. Unless you have a written agreement to increase the fence height to 2m just leave it at the old height.
If they complain to the council about their own fence it will be them that gets in trouble.

Furts

I smile at the situation because it is similar to my circumstances. I raised the boundary fence, at my expense for materials and labour, to appease my neighbours and seek a quiet life.

They then came back and said they had not been consulted on the exact nature of the increase, and never gave permission for me and the carpenter to work on the fence from their garden. It was absurd - they then wanted all the new work removed and replaced by open trellis, which of course does not screen anybody from anything.

I declined and they then demanded all the boundary fence be removed and the fencing to start again with new materials. At this point I dug my heels in.

I now keep a polite distance and regard them as...I will let you all guess.

The bottom line is to work out why these situations exist. In my case it was the neighbours felt they were superior, coupled with jealously, plus their personal characteristics of a dippy wife suffering from the vapours and an obnoxious passive aggressive husband.

No correspondence, or enforcement ensued - the neighbours are obsessed with the status and value of their home and are too smart to jeopardise this. They now know I will not be bullied so they have backed off and life continues.

wellused

Just remind them that if they put a complaint into the council over a trifling matter then they risk having to report it on some house selling form or other and that will mean that they will struggle to sell their house or their children will struggle to sell the house after they leave it to them, it cuts both ways doesn't it?