Can I knock down my neighbours wall?

brooklyn07

I have an extension on the back of my semi detached and when it was built they left a 1ft gap between the neighbours wall and the extension so getting down the side of it is impossible.


They only rendered half way up the wall due to the fact that you cant fit down the gap to do the bottom.


I am now having big problems with damp becuase the pointing is crumbling away on the part that isnt rendered, and there are visible holes that need sorting out but cant get to it.


Only way would be to knock down neighbours wall and rebuild.


i KNOW neighbour wont allow this so is there anything i can do legally to say we have no other choice but to knock it down to save my building?


Obviously all costs to knock down, clear up and rebuild would be incurred by me but don't know if I can actually do this...

dbriggs

Sounds like you need a bit of diplomacy. If you're happy to do the work and pay the bill why would the neighbour have a problem?

Alter_ego

Do you mean neighbour's house wall or a garden wall?

Rain_Shadow

dbriggs wrote: »

Sounds like you need a bit of diplomacy. If you're happy to do the work and pay the bill why would the neighbour have a problem?

Because they have a pristine garden, with an expensively planted border and bowling green quality lawn next to the wall and they don't want it ruined by the demolition and rebuild and don't want to look at a patched wall afterwards.


For instance.

Nick_C

brooklyn07 wrote: »

Only way would be to knock down neighbours wall and rebuild.

No. An alternative would be to knock down your extension and rebuild, allowing sufficient clearance between your property and your neighbour's.

[STRIKE]Did you have planning permission?[/STRIKE] Your extension is the problem, and if I was your neighbour I probably wouldn't agree to having my wall knocked down either.

A compensation payment on top of covering all the costs might change their mind?

[Edit: removed question "did you have planning permission" as it may have been permitted development]

brooklyn07

sorry should have been clearer - their wall is only the length of my extension the rest of the garden is just fencing (that is broken and falling down anyway). they have a patio adjacent to the wall they haven't extended so it wouldn't affect their actual house.


yes the extension had planning permission and was all signed off by the council and I have the certificate to say it was all done "properly"


well I could try the "theres a few bob in it for you" route but if he says yes then changes his mind half way through just wanted to know if theres anyway I can say sorry you signed whatever document (if one exists) agreeing to it and therefore I have a right to continue with the work til its finished.

Nick_C

If your neighbour agrees to let you knock down his wall to do the work, then I would expect you would both want a legal agreement in place that could be enforced, so you will have legal fees as well.

dominoman

brooklyn07 wrote: »

well I could try the "theres a few bob in it for you" route but if he says yes then changes his mind half way through just wanted to know if there's anyway I can say sorry you signed whatever document (if one exists) agreeing to it and therefore I have a right to continue with the work til its finished.

Is that likely? After all once the work is started it's his wall that gets knocked down before anything else can happen.

In any case I'd sit down with him and go through what you'd like to do, and explicitly say that you will pay for all the costs or demolition, rebuild and painting (if it needs it) the new wall. Also that you would like to offer £250 extra for the inconvenience, if he agrees.

Remember that whatever happens he is doing you a huge favour. He has no obligation to agree, but on the other hand if you explain the problem and he is reasonable he will want to help.

brooklyn07

thanks - another thing I have just remembered - the garden was auctioned off last year so now the property is leasehold so without actually asking him which parts of the house/land he owns would I have to inform the leasehold owner aswell incase he doesn't actually own the part where the wall is?


I believe someone in London now owns the garden but I don't know enough about how leasehold works when someone else owns your garden to start fact finding about it.


this sounds like it might get really complicated...

prosaver

you could seal it with bitamin with a long roler and put leading on top of the neighbours wall and your extension wall .
This would keep the wall dry and stop more damage
good luck
http://www.dortechdirect.co.uk/window-installer-tools/black-jack-all-weather-roof-coating-905.html?gclid=CMePl_75tcoCFWnmwgodgJwHdw

martinsurrey

brooklyn07 wrote: »

Only way would be to knock down neighbours wall and rebuild.

No,

There is another way, there are 2 walls involved, and yours is one of them.

How about you knock down your wall and build it a reasonable distance from the existing wall, surely you thought about this before you built it??