Can I knock down my neighbours wall?

jackyann

Could you have a chat with the building inspector at your local council? They are likely to have come across this and have useful suggestions, both of the practical kind, and about dealing with the neighbours.
What a difficult situation for you.

brooklyn07

martinsurrey wrote: »

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??

It was built 10 years ago and I only bought the house last year, I relied on my surveyor to point out any problems that would occur like this as I'm not savvy enough with buildings/damp etc to know that this would be a problem.


I'm not sure which wall you are referring to that is mine - do you mean my extension wall? There is only one wall and that is the neighbours.


Knocking down the extension and rebuilding just isn't an option I don't have the funds, the kitchen would have to be ripped out and replaced for a start as the cupboards aren't standard sized they were made to fit the space which they sit in now.


I did speak to the council when I had some internal work done and they came round to sign it off - I pointed out why on earth would the building control person sign this extension off with not being able to have access down the side etc and he just said well it was obviously bad practice of the person that signed it off and shrugged so they are obviously not interested. Couldn't give me any suggestions either other than knocking down next doors wall to gain access.

JP08

If there is a 1 foot gap between the extension and the wall then it should be physically possible to do the work. Uncomfortable, and difficult. But possible.

The gap between my shed and the side fence is similar. I can certainly paint it. It might need a board on the ground to lie on on my side, with the paint pot pushed ahead of me to start with then work backwards out of the gap - so slow, uncomfortable, lots of over-the-head arm stretching movements and difficult, but not impossible.

Certainly less impossible than legally enforcing knocking down a legally constructed wall that belongs to someone who doesn't it knocked down.

dominoman

How about building a little sloping roof (with a drain gutter) to close the gap. Polycarbonate roofing sheets are cheap and easy to fix.

If your neighbour allows access then it should be easy to fit by leaning over the top of his wall, and because it is below the top of his wall it wouldn't cause any disruption or visible changes.

southcoastrgi

Have you looked at the deeds to confirm it really is his wall ?

Davesnave

The building inspector shouldn't have signed your extension off, but you have no comeback against the council.

However, you might have a good case against your surveyor, provided that he/she didn't mention this in their report and you had either a homebuyer's survey, or even better, a full structural one. Valuation surveys don't count.

Surveyors are insured against blunders, so this could be a way to recoup the money required for incentivising whoever needs to allow a partial demolition and rebuild of the wall.

System

Maybe when the extension was built the neighbour insisted, as he has the right to, to ensure that the extension didn't overhang his garden in any way. E.G. guttering etc.

This would mean that there would need to be a gap between the extension wall and garden wall hence the one foot gap.

If planning permission showed this gap then the building inspector would be failing in this job if he signed off and the gap wasn't present

Davesnave

!!!!!! wrote: »

If planning permission showed this gap then the building inspector would be failing in this job if he signed off and the gap wasn't present

Yes, the building inspector will check that the extension is correctly placed, but their main area of concern is to ensure that the build is sound.

beaker141

Davesnave wrote: »

The building inspector shouldn't have signed your extension off, but you have no comeback against the council.

Other than a dose of common sense - which building reg would this breech?

I understand if you build within a meter of a boundary - regardless of whether its a fence, wall or fresh air, then it has to be of materials that prevent the passage of fire ?

EssexExile

If you ever do get this situation sorted out I'd look at the possibility of not replacing the wall or you'll get the same problem next time your extension needs maintenance.