Neighbours land being developed - what are my rights?

ellectrastar

Hi all,

Don't know if anyone has had a similar experience or can offer some advice?

The property neighbouring mine has recently been purchased by a builder. It has a large T-shaped garden which is currently being cleared of trees etc. My garden sits within the right-hand side of the T so has boundaries down my left-hand side and the bottom. The same builder owns the property further along, which has another large garden adjoining the other side of the T.

I am aware that the builder plans on siting six houses on the land. In addition I believe they are also going to tear down and rebuild the actual neighbouring property (and the next one up) which is in extremely close proximity. So close that I cannot see how it can be done without causing an extreme amount of interference with my property (there is approximately a three foot gap between us). As yet there has been no planning permission submitted to the council.

As it was my garden adjoined the neighbouring garden with a tall hedge>carpark>lane on the other side. There were trees and hedges etc which meant we were not overlooked. Now the trees and hedges have been removed we can see a lot more houses, which in turn can obviously see us! (I appreciate that we have no say over whether someone should remove trees etc from their own garden.)

If this land is developed I believe it is going to devalue my property. It will be overlooked and in close proximity to these other buildings. In addition there is going to be a huge amount of disruption, mess, noise etc. for a long time.

Although nothing has been submitted to planning as yet I realise a lot of the time developers can be prone to starting works and getting retrospective permission as authorities these days let houses go up anywhere.

I don't want to fall out with anyone, but I also don't want to sit quiet and be walked all over, and not say a word about the inconvenience and disruption I am going to be caused.

What sort of demands could I make? Should I be compensated for the devaluation of my property? And for having to put up with having a building site next door? For example we are not going to be able to use our garden for growing anything this year as it will be covered in dust and rubbish, and we won't be able to sit out as there will be tradesmen looking at us all the time.

If anyone has any experiences and can help with suggestions it would be appreciated to hear of them.

(I will be asking legal advice as well before anyone suggests it!)

Many thanks.

Silver-Surfer_2

You have a right to lodge an objection to planning.

Doozergirl

The perceived devaluing of a property is not a valid reason for a planning objection, nor would would you be entitled to any compensation from anyone. I wouldn't even mention it in any objection. The reality is that house prices are rarely affected once a development is up and standing. People are more afraid of change.

The only 'legal' advice you might want would be from a planning consultant who would be able to construct an argument against development from a local planning legislation point of view. They are expensive.

Your first stop should be googling for your local authority and 'supplementary planning guidance'. You should hopefully find a document that lays out how developments should be designed and will go into detail on required distances from existing buildings and window positioning etc.

Other relevant documents will be the Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework.

When the planning submission goes in, you can compare the plans to the local guidance and see if the plans comply. A planning submission will be made. No developer would ever attempt to build whole houses without permission.

You can contact your local councillor and ask them to help you with an objection, if you can find genuine grounds for one.

phoenix_w

The advice given so far sounds good. If you can't find a legitimate reason for objecting then I would approach the builder and have a chat to them - list some of your concerns and see if they can address them. They might reassure you, for example, that they won't work late or at weekends.

If they do get permission it's in your interest to let them get on with it and get it over with ASAP. Last thing you want is a half-built site next to your property - that really will devalue it.

Since they're building so close to the boundary and will need to dig footings, I'd imagine aspects are going to be covered by the party wall act, so it's in their interests to keep you sweet and go about things the right way so you don't involve a party wall shark surveyor (and please don't unless they're really evil) or get an injunction causing them to down tools. Be sure to take plenty of photos of your property before work commences showing the state of the exterior and interior in case their works do cause damage.

stator

You could consider selling to the builder.

Other than that, you can wait until he does something without planning permission and immediately notify the council.
Start taking photos and making plans so that you can object to any planning permission that is requested, but also start doing research on the grounds for objections.
You could also look into utilities, what sewers, gas pipes, water pipes, power lines, BT poles run through this land, and inform the owners of any unauthorised works.
Get a copy of the title deeds for all properties in the area and look for covenenents. You might not be able to enforce them but you could point out their existence, and possibly notify the person who has the benefit for the covenent, if you can find them.
Start talking to any other neighbours who adjoin the land, get their phone numbers or e-mail so when stuff starts happening you can co-ordinate.

Start talking to the person who is doing the development. If you try to influence the designs from the begining you might have more luck rather then making it into a neighbour war later on which you might lose.

System

nothing like a bit of nimbyism to start the week...
If the developer that owns the land develops it in line with local planning guidelines then that's it.
You are not entitled to compensation for the rest of the world getting on with things, who has told you that your property will be devalued?

What sort of demands can you make?!? - none! nothing has happened on someone elses land!
if the proposals don't meet the local plan you can object via the proper channels, you're not in a position to demand anything just because you are near a potential building site - if you don't want anything to happen on this land, make the developer an offer for the land.

jbainbridge

stator wrote: »

You could consider selling to the builder.

Not ideal ... but it has to be something to consider.

phill99

Not another 'I want compensation' thread!


It will not devalue your house, no matter what you think.


Yes you can still grow vegetables - you just need to carry on washing them like you do already.


Can't sit in your garden because you might be looked at by builders? Really? Oh diddums, did that nasty builder man just look at you?


I think the builder will have more trouble with you than you will with him.

ellectrastar

Ouch - rather harsh.

I'm not being nimbyish. I appreciate that I have no control over what someone does with their property, and that I can only object to any plans if I choose to once they're submitted. I just wondered if anyone had been in a similar position and could give any helpful advice, such as "that happened to me, I spoke to the builder and they agreed to...(whatever)..."

I felt it would be devalued as it's quite a change if you have a wide open space at the rear of your property, and then it's developed. This is obviously just my feelings, an assumption (which I know you shouldn't do), and not what anyone has told me. I should've probably phrased it better in my first post.

I don't believe I stated I wanted compensation, my question was whether you are entitled to any sort of recompense for inconvenience. Obviously I don't know as I've not been in this situation before, else I wouldn't be here asking.

There's nothing wrong with being worried about things happening around you that you cannot control and that will have an affect on your life. I guess unless it's happened to you it's not something you can empathise with, and everyone that has concerns are immediately classed as just busybodies and complainers.

Davesnave

ellectrastar wrote: »

If anyone has any experiences and can help with suggestions it would be appreciated to hear of them.

Yes, I had a developer change their mind and decide to build a 5 bed 3 storey executive property beside the small bungalow I was renovating to sell.

Originally , their staff had shown me plans which indicated a landscaped green space next to my property.

My renovation kept pace with their building, so we both finished around the same time.

The property I sold broke the record for the road. My purchaser had never seen the place before, so had no knowledge of the field that used to lie alongside or of the original green space proposal.

In short, although I was concerned about the building next door, it proved benign.

ellectrastar

Thanks for the info, Davesnave. It's good to hear of other people's experiences. Sometimes when things are happening the immediate reaction is to panic. This is why I was looking for info to try and reason with the way I feel at the moment.

Thanks to previous posters with advice as well - I forgot to say that before.