Urgent advice please; builders have built about 10cm onto neighbours' land!

rosie383

The builder is saying that he did exactly what he was asked to do, which is technically correct.
I think I need to ask them what they thought the structure was going to look like. I suspect that they imagined that he would build the extra wall up to the level of their extension which is lower than ours, and then build our extension beside it without leaving a gap. If he had done that, we wouldn't be in this predicament but it would look strange and leave a flat length of wall with no roofing or guttering from either side.
I think I also need to ask them about what will happen if we just leave it as it is. As you have pointed out, the boundary would look no different if we asked the land registry to officially change it. It would only be a problem when either of us sell, if it is declared as a dispute by either party, even many years down the line.
Frankly I don't trust them enough not to turn around at a later stage and cause a problem. We will have to pay them, I just feel that the money they are asking for is excessive.

Silver-Surfer_2

rosie383 wrote: »

The builder is saying that he did exactly what he was asked to do, which is technically correct.
I think I need to ask them what they thought the structure was going to look like. I suspect that they imagined that he would build the extra wall up to the level of their extension which is lower than ours, and then build our extension beside it without leaving a gap. If he had done that, we wouldn't be in this predicament but it would look strange and leave a flat length of wall with no roofing or guttering from either side.
I think I also need to ask them about what will happen if we just leave it as it is. As you have pointed out, the boundary would look no different if we asked the land registry to officially change it. It would only be a problem when either of us sell, if it is declared as a dispute by either party, even many years down the line.
Frankly I don't trust them enough not to turn around at a later stage and cause a problem. We will have to pay them, I just feel that the money they are asking for is excessive.

Were the boot on the other foot what would you feel is reasonable?

Mojisola

rosie383 wrote: »

Our neighbours just pointed out that the builder has built right up to their extension wall, but this means that we have gone about 10cm into their land.

rosie383 wrote: »

The builder is saying that he did exactly what he was asked to do, which is technically correct.

So you drew up plans that used a small part of your neighbour's garden for your extention?

Didn't you talk about it with the neighbours before starting work?

rosie383

We did talk to them and told them we would be building the extra wall and got a written agreement from them to do so. The extra wall was in everyone's interest. The 10cm of land which we are talking about was on our side of their extension wall if that makes sense. Has always been used as part of the patio for our house. It isn't even obvious that it should belong to them. It's only when you look at the line of the original house where the two slightly different layers of pebbledash meet, that you can see that the extension overlaps slightly. It is impossible to see from our side.
Also, their fence runs along the line from their extension too.
Just a thought... if their extension was built before they moved in 14 years ago, and the strip of land in question has always been on our patio, surely that calls into question the accepted boundary?
Please, please understand, we are not trying to steal some land which doesn't belong to us. I wish the previous owner of their house had built their extension up to the boundary line then we wouldn't have this problem.

Mojisola

rosie383 wrote: »

We did talk to them and told them we would be building the extra wall and got a written agreement from them to do so.

The extra wall was in everyone's interest.

The 10cm of land which we are talking about was on our side of their extension wall if that makes sense.

If they agreed to it, I don't see how they can come back and demand money from you now.

It doesn't make a lot of sense - I can't picture exactly what you've done.

moneyistooshorttomention

Personally - its the blimmin' builder that has caused this problem without a doubt and my sympathies on that. I would certainly be livid with a builder that was too thick and/or uncaring to realise that...yep...inches DO matter when it comes to a boundary. Cue for right now - that builder would be a "dead man" if their blimmin' inefficiency/couldnt give a sh*t had caused me to have a problem.

In your position - I'd pay up and I wouldnt consider £1,000 unreasonable in the circumstances to buy that bit of land off your neighbours. I'd hand over the £1k first and then chase/belt the builder later and try to get them to reimburse me for that.

That's the thing - you are in a position where £1k really honestly is not very much money in this "day and age" to the vast majority of people. Yep;.......I fully sympathise that many people can land up in a situation where even "peanuts money" is "ohmyblimmingawd" mney to them personally (been there/done that).

So - that being the case - what are your options personally for raising £1k in pretty short order? (overdraft/loan/loan from friends or relatives/etc)?

...then go and kill that blimmin' builder subsequently:cool::mad::(

EDIT: Has Idiot Builder got a Facebook page?

rosie383

I honestly don't want to blame the builder for this. He is certainly not an idiot. He did exactly what was asked of him, and the reason that we were building the extra wall, was that the wall of their extension was a bit of a bodge job and we wanted to put proper foundations and build the extra wall so that it would make their wall more sturdy and less likely to be affected by our build.
When the foundations were being dug, our builder dug half way along their wall and filled it in, 1m deep at least, before continuing with the second half, as it was very evident that their wall had about 6" of foundation at the most.

rosie383

Mojisola wrote: »

If they agreed to it, I don't see how they can come back and demand money from you now.

It doesn't make a lot of sense - I can't picture exactly what you've done.

I can't even take a picture unless I ask to go down to the bottom of their garden to do it. As said before, it is impossible to see from our garden. We have been out and looked but can't see it at all.
As I said, the reason we asked for their permission in the first place to build the extra wall in between, was to prevent any damage to their extension. It also means that if in future they decide to knock down their current extension and build a new one, that they will have a solid wall with proper foundations to work from.

ETA: Spoke to dh who was the one dealing with the architect and the builder. It was the architect who said that we needed to build the extra wall to prevent damp and debris in between. So dh spoke to the neighbours and explained what we were going to do including building on the 10cm of their land. They told him they didn't have a problem with any of it at all as it wouldn't affect their home or garden as the extra bit was on our side all along.
It was my husband who said to them that he didn't want problems if either party decided to sell.

Hoploz

If their extension has been up 14 years and your patio goes right up to it, I would investigate adverse possession laws. I know these have changed in recent years but you might be able to claim it if your house has used it for a certain number of years. Look into it.

rosie383

This is the letter which they had drawn up:

'Dear ...
Further to our conversation on (date) regarding the building of an additional wall between our two extensions removing the gap that would otherwise ensue, (neighbours' names) confirm our agreement to this.
We understand that this wall be built at no expense to ourselves and that if during or after the build there is (sic) any issues arising from it you will arrange to have this dealt with at no cost to ourselves.'



Now in my mind that is pretty clear , or am I wrong? They were perfectly happy until someone from her solicitors office pointed out that they should make us buy the piece of land.