Boiler pipe crossing neighbour boundarie

Avii_2

We have new neighbours moved in next door. There about a drive way distance between our houses.
My house is on the border side of their driveway.
The wall side is the where my kitchen it and we have a boiler vent sticking about a 13inchs over onto there side.

Hope this is making sence so far.

The question is. Can I be forced to move the vent if they want to build and extention? As this will be in there way.

Do they have right to that air space?

AnotherJoe

I would say if your boiler vent is on their property you have no right to be doing that. the fact it's a boiler vent is immaterial.

Why not anything else, such as, for example,you build out 13 inches into their land ? I'm sure you wouldn't think of doing that so why would a boiler vent be special ?

Cakeguts

You will have to move the vent. It shouldn't be there at all. You cannot put something in that uses the space belonging to next door like this. It means that they can't use that land for anything because you are obstructing it. As your house is on the boundary you will not be allowed to have anything that overhangs their land so you will have to vent the boiler out of a different wall.

Avii_2

Thanks makes sence. The vent was there when I brought the house. I did not think anything of it till I saw the neighbours with building materials.

So I guess this would apply is a neighbour satellite was sticking out over my property?

Avii_2

Would this not odd been an issue the solicitors should of spotted? Or made me aware of.?

Cakeguts

Avii wrote: »

Thanks makes sence. The vent was there when I brought the house. I did not think anything of it till I saw the neighbours with building materials.

So I guess this would apply is a neighbour satellite was sticking out over my property?

Yes you can't have something that overhangs a border so if your neighbour has a satellite dish overhanging your land they need to move it.

Cakeguts

Avii wrote: »

Would this not odd been an issue the solicitors should of spotted? Or made me aware of.?

Not the solicitor they don't actually ever see the house it should have been in your survey report.

G_M

Avii wrote: »

Would this not odd been an issue the solicitors should of spotted? Or made me aware of.?

Did you pay the solicitor extra to visit the property and look for any legal problems like this? For around £200 per hour (plus travel costs) he would probably have agreed. Then for another fee hw would have written you a report.

But if he never visited the house he would not have known about the vent. Unless, of course, you told him. Did you?

As for the legalities, no, of course the vent should not be in 'their space'.

Otherwise neighbours would build all sorts of things overhanging their neighbours walls, fences, drives etc!!!

Get a gas engineer in and discuss alternative routings for the vent, or alternative positions for the boiler.

EachPenny

G_M wrote: »

As for the legalsities, no, of course the vent should not be in 'their space'

If the property boundary is the face of the OP's house wall as the first post suggests then would it not be likely that there is some arrangement in the respective deeds to allow the owner of the OP's house access on to the neighbours property for maintenance purposes?

Could it also be legally possible for part of the OP's property to project into the neighbour's space if there was some kind of agreement for it to do so? I'm thinking that as well as a boiler flue there is a possibility of eaves or soffits which presumably might extend out further than the 'boundary' wall of the OP's house.

Which also brings about the question whether the boundary is actually where the OP thinks it is - other factors in the first post make me wonder if this has ever been checked. Perhaps the first couple of feet of width of what appears to be the neighbour's driveway is actually part of the OP's property?

If there is a maintenance access right on the neighbour's land along the side of the OP's house then wouldn't this then restrict the ability of the neighbour to construct an extension so close to the OP's house that maintenance was no longer possible? Taking the extension to the extreme, wouldn't a party wall agreement become necessary?

G_M

EachPenny wrote: »

If the property boundary is the face of the OP's house wall as the first post suggests then would it not be likely that there is some arrangement in the respective deeds to allow the owner of the OP's house access on to the neighbours property for maintenance purposes?
It is possible, but
a) OP has not indicated this is the case and
b) it would be unneccessary as the ACCESS TO NEIGHBOURING LAND ACT 1992 applies

Could it also be legally possible for part of the OP's property to project into the neighbour's space if there was some kind of agreement for it to do so?
Of course, anything is possible subject to an agreement. But again OP has not indicated there is one in place.

I'm thinking that as well as a boiler flue there is a possibility of eaves or soffits which presumably might extend out further than the 'boundary' wall of the OP's house.
Unless this was agreed, this too would be a trespass.

Which also brings about the question whether the boundary is actually where the OP thinks it is - other factors in the first post make me wonder if this has ever been checked. Perhaps the first couple of feet of width of what appears to be the neighbour's driveway is actually part of the OP's property?
I can't comment. Only the OP can determine where his boundary is.

If there is a maintenance access right on the neighbour's land along the side of the OP's house then wouldn't this then restrict the ability of the neighbour to construct an extension so close to the OP's house that maintenance was no longer possible? Taking the extension to the extreme, wouldn't a party wall agreement become necessary?

A Party Wall Agreement might well be required if the neighbour were building up against the party wall (or within the PWA specified distance which I forget). But that would not affect the fact that the vent is a trespass.

KittenChops

If the OP's wall is right on the edge of their boundary, then I think it's reasonable to suggest that their roof & gutters probably also overhang the boundary...? Surely no one thinks the OP should have to remove these? Or are these an 'acceptable' overhang?