Neighbours Extension / Planning issues - Impact on selling my property

20vt-rs

Hi all,


Quick query on selling our property, we are possibly looking at moving house in the next 6-12 months and have started looking around. We have had ours valued but not quite yet on the market.


We have held fire as our neighbors have had a planning issue with an extension they erected last year, hoping they get it sorted soon but I am dubious at the moment!


To cut a long story short, they got a firm in who built the extension (single story) without planning or prior approval. Since finishing the build, it has come to light and they have had to apply for retrospective planning permission, this was rejected. It went to appeal and that has been dismissed. I have no idea what happens next!


Anyway, will this issue next door cause us any problems selling, will it come out in solicitor searches etc? The agent who valued our property thinks not, but I need to double check. It's annoying but we might have to wait selling until they get their stuff sorted out...


Thanks.

davidmcn

Their problem, not yours.

moneyistooshorttomention

You could maybe try ringing your local Councillor and say what the sequence of events was re this extension and that they've gone as far as appeal, then that appeal was rejected.

Ask their views on whether anything like this in the area has ever managed to get any further than "appeal rejected" or whether that was the end of the matter and the neighbour then had the extension/whatever it was demolished and what the estimated timescale will be before it's demolished.

Hopefully then you'd know where you stand as to the extent and timescale of future disruption (ie the demolition I presume is the next stage of this).

PasturesNew

As somebody who is currently looking for a house to buy, what the neighbour's done and what problems he has are of no concern to me unless that directly impacts upon the house I'm viewing.

e.g. if he'd built over 1' of your garden, say.

As a viewer I view what I see on the day ... next door has an extension, if that bothers me then finding out he's got an issue with planning might decide it's best for me to walk away as I might think he's an awkward cuss ... if I'm not bothered by the extension then I'm not bothered that he's got a problem.

In short - it shouldn't make any difference to your sale whatsoever.

Davesnave

So long as it remaining won't impact on your light and similar issues, it's not going to be a huge problem for you. While the extension may eventually have to come down, be revised, or whatever, most will assume that whatever replaces it won't be worse.

Experienced purchasers might see a red flag with a neighbour that ignores niceties like planning rules, but for me that would just mean a chat with said individual and a nosy over their wall to weigh things up.

moneyistooshorttomention

PasturesNew wrote: »

As somebody who is currently looking for a house to buy, what the neighbour's done and what problems he has are of no concern to me unless that directly impacts upon the house I'm viewing.

e.g. if he'd built over 1' of your garden, say.

As a viewer I view what I see on the day ... next door has an extension, if that bothers me then finding out he's got an issue with planning might decide it's best for me to walk away as I might think he's an awkward cuss ... if I'm not bothered by the extension then I'm not bothered that he's got a problem.

In short - it shouldn't make any difference to your sale whatsoever.

It will make a difference to some buyers.

Thinking positive - and I still check out Rightmove pages for what I would like, in case I ever have the chance.

I will forgive a lot of faults on a house if the garden is right - ie big enough/nice enough/with little (if any) overlooking.

If the garden has problems - then I will be much more exacting as to what the house itself needs to be like to compensate for that.

That's even if I'm not aware that the area was that bit "nicer" before the neighbours extension went up.

When looking for current house, for instance, I was very taken with one house in a different town here - but one of the EA's it was marketed with had an "honest" photo of the nearly-completed next door extension. I didn't even view the house because of that...

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I will forgive a lot of faults on a house if the garden is right - ie big enough/nice enough/with little (if any) overlooking.
.

I'm not aware than an issue of overlooking has been raised.


With most houses there's always a possibility that a neighbour will develop their property in a way one doesn't like. Try to filter such properties out and there may not be much left!

Cakeguts

The council workers demolishing it might make a difference?

moneyistooshorttomention

Davesnave wrote: »

I'm not aware than an issue of overlooking has been raised.


With most houses there's always a possibility that a neighbour will develop their property in a way one doesn't like. Try to filter such properties out and there may not be much left!

Indeed there is a risk with many properties and one can only choose as carefully as possible and then keep fingers crossed.

There's still the chance of an "outside thing" one couldnt possibly spot maybe coming up in the future - was only too thankful recently to find that I'd successfully batted off "the risk I didnt know about" on current house. Whew!

Even if the extension doesnt have an overlooking window in it - it can still feel very intrusive/towering over/making a neighbouring garden feel a bit prison-like or blocking a view.

The "house I was very taken by" showed how nice the garden was due to be/used to be and a bit of a view "out over" in one EA's details (a few months old). The other one was more recent - and the view "out over" had vanished to some extent and it made the garden feel more "enclosed/prison-like" just having a blinking great wall there that hadn't existed previously.

Ozzuk

I'm not quite sure what point Money is making, but I don't think you have anything to worry about on the information you have provided. You haven't asked if the extension itself is an issue, so we can only assume it isn't. I can't see how it would even come up during sale - and if it did why it would impact your property. Best case it gets removed, worst case it is there to stay and your house has already been valued with the extension there. You haven't said you complained about the extension, so again, it doesn't sound like there are any issues.

Carry on regardless I say - and good luck with sale!

Davesnave

I doubt if the council would step in with their own work force. For legal reasons, they'd be most reluctant to do that.


Even the high-profile Robert Fidler decided it was better to do his own demolition in the end:


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-36445848


I don't imagine this is on quite the same scale, but I'm happy to be corrected!