Will neighbours extension lower value of my house?

princeofpounds

Thanks for the follow-up and well done on getting the fence up. Only just read the thread but it's always appreciated

AdrianC

harasnrubdoow said:

Thanks for all the suggestions etc. the fence makes me a lot more comfortable and I'm confident it will help my sale when the time eventually comes. 

Nothing screams "Neighbour dispute ahoy!" than viewing a property and finding that setup in the back garden... Viewers won't be walking away, they'll be running.

The windows in the extension are definitely odd - but they have also clearly been there for a very long time. I have to admit, I struggle with "But the blinds were always down..." - it was always possible that people would change their habits, perhaps new occupants would move in.

comeandgo

That is so ugly, did you not think of at least getting your barrier to match the wooden extension on the wall that is already there?  

ameliarate

AdrianC said:

harasnrubdoow said:

Thanks for all the suggestions etc. the fence makes me a lot more comfortable and I'm confident it will help my sale when the time eventually comes. 

Nothing screams "Neighbour dispute ahoy!" than viewing a property and finding that setup in the back garden... Viewers won't be walking away, they'll be running.

The windows in the extension are definitely odd - but they have also clearly been there for a very long time. I have to admit, I struggle with "But the blinds were always down..." - it was always possible that people would change their habits, perhaps new occupants would move in.

Doesn’t make me think neighbour dispute. The fence looks fine to me and solves the problem. Sorted. 

Silvertabby

harasnrubdoow said:

Thanks for all who gave me some great ideas! For anyone who was wondering, I've put up a fence. I've still not sold (still waiting on the new build, but that's definitely a different thread!). From what I can gather the windows wouldn't have necessarily lowered the value of my house but it was very unattractive, estate agents who have valued haven't said anything negative about either the fence or the windows but friends and family seeing my house for the first time definitely had opinions on the windows but don't even notice the fence. It's the perfect little bit of weather protection for my recycling station so that's there instead of plants or trees, though they would have been pretty they wouldn't have gotten enough light. 
I checked with the planning department and they said no planning was needed provided it was less than 6 foot and it's in my garden, I think if they were going to take me to court for right-to-light or something they would have by now. In the end they started putting the blinds up and waving at me through the window which I just found really weird and a bit violating, especially considering all the other people I know living in terrace houses don't have this kind of see-through boundary directly into their neighbours home.
We tried bamboo too but it was a bit flimsy and shed bits of twig everywhere so gave up. I learned during this process that the fence is actually on my land and technically belongs to me which is nice to know because I didn't know that before.

Thanks for all the suggestions etc. the fence makes me a lot more comfortable and I'm confident it will help my sale when the time eventually comes. 

I would 'soften' that with a bit of open weave trellis on the top (just enough to cover the top of the windows but without blocking the light) and stain the whole lot to match your original fencing.

Has your neighbour said anything about it?

Davesnave

comeandgo said:

That is so ugly, did you not think of at least getting your barrier to match the wooden extension on the wall that is already there?  

I don't see that  being necessary. Stain it the same colour, add some  pots of bamboo and grasses and it'll pass muster.

Soot2006

Fence looks fine to me, so much better than the windows!

I'd soften it a bit for aesthetics, but these pictures are clearly  of a new fence.

harasnrubdoow

Wowzers to @comeandgo have you considered being a less rude and judgmental person for future? Yes I considered that, no it wasn't an option, not that I have to justify anything to you.
And @AdrianC it's extremely difficult and painful but I think I can just about live with you not wanting to buy my house! Hopefully whoever looks around sees a charming property with nice original features and pretty, low maintenance garden.

@Silvertabby was looking into putting some trellis stuff at the top, my parents did that on their fence, I'm also going to put fairy lights around the arch way things like some people do with pergolas, to make it prettier in summer for social gatherings, if we're ever allowed those again!
Thanks to everyone saying the fence looks fine/nice, I'm aware it's not beautiful, but it does the job and didn't cost me much.
I think it does look better than the windows, it somewhat encroaches on my land because it turns out all of the boundary fences/party walls ARE on my land, including their wall with the windows, which is just great.
The neighbours kicked up a fuss about us drilling into 'their' wall, we didn't, the fence goes into the floor. I think ultimately they have realised there's no point in arguing and honestly, it's better that we can't see each other. I will never understand why they WANTED to look into my garden/bathroom in the first place (I'm not sure if I mentioned earlier but their none-frosted windows looked directly into one of my, thankfully frosted, bathroom windows).

I'm probably not keeping it white because on a nice day it's like looking directly at the surface of the sun and it's too much stepping out my back door, between that and the slippy decking I feel like I'm about to perform a Bolero à la Torvill & Dean.

Sistergold

That fence looks good to me, privacy sorted! The previous arrangement was very strange with windows as boundary? Whether you stain the fence to match or not is really not the end of the world so welldone! 

Abbafan1972

@harasnrubdoow Sorry to revive this thread.

Have you successfully managed to sell and move on now?  Somebody linked this thread in another one about a privacy issue, which is how I found it.