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Boundary dispute raised after planning application made

Hello,
I'm really hoping someone can help me with this. I bought my home over 20 years ago. At one side I have a driveway/path running from the street through to my back garden and have put in a planning application to build a single storey extension that to house a bathroom with disabled access for my husband who can no longer manage the stairs. This is grant-aided work by our local housing authority and as such must meet certain minimum standards. (size, facilities etc).
The plans which have been submitted are such that the outside face of the new external wall will be about 30mm in from the fence we have with our neighbours, which I erected about 15 years ago in the exact same place as the old broken fence. The problem is, one of the neighbours has now submitted an objecction to the plans and is now disputing the boundary that we have both lived with for over 20 years! (Although I haven't seen the letter yet, my architect was able to tell me that this was just one of a long list of objections he has made).
I'm deeply concerned at this, because I actually made a point of letting my neighbours know we would be building an extension and at the time, his wife said that it was fine, as it wouldn't affect them! The facing wall of the extention is due to be built entirely on land I firmly believed was within my property boundaries adjacent to his windowless garage which is aboutt 3 feet away. What can I do? We have waited so long for this whole process and my husbands condition is deteriorating :-(
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Comments

  • Comms69
    Comms69 Posts: 14,229 Forumite
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    DebzHyden wrote: »
    Hello,
    I'm really hoping someone can help me with this. I bought my home over 20 years ago. At one side I have a driveway/path running from the street through to my back garden and have put in a planning application to build a single storey extension that to house a bathroom with disabled access for my husband who can no longer manage the stairs. This is grant-aided work by our local housing authority and as such must meet certain minimum standards. (size, facilities etc).
    The plans which have been submitted are such that the outside face of the new external wall will be about 30mm in from the fence we have with our neighbours, which I erected about 15 years ago in the exact same place as the old broken fence. The problem is, one of the neighbours has now submitted an objecction to the plans and is now disputing the boundary that we have both lived with for over 20 years! (Although I haven't seen the letter yet, my architect was able to tell me that this was just one of a long list of objections he has made).
    I'm deeply concerned at this, because I actually made a point of letting my neighbours know we would be building an extension and at the time, his wife said that it was fine, as it wouldn't affect them! The facing wall of the extention is due to be built entirely on land I firmly believed was within my property boundaries adjacent to his windowless garage which is aboutt 3 feet away. What can I do? We have waited so long for this whole process and my husbands condition is deteriorating :-(





    The cogs of bureaucracy turn very slowly. I doubt that this will prevent you getting planning permission, but it could delay it by quite a while.


    Short answer is wait and see what happens. But depending on life expectancy moving may be better? There may be an accessible property to rent?
  • RuthnJasper
    RuthnJasper Posts: 4,032 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    You can get a copy of the Land Registry documents showing boundaries and deeds, etc., from their website at https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/eservices/FindAProperty/view/QuickEnquiryInit.do


    I think it costs about £3.


    Best wishes. x
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    Comms69 wrote: »
    The cogs of bureaucracy turn very slowly. I doubt that this will prevent you getting planning permission, but it could delay it by quite a while.
    The position of the legal boundary isn't a planning consideration. Whatever else they're objecting to may be of course.
  • Knock on his door and ask him for a sensible discussion on how everyone can be happy?
  • WeAreGhosts
    WeAreGhosts Posts: 3,110 Forumite
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    You should be able to view the objection on the council's website. Search for your planning application on there and it should be available to read.

    I wouldn't do anything until you've read the letter. It could be one long ramble that doesn't have anything to do with planning laws, in which case the planners won't entertain the objections.
    If they have raised planning issues, though, then talk it over with your named planning officer.

    Also if you have any old photos of the fence in question, they will probably come in useful.
  • If you have a household insurance policy you may have purchased Household Legal Expenses insurance which will assist you if you have a boundary dispute with your neighbour - have a look see at your house insurance policy
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,020 Forumite
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    edited 27 February 2019 at 4:44PM
    I can't imagine they're going to dispute the boundary by that much. Entertain them and see where they say it is. There will still be nothing official to say exactly where it is. For the sake of a few inches it's worth just getting on with it.

    Or make it a shared party wall under the act where you give them the little they need and still build over the line so that they can use that same wall for a future extension.
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • Slithery
    Slithery Posts: 6,046 Forumite
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    DebzHyden wrote: »
    The plans which have been submitted are such that the outside face of the new external wall will be about 30mm in from the fence we have with our neighbours

    If you're planning on building that close to the boundary, how are the brickies going to point the exterior of the new wall and how are you going to get down the gap for maintanence?

    Will your guttering/facia/tiles etc overhang the neighbours property?
  • AlexMac
    AlexMac Posts: 3,063 Forumite
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    Planning officers will only take relevant considerations into account and so, will ignore objections such as worries about noise, nuisance and disruption during construction (which I suspect is one of your neighbours ' concerns as no one wants a building site next door).

    I don't think they'll get involved in a boundary dispute either, as that's not a matter for planners. Assuming you have a competent architect involved, and especially if the housing department are onside it's very unlikely that plan ers will think what you propose is out of order just because of a couple of objections.

    So as others say, wait and see. Many planni g applications are decided by the Council officers, and in our Area, only go to a committee of elected Councillors if there are lots of objectors- in our Council ,it takes 8. And at that stage, you (and the objectors) can probably attend and speak to the Councillors, who are reasonable people.

    Have a look online at your council planning website where you can probably search by address to see where it's got to, and trust your architect. Good luck.
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
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    Planners will not look at the boundary.


    If Planning consent is granted for an extension on land not owned by the applicant, it would then be for the owner of that land to enforce their land rights by not permitting the building work to proceed.
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