Extended Party wall extension with overhanging soffitt

Mistral001

moneytorques wrote: »

It was designed by an Architiect, approved by Planning, Approved by Building Control, Approved by Party wall surveyor, and built, nothing appealed until now.

What does your Architect and party wall surveyor say? They are the professional advisors that you have employed to take care of these matters.

As others have said Planning and Building Control are irrelevant. Having Planning and Building Control Approval means that you comply with the criminal law (not complying is a crime), but it does not necessarily mean that you comply with civil law in this regards and your neighbour could sue you to get you to remove parts of your building which overhang his property as far as I can see.

I would seek legal advice now.

moneytorques

Mistral001 wrote: »

What does your Architect and party wall surveyor say? They are the professional advisors that you have employed to take care of these matters.

As others have said Planning and Building Control are irrelevant. Having Planning and Building Control Approval means that you comply with the criminal law (not complying is a crime), but it does not necessarily mean that you comply with civil law in this regards and your neighbour could sue you to get you to remove parts of your building which overhang his property as far as I can see.

I would seek legal advice now.

Architect says that they were served the Notice B in Planning application which relates to these sort of issues and they should have queried it at Planning when you are invited to do so.
The Party wall surveyor says the Plans and the Party wall document were agreed, signed by all parties and therefore that's what was signed up to be built which he believes hasn't been deviated from.

Aylesbury_Duck

moneytorques wrote: »

Architect says that they were served the Notice B in Planning application which relates to these sort of issues and they should have queried it at Planning when you are invited to do so.
The Party wall surveyor says the Plans and the Party wall document were agreed, signed by all parties and therefore that's what was signed up to be built which he believes hasn't been deviated from.

That's not the legal advice you were advised to take though, is it. If, by signing the plans and party wall document, your neighbour has given their formal consent to the trespass and has waived their right to object, you don't have a problem, but it would be sensible to see if that is the case, rather than simply surmising it is.

You are convinced you've done nothing wrong and that your neighbour has no grounds on which to take action, now or in the future. Anything anyone on here has said to the contrary has been met with your own reasoning as to why we're wrong. I'm not quite sure why you posted. Just get the extension finished and swat away any objections from your neighbour, pointing out that they agreed to the plans.

moneytorques

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

That's not the legal advice you were advised to take though, is it. If, by signing the plans and party wall document, your neighbour has given their formal consent to the trespass and has waived their right to object, you don't have a problem, but it would be sensible to see if that is the case, rather than simply surmising it is.

You are convinced you've done nothing wrong and that your neighbour has no grounds on which to take action, now or in the future. Anything anyone on here has said to the contrary has been met with your own reasoning as to why we're wrong. I'm not quite sure why you posted. Just get the extension finished and swat away any objections from your neighbour, pointing out that they agreed to the plans.

What legal advice?
Nobody here is offering legal advice only opinions?
Ive not said Ive not done nothing wrong, I am the Client, and paid said professional parties for a Job, the legalities are not my arrangements they are the professionals.
The extension causes no physical lose to the neighbour, is their an option for a Flying Leasehold for the so called trespass perhaps?

Would you want to spend thousands extra on an error that 3 other parties have missed?

Mistral001

moneytorques wrote: »

What legal advice?
Nobody here is offering legal advice only opinions?
Ive not said Ive not done nothing wrong, I am the Client, and paid said professional parties for a Job, the legalities are not my arrangements they are the professionals.
The extension causes no physical lose to the neighbour, is their an option for a Flying Leasehold for the so called trespass perhaps?

Would you want to spend thousands extra on an error that 3 other parties have missed?

If you have not paid for legal advice then pay for it now and then decide as you obviously do not think much of what posters here say.

Your neighbour probably will not let this one go and even if he does for now, what happens when you want to clean out the gutter over his property?

Jonah01

I am pretty sure in the party wall agreement it won't state that the extension will extend over your neighbours property.

The fact that they didn't notice it on the plans doesn't mean you are safe from them legally contesting this.

Aylesbury_Duck

moneytorques wrote: »

What legal advice?
Nobody here is offering legal advice only opinions?
Ive not said Ive not done nothing wrong, I am the Client, and paid said professional parties for a Job, the legalities are not my arrangements they are the professionals.
The extension causes no physical lose to the neighbour, is their an option for a Flying Leasehold for the so called trespass perhaps?

Would you want to spend thousands extra on an error that 3 other parties have missed?

The legal advice another poster suggested you obtain. No one here can offer anything other than an opinion but I believe the majority opinion is correct in this matter: that your neighbour is entitled to object and can force you to alter your extension. We may be wrong, but only a qualified person can say so, that's why you should seek legal advice.

There are a few too many negatives in your statement there so I'm not exactly sure what you mean but I think you're saying that professionals you've employed have let you down. I'm sure that's the case but equally, you are accountable for ensuring the extension is legal and at this point, it looks like it's not.

You cannot say that the extension causes no physical loss to your neighbour because it's not for you to determine that. They may wish at some point to build upwards themselves and their options are limited by your trespass. If not them, then their successors as owners of that house. There may well be an option for a flying leasehold but you'll only know if that's feasible by taking legal advice and understanding what your neighbour might charge if it is feasible. They could well hold you to ransom over it, knowing that your alternative is a costly building adaptation.

Would I want to spend thousands over an error that three other parties have missed? No, of course not, but you're dealing with reality so it's pointless comparing it to what I might do in a similar hypothetical scenario. You (and your agents) have made the mistake and it's down to you to put it right if you can't establish that it's ok to ignore it.

Doozergirl

moneytorques wrote: »

Architect says that they were served the Notice B in Planning application which relates to these sort of issues and they should have queried it at Planning when you are invited to do so.
The Party wall surveyor says the Plans and the Party wall document were agreed, signed by all parties and therefore that's what was signed up to be built which he believes hasn't been deviated from.

Your architect is outrageous. I'm out. You hear what you want to hear and your advisors say what you to hear because they've royally screwed up.

The party wall agreement specifically states that it isn't confirmation of an easement, so I don't know what the PWS was looking at when they looked at those plans, and your architect should never have drawn the plans that way.

Both examples of people who don't care for what they're doing.

TheCyclingProgrammer

moneytorques wrote: »

Architect says that they were served the Notice B in Planning application which relates to these sort of issues and they should have queried it at Planning when you are invited to do so.
The Party wall surveyor says the Plans and the Party wall document were agreed, signed by all parties and therefore that's what was signed up to be built which he believes hasn't been deviated from.

Consider this: even if it could be construed that your current neighbours may have consented to you trespassing on their property by agreeing to your PWA and not objecting to the plans (and that's a very dubious view IMO anyway), unless there is some kind of formal easement in the deeds of your property and theirs, then what happens when they move? Your agreement is with the current owners, not any future owners.

Any future owner could move in, notice the trespass and tell you to get rid of it (although it's very likely it would not get that far as it WILL come up during any house sale process). It would surely be better to rectify this now, regardless of what may or may not have been agreed with the current owner.

TELLIT01

The OP has such a massive sense of entitlement that I don't believe any advice given here will be heeded, unless the advice is to confirm that he is right.