Remote oil delivery pipe along house boundary.

Jeepers_Creepers

Yes! Another oily thread...

Things seem to be progressing with the issue of getting oil to a back garden of a property my sis-in-law is interested in. On the EA's prompting, the seller of the cottage has allowed a surveyor to look at her property to see how a remote oil delivery pipe could be installed. 

There is only one obvious route, and that's along the cottage's wall which borders a neighbouring property. Currently, this neighbour has kindly allowed the cottage owner to have the oil delivery hose dragged along the neighbour's side of the boundary until it can be pulled through the fence and on to the cottage owner's garden where the tank is located. The neighbour has, however, made it clear that she doesn't want this to continue when the cottage owner sells her house. Quite understandable.

The surveyor has reported back to say it's a straightforward job; the pipe - which needs only to be 1.5" diameter - would be attached to the cottage's walls and run down the borderline until it can be passed through the fence and into her garden. We are hoping that the neighbour will find this acceptable and allow the cottage owner to have the work done. Just in case it were to come to it, does the cottage owner have any legal right to pursue this work? 

The side wall of the cottage and that of the extension behind it lie on the border 'line' and effectively forms the boundary. However, as with most houses, the roof eaves of the main cottage and extension overhang the building's walls by around 6". This oil pipe - at around 1.5" diameter - would therefore lie well inside that overhang. 

So, where is the 'true' boundary?! Is it the wall, or is it the eaves?

In addition, the cottage - being around 150 years old - is built of stone and cob. Its external walls not only require regular access for upkeep - lime washes, etc - but I think this would also prohibit any building from being constructed that would either impede that required maintenance or affect the property in any other way - these walls need to be kept clear so they can 'breathe', for example. Not that we think that the neighbour has any intention of building next to the cottage anyway - there isn't the space without changing the layout of their drive etc - but, should they try and obtain PP for this, would there be legitimate grounds for objection? (Basically, we are saying that the presence of the oil pipe wouldn't affect anything the neighb may want to do on that strip of land anyway as they simply wouldn't be able to build on it if they wished.)

Finally - very worst case scenario - if the neighbour simply refuses to give permission for the oil pipe to be laid, does the cottage owner have any rights that could overrule this? I mean, whenever the cottage owner needs to have these walls limewashed, the neighbour is obliged to allow access for this, I understand, and this can be enforced by law if really needed. (Not that we ever anticipate such a thing...). Could the same apply for access to run this pipe? If it's arguably on the cottage's 'land' - ie under the eaves space - can access be demanded for installing such a vital service?

Cheers.

(We don't really expect it to come to this, but I'm interested in the scenario.)

princeofpounds

A lot of effort for this property...

Anyway - no, the cottage owner has no right to build a pipe - even a small pipe and attached to their own property - inside their neighbour's boundary.

Walls and boundaries are not as simple a subject as you might think. Walls can be wholly-owned or party walls, and boundaries can run down the middle of walls, the face of walls, along foundations and overhangs etc. It depends on the facts, and whether there are other features that may mark the boundary.

But a likely situation here is that it is wholly-owned by the cottage, and that the boundary runs down the face of the wall - if people have built to the fullest extent of their property, it's generally assumed to be the wall face in the absence of other evidence. Yes, the footings and the gutters may project, but there is an explicit legal right to place necessary footings on your neighbour's land if below the level of the ground. The guttering has been there long enough to establish a right to exist anyway. It doesn't mean the pipe can be placed in the space between without permission.

To be honest, there is a decent chance that there may be agreement. The neighbour may accept that the boundary is in fact at the edge of the footings. Or they may be ok with the feature being added anyway. 

Like anything you have the right to access neighbouring land to maintain your own property, at least if you are prepared to go legal. Access for the purposes of new construction is more problematic, it can only be done if you have a right defined in statute somehow (like to footings example I mentioned earlier). At that point it can all get a bit technical and is beyond me.
http://www.problemneighbours.co.uk/rights-under-access-to-neighbouring-land-act.html
https://www.peterbarry.co.uk/access/

As for access to the wall - objecting to planning permission and permitted development can only be done on the grounds included in planning policy. That often includes minimum distances from boundaries. However, in a less usual situation where they can build right up against your wall, I suspect there are legal routes to challenge it - potentially around nuisance laws making them liable for damage that results due to preventing your maintenance - but I'm unsure how it works.

Jeepers_Creepers

That is a fab answer, PoP - many thanks for your trouble.

Yes, it might seem like a lot of effort for this property, but really it's been only this one issue. Up until now - according to the EA - the vendor has been in denial of there actually being an issue, but there's no doubt that there is; sis and her mum met the neighb when they were casing the joint, and asked about this - the neighb was adamant that "No!". Vendor now appears to be taking it seriously should she wish to sell the cottage to anybody. Not having an assured way of getting oil to the tank would be a walk-away issue for sis.

(And it is a gorgeous old cottage...)  

Thanks for the details on boundaries - that makes total sense.

I'd hope that the neighb would be reasonable enough to allow this, but it's her call. She's been kind enough to allow the oil hose to be dragged along there for the current cottage owner, but I don't blame her at all for wishing that to now end. Hopefully she'll see the fixed pipe as being an ideal solution to keep things good between folk.

Cheers, PoP, appreciated.