Trouble with a neighbour! What do I do?

RelievedSheff

kazwookie said:

I have owned from new, a Coach-house. That means the residence is all on the 1st floor and there is a garage underneath.  When I bought it, the solicitor told me that it was a most unusual arrangement, in that the garage is on permanent lease to the owners of the house next door.

If you bought it from new, that to me would indicate the garage was new as well, so how can the garage already be on a long term lease to another property?  something does not seem right.

Not uncommon with coach house style properties where the neighbours garage is underneath a dwelling.

KatrinaWaves

RelievedSheff said:

kazwookie said:

I have owned from new, a Coach-house. That means the residence is all on the 1st floor and there is a garage underneath.  When I bought it, the solicitor told me that it was a most unusual arrangement, in that the garage is on permanent lease to the owners of the house next door.

If you bought it from new, that to me would indicate the garage was new as well, so how can the garage already be on a long term lease to another property?  something does not seem right.

Not uncommon with coach house style properties where the neighbours garage is underneath a dwelling.

To add to this there are usually 3 or so garages underneath, a dwelling the size of 1/2 garages would be pretty small, so it may be that one belongs to the OP and the others to other neighbours. I can’t imagine there only being one garage as it’s either a giant garage or a very small flat above. 

If it is a very small flat then it wouldn’t make sense for any property to have a garage the same size of it, which is why it belongs to the house next door I guess. 

Just a way for developers to get more money. Why build garages only when you can build a flat on top and sell that too! 

davidmcn

kazwookie said:

If you bought it from new, that to me would indicate the garage was new as well, so how can the garage already be on a long term lease to another property?  something does not seem right.

Because the land tenure system in England & Wales can't cope well with different freehold interests being on top of each other (and there isn't the political willpower to sort that out properly), instead they fudge the issue by using long leases instead. It's why flats are (almost) all leasehold.

RelievedSheff

KatrinaWaves said:

RelievedSheff said:

kazwookie said:

I have owned from new, a Coach-house. That means the residence is all on the 1st floor and there is a garage underneath.  When I bought it, the solicitor told me that it was a most unusual arrangement, in that the garage is on permanent lease to the owners of the house next door.

If you bought it from new, that to me would indicate the garage was new as well, so how can the garage already be on a long term lease to another property?  something does not seem right.

Not uncommon with coach house style properties where the neighbours garage is underneath a dwelling.

To add to this there are usually 3 or so garages underneath, a dwelling the size of 1/2 garages would be pretty small, so it may be that one belongs to the OP and the others to other neighbours. I can’t imagine there only being one garage as it’s either a giant garage or a very small flat above. 

If it is a very small flat then it wouldn’t make sense for any property to have a garage the same size of it, which is why it belongs to the house next door I guess. 

Just a way for developers to get more money. Why build garages only when you can build a flat on top and sell that too! 

This one according to the OP has a garage and a drive through underneath to access more garages behind.

You can blame the planning authorities for the developers squeezing in extra plots. They require a minimum number of dwellings per hectare. Putting a dwelling above a block of garages is just a simple way of getting that dwelling count up.

We looked a  coach house above a block of four garages before we bought our previous house and really liked it. It was a really spacious 2 bed property and detached. The only thing that stopped us buying it was the lack of a garden, although some do come with outside space.

dogshome

A short while ago there was a thread about exactly the same set-up of a Coach House, with the Garage leased to an adjacent house.

The coach house dwellers were always concerned about the size of their Elec. bills, and it transpired that the Lighting & Power supplies in the garage were running through the Meter and Consumer unit of the Coach House - This is totally ILLEGAL as in the event of a problem with a Socket, Wiring, Plug or Appliance, the house dwellers have no means of switching off the main supply.

I suggest the OP turns OFF each switch on the consumer unit one at a time and checks which Elec item in the C/House is not working - If one or two switches in the off position do not affect anything in the C/house, it's highly likely that they are supplying the garage with lighting and power.

davidmcn

dogshome said:

I suggest the OP turns OFF each switch on the consumer unit one at a time and checks which Elec item in the C/House is not working - If one or two switches in the off position do not affect anything in the C/house, it's highly likely that they are supplying the garage with lighting and power.

This doesn't make any sense. Besides, the OP here hasn't suggested there's a problem with the electricity (the garage could quite legitimately have its own suply).

AyJaydee

Just to prevent any misunderstanding from spreading further.

The property is 1-bedroomed, there is only the accessway, garage and hallway downstairs, all of which is within my freehold, so I am the registered owner of it all.  I purchased new from the developers and it came with the 999-year peppercorn rent lease to the property next door, in place. So in effect, it is 'their' garage.  There is power in it, connected to their consumer unit.  'My' garage is in the block behind.

I am guessing that the original plan was for a house with attached garage to be next to an open accessway. Then some bright planner thought to maximise every last drop of profit by building over the garage and accessway, which effectively put their garage within my freehold, hence the lease.

My understanding is that since there has only been one angry verbal exchange and nothing formal has happened, then there is nothing to report. So yes, I am going to calm down, try to ignore it, keep my tenant happy and sell when the time is right.

Yet another example of some bully pushing me around. Move on, AyJay.   Thanks for the input everyone.