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[Deleted User]

delete 123

Carrot007

If there is a gap is it not attached. If you had something up to the boundry they have as much righ to too.

[Deleted User]

Carrot007 said:

If there is a gap is it not attached. If you had something up to the boundry they have as much righ to too.

There isn't a gap any more. Their wall meets ours, cemented to it, roof attached on one side to our wall.

flashg67

[DELETED USER] said:

Because if the location we only found this out recently. 

Can you explain this a it more - I think I'd notice if someone added a building to any part of my house?

[Deleted User]

It connects to our garage and it's hidden from the outside by a high gate. Found out from the builder who did it approximately when it was done.

Davesnave

Where is the actual boundary between the properties? Is it your garage wall? Look at your title plan, obtainable from the Land Registry for £3 if you haven't a copy to hand:

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Also is your garage connected to your house? Nothing is very clear here at present.

TELLIT01

[DELETED USER] said:

We have a semi detached house. On the detached side there is a gap between us and the next house. About 15 years ago the previous owners secretly extended their wall and put a roof over the gap, and then put their washing machine there and used it for storage.

Because if the location we only found this out recently. Current owners have no idea, it was like that when they bought it.

Is there anything we can do? What about the status of our house, is it semi detached still? That has insurance implications, reduces value etc.

"On the detached side there is a gap between us and the next house"  How big is the gap between your house and wall they 'secretly extended'? 

Why were you unaware of the work being done?  You have explained that you couldn't see past a high gate, but why couldn't you see it from elsewhere in your property?

Is the wall they extended on their own property, on your property, or part of a shared boundary?

[Deleted User]

Davesnave said:

Where is the actual boundary between the properties? Is it your garage wall? Look at your title plan, obtainable from the Land Registry for £3 if you haven't a copy to hand:

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Also is your garage connected to your house? Nothing is very clear here at present.

The boundary is the garage wall. It is connected to our house.

[Deleted User]

TELLIT01 said:

[DELETED USER] said:

We have a semi detached house. On the detached side there is a gap between us and the next house. About 15 years ago the previous owners secretly extended their wall and put a roof over the gap, and then put their washing machine there and used it for storage.

Because if the location we only found this out recently. Current owners have no idea, it was like that when they bought it.

Is there anything we can do? What about the status of our house, is it semi detached still? That has insurance implications, reduces value etc.

"On the detached side there is a gap between us and the next house"  How big is the gap between your house and wall they 'secretly extended'? 

Why were you unaware of the work being done?  You have explained that you couldn't see past a high gate, but why couldn't you see it from elsewhere in your property?

Is the wall they extended on their own property, on your property, or part of a shared boundary?

The gap is about 1m wide, fairly narrow. We were unaware of it because the previous owner did it while were were on holiday and it was completely obscured from the outside. It is visible from our flat roof but we never go up there, and the one window facing that way can't see it because it is obscured by some decorative brickwork.

I don't really want to dox myself by posting photos so please just accept that it was not visible to us and we only found out when we went up on the garage roof to inspect some repair work we had done.

The part they built (the roof and the new bit of wall) is entirely on their property, but it is attached to our garage wall. In other words the roof is attached to their house on one side and ours on the other, and the brick wall, is cemented to our wall where they meet.

Davesnave

The neighbour is not allowed to attach anything to the wall or build from it without your permission, unless it's actually astride the boundary and considered a party wall.

The fact that a different person built it is immaterial, but if the structure remains for 20 years the current owner might acquire a right to keep it.

You might resolve this amicably just by giving your neighbour informal notice that you want it removed in a reasonable time; say by the end of February. If they don't do this, then it would be time to formalise things by sending a letter via your solicitor.

[Deleted User]

Davesnave said:

The neighbour is not allowed to attach anything to the wall or build from it without your permission, unless it's actually astride the boundary and considered a party wall.

The fact that a different person built it is immaterial, but if the structure remains for 20 years the current owner might acquire a right to keep it.

You might resolve this amicably just by giving your neighbour informal notice that you want it removed in a reasonable time; say by the end of February. If they don't do this, then it would be time to formalise things by sending a letter via your solicitor.

Thanks, that's the advice I needed. I'm sure they won't be happy because they bought it thinking they were getting that extra utility room, but they will have to take it up with the sellers. Actually I think they moved overseas, to Australia or New Zealand, so they are probably stuffed.

But in the mean time I'm concerned about insurance. If I tell our insurance about it then our premium will go up and we will want to recover that cost. Who would we recover it from though? The neighbours have not done anything wrong, they bought the house in good faith... Maybe their solicitor should have noticed the issue. There is zero chance of chasing the people who built it I think.