Can I cover a neighbours window I boundary?

westwoo

Hello,
First Post so sorry if in wrong place.
Neighbour's garage wall is on our garden boundary. The wall contains a small frosted window. I was hoping to move my garden shed infront of it but not sure I can put anything in front of the window.
Can anyone help?

Thanks I advance.

silvercar

Legally you can do so, provided your deeds don't prevent you from putting up a shed.
I can imagine relations with the neighbour would quickly become frosty.

Doozergirl

silvercar said:

Legally you can do so, provided your deeds don't prevent you from putting up a shed.
I can imagine relations with the neighbour would quickly become frosty.

They're already frosted 😬

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Westwoo.

Can you do this? Yes, of course you can - it would be totally unfair if your neighb could have a garage or shed there with a window facing the boundary, and you couldn't have a shed there at all.

Do you know if the garage has any other natural light - another window or roof light? If not, it begs the question - why was the window placed on the boundary side?! Lawdie.

Best thing - as always - is to approach the neighb first, just out of courtesy. Explain that it's the only/best place for a shed, but that you do realise it'll cut the light down to their garage - 'really sorry about that, but I can't think of any way around it'.

What can they say? Hopefully they are normal and reasonable and will shrug and agree it's fairyenuff. If they aren't - if they suggest daft things like that they are 'entitled' to light 'cos they built their garage first so you can stick yer shed up yer garden or somewhere else, just smile beatifically and repeat 'Sorry - that is where my shed will be built'. And walk away.

They would be in the wrong, and you cannot allow for stupid.

westwoo

Thanks for your help.
I've spoken to a number of people who are extremely surprised that a window was allowed to be built like that.  The estate was only built in 2006 so not a long time ago.

I want to move the shed so can't really use the line 'only place it can go it's more to make the garden a better shape for us to use.

I approached the neighbour to tell him what we were planning and he's pretty annoyed we were doing it. I don't know what the light situation is in the garage.

Attached is an image of the space

FaceHead

Whilst rights of light is a complex area it's clear cut in this case that it doesn't apply. You can put your shed where you like. Of course you neighbour won't like it, but having neighbours is the price to be paid for living in certain places. 

You've let them know (how considerate of you) now get on with it. 

pramsay13

That window looks like a bit of a diy job.

TELLIT01

It's certainly an unusual setup to say the least.  What is the grey panel around the window?

It almost looks as if the boundary line was moved at some point during development of the estate but before the properties were occupied. 

I know of two occasions where this has happened.  Friends of ours were the first to purchase a property in a new cul-de-sac and had the line of the front boundary moved to allow them more parking space.  That was all incorporated in the deeds.

Other friends were told on their initial visit to site for a new build that a path and gate down the side of the garage furthest from their house was on their property.  When they visited later it was clear that irrespective of the original intention, the path and gate was now part of the adjoining property.  That meant the only access to the rear garden was now through the house.  They pulled out of the purchase.

Jeepers_Creepers

TELLIT01 said:

It's certainly an unusual setup to say the least.  What is the grey panel around the window?

It almost looks as if the boundary line was moved at some point during development of the estate but before the properties were occupied. 

Are you thinking that, originally, the boundary between the two houses should have been where that garage ends and Westwoo's shed begins? That might make sense. I presume that's the same neighb's shed we see over that fence with the black felt roof?

However, regardless of this, that's a garage and has no entitlement to natural light.

If that window was put in by the developer, then I can imagine the neighb is cheesed off - but that's just tough. To be blunt, placing a window where it overlooks someone else's garden - frosted or not - is a very poor move and was completely unnecessary. Again, I wonder if the intended boundary was in a different place so the window overlooked the garage owner's own garden?

That's just not your problem, tho', Westwoo - although it could become one if you don't move your shed. If that neighb gets PP (and it could even be Permitted Dev) to turn their garage into living space, they could argue a right to light.

I would simply follow the mantra "Whoever put in that window made a mistake, either intentionally or through ignorance - it just should never have been there. That corner is the natural place for my shed as I'm changing my garden around to give more space, so - sorry - but you will lose some light."

As asked above, Westwoo - what's that weird grey area around it? And do you know who fitted it - was it the developers, or the neighb?! In the mantra above, you are not calling your neighb ignorant or devious, just making a statement of the bleedin' obvious.

Don't get sucked into arguments or discussions - stick to the facts. 'It shouldn't be there in the first place'. 'A garage has no entitlement to natural light!' 'It's the obvious place for my shed, and I'm not going to compromise my plans because someone else made a mistake fitting a window there...'

couriervanman

pramsay13 said:

That window looks like a bit of a diy job.

Looks like a cashpoint


 Almost certain it looks like a diy job after house was built

couriervanman

Are all the house the same....ie fence halfway across garage and is that a back gate on the left