Neighbour Extending – Advice Sought

bpk101

Hi – 

I'm the homeowner of a mid-terrace house in London and my adjacent neighbour has recently informed me of his plans to extend his house. He's sent me a copy of the plans and the proposed works will cover a ground floor kitchen extension, the addition of a first floor bathroom above the kitchen, and a loft extension as seen here:



My main concern is how much the kitchen extension will impact on my property. Firstly it will extend about 2 metres beyond my own meaning a very tall wall will be introduced where we currently have cedar slatted fencing, as illustrated here:


Secondly, the introduction of this wall very likely means that my patio / seating area will now be bathed in shade throughout late afternoon, early evening where I currently enjoy sun right up until it sets, as illustrated here:

Whilst the height of his proposed kitchen wall is roughly 3 meters and therefore the same height as mine, his plans propose the addition of a pitched roof a metre higher which potentially increases the amount of shade created.

I've just received a letter from the council regarding his recent planning application giving me the opportunity to raise any concerns or objections within 21 days. Incidentally, the letter only relates to the ground floor kitchen extension which i assume means they're planning on doing the first floor and loft extension through permitted development?

I get on with my neighbour and I don't want to stop him improving his home but the plans do concern me, in terms of both the impact it will have on my future enjoyment of my own home and the potential impact it might have on its resale value.

I was hoping someone could offer advice on whether these plans seem fair (and legal) and what might be the best course of action in terms of raising my concerns (i.e. directly with him or through the council) and negotiating a satisfactory outcome for both parties.
 

Thanks


Further plans attached for reference...

980233

It's nothing out the ordinary extension wise. 100% approval incoming. 

Why are you against your neighbours bettering their property?

Doozergirl

You've shown us a photo of your current extension overshadowing almost the whole back of their house...

But you're worried about them overshadowing you? 

At what time was that photo taken, on what date? 

Rosa_Damascena

I like that the OP has been thoughtful enough to supply diagrams.

London has its advantages but living cheek by jowl with folds isn't one of them.

980233

Doozergirl said:

You've shown us a photo of your current extension overshadowing almost the whole back of their house...

But you're worried about them overshadowing you? 

At what time was that photo taken, on what date? 

This ^

State of that double storey extension taking plenty of light away. 

Bendy_House

That's a highly detailed presentation, right enough.

The 'before and after' shots show the shadows on your land as coming from the opposite side to your neighbour, so presumably South-Eastish? That would position your neighb's extension somewhere to your North-West, so - yes - just before the sun drops below the housie-horizon, you will have a shadow falling over part of your patio. At this point, I suspect the sun is too weak and low to crawl over even your existing fence.

Nice effort, bkp, but - personally - your post screams to me 'self-entitlement'.

Bendy_House

If it's any consolation, bkp, that lovely extension next door will more likely add value to your property.

Rosa_Damascena

Bendy_House said:

That's a highly detailed presentation, right enough.

The 'before and after' shots show the shadows on your land as coming from the opposite side to your neighbour, so presumably South-Eastish? That would position your neighb's extension somewhere to your North-West, so - yes - just before the sun drops below the housie-horizon, you will have a shadow falling over part of your patio. At this point, I suspect the sun is too weak and low to crawl over even your existing fence.

Nice effort, bkp, but - personally - your post screams to me 'self-entitlement'.

To me it screams out "happy with the status quo", which I completely get. But the OP can always benefit from the party wall should they wish to.

980233

Sounds like a mid terrace nimby to me. 

Rosa_Damascena

980233 said:

Sounds like a mid terrace nimby to me. 

It's is always the risk you run in a terrace. But to others it's a selling point - as Doozer alluded to recently, if neighbours either side then extend it dramatically slashes the price of your own project if you then decide to follow suit.

Bendy_House

Of course it's annoying when a neighbour builds or extends and this impacts on your property/peace/light/views/churlishness. But in this specific case the huge benefit to the neighbour with this seemingly well-designed and attractive extension will only have a marginal 'impact' on the OP, I suspect a lot less than they fear.

I cannot see any reasonable or practical way they can complain or affect the PP for this - it is almost certainly a done-deal - so I think the best advice is to embrace it and allow unfettered access to the builders (within reason, of course), so that they made the best possible job of it with lovely brickwork on that 2m-wide wall. And it'll also enhance your neighbourliness credentials.

Anything else will almost certainly be counter-productive.