Neighbour Extending – Advice Sought

Doozergirl

bpk101 said:

Doozergirl said:

There's also no rule about maximum heights when applying for full planning permission,  but with permitted development it is 4 metres at the ridge with a dual pitched roof, 2.5m at the eaves.  

Is that true of a terraced house too? If so it makes me wonder why they've applied for full planning if it all falls within permitted development.

The first floor won't be PD.  

FreeBear

bpk101 said: How do i protect myself against damage to my property caused by the build?

Any work that involves digging foundations within 3m of your property will require a Party Wall Agreement, as will anything that affects a party wall - Your neighbour would appear to be on the ball discussing the proposals with you, so the next step would be serving a PW notice. From there, you can come to an agreement over appointing a party wall surveyor (if you think one is needed). Any damage done during construction would be put right at the neighbour's expense, and the PW surveyor would (hopefully) ensure that repairs are done to an acceptable standard.

Side note - There is nothing "special" about a silicone render. The only difficulty will be in getting a good colour match.

bpk101

FreeBear said:

Any work that involves digging foundations within 3m of your property will require a Party Wall Agreement, as will anything that affects a party wall - Your neighbour would appear to be on the ball discussing the proposals with you, so the next step would be serving a PW notice. 

We've not received anything regarding a party wall agreement yet, should i be expecting a letter from my neighbour? Given he plans to start the build as soon as PP is granted, should i be pressing him for this?

FreeBear said:

From there, you can come to an agreement over appointing a party wall surveyor (if you think one is needed). 

Under what circumstances would a party wall surveyor be required vs. not be required, meaning should i be asking for one or not?

FreeBear said:

Any damage done during construction would be put right at the neighbour's expense, and the PW surveyor would (hopefully) ensure that repairs are done to an acceptable standard.

Does the PW agreement itself therefore act as a sort of contract covering me against potential damage (regardless of whether you've appointed a surveyor or not)? Again we've received nothing from them yet with regards to party wall.

Thanks

Another_Level

seems a good time to to extend your own terraced property in conjunction with your neighbour and split some of the charges/costs. Your actual build cost can be significantly reduced.

Done it before living in a London terrace, neighbour wants to extend their gf rear. Nothing i can do to halt the extension (although it would have created a private 'sun trap' area) for my property.

At that time was working abroad, so i asked my neighbour to build me a similar extension and get it kitted out with water, gas, electric ready for a full kitchen extension.

They agreed  i  never used the extension but 3 years on sold the property to my neighbour. blimey Quids in   

Sometimes being nice to our neighbors , works out   

EDit, others will disagree 

Doozergirl

bpk101 said:

FreeBear said:

Any work that involves digging foundations within 3m of your property will require a Party Wall Agreement, as will anything that affects a party wall - Your neighbour would appear to be on the ball discussing the proposals with you, so the next step would be serving a PW notice. 

We've not received anything regarding a party wall agreement yet, should i be expecting a letter from my neighbour? Given he plans to start the build as soon as PP is granted, should i be pressing him for this?

FreeBear said:

From there, you can come to an agreement over appointing a party wall surveyor (if you think one is needed). 

Under what circumstances would a party wall surveyor be required vs. not be required, meaning should i be asking for one or not?

FreeBear said:

Any damage done during construction would be put right at the neighbour's expense, and the PW surveyor would (hopefully) ensure that repairs are done to an acceptable standard.

Does the PW agreement itself therefore act as a sort of contract covering me against potential damage (regardless of whether you've appointed a surveyor or not)? Again we've received nothing from them yet with regards to party wall.

Thanks

Yes, you should push them.   

You are always entitled to damages, having a surveyor involved doesn't change that.  

Having a surveyor just means having a set of eyes on it that checks the build methods and takes an account of prior condition.    You can appoint your own surveyor - it makes sense to share one.  The neighbours have to pay and there's no conflict of interest like there would be if you used the same solicitor to buy/sell property. 

The surveyor's job is only to work to the Act, so having two is frankly ridiculous on a simple (for them) residential extension and not fair on the neighbours.