New Build Garage Overhang

ProDave

My guess if you question this, they will say your boundary is the inside edge of the retaining wall (that line of soldier course bricks at ground level) and the garage is overhanging only the retaining wall and it is by good grace the fence has been placed back from your actual boundary.

In other words you will get weasel words to basically say "tough"

It is a damned poor design, a gable end garage wall with almost no overhang would have been a lot better.  But since when were mass market builders good at design?

I would probably put a shed or gazeebo or similar there just to stop anyone walking into it.

TheJP

penny22 said:

Advise needed, Just moved into to our new build and only got to viewed garden 2 days before move in, Our issue is the Neighbours double garage at the rear of our garden seems to have been built over the boundary line, boundary line is where the fence is, Also the over hang is very low and dangerous, The deleloper has said that can put a fence around, We have asked for legal advice from the conveyance solicitor that delt with the purchase but they were recommended from the deleloper, any suggestions or do we just put up with it and go with the fence around?    
  

Looks like the developer has used the retaining wall as part of the garage, which has resulted in the overhang. The savings on bricks would be minimal so dont understand why they did this.

Bendy_House

It is outrageous, but I suspect there is absolutely zero that can be done about this in practical terms. Ie - that garage is going to stay where it is, as it is.

That's lovely bamboo - I'd personally just screen the garage off with that. No fence put there first that would only eat up more of your garden, and the bamboo will not only screen the garage but should prevent folk from walking into it*. It would also allow the neighbour to carefully access the guttering, for example, should they need to. After all, the neighb has done nothing wrong, and you are obviously going to be a good neighbour yourself. Unless they give you cause otherwise.

*Allowing for any covenants that could restrict this, as S62 says.

Section62

Bendy_House said:

*Allowing for any covenants that could restrict this, as S62 says.

Also, assuming that is a retaining wall and regardless of the covenant situation, I would take steps to control the bamboo either by containment, or variety selection (keeping evidence, e.g. the plant labels).

The risk of the bamboo causing damage to the retaining wall might be low, but it is the kind of thing that could give a future surveyor a fit of the vapours.  No point adding another thing for a future buyer to get spooked over... having that garage as a neighbour is bad enough as it is.

[Deleted User]

Section62 said:

[Deleted User] said:

The only way I can see of resolving this is to replace the roof on the garage. Raise it on your side so that water runs off in the other direction.

That could only be achieved by raising the wall height - e.g. converting the roof from hip to gable.

The advantage of the low roof level and hipped arrangement is maximising the amount of light in the OP's garden.  Modifications to the roof will make the OP's garden darker and more shaded - the neighbour's (plot 144) garage already blocks light from one side (the south, at a guess from the orientation of the plan).

And I don't see either the developer or rear neighbour being willing to fund the re-roofing of a brand new garage.

Will it's not really a question of what they are willing to pay, it's a question of what they will have to pay to rectify this fault.

[Deleted User]

ProDave said:

My guess if you question this, they will say your boundary is the inside edge of the retaining wall (that line of soldier course bricks at ground level) and the garage is overhanging only the retaining wall and it is by good grace the fence has been placed back from your actual boundary.

In other words you will get weasel words to basically say "tough"

It is a damned poor design, a gable end garage wall with almost no overhang would have been a lot better.  But since when were mass market builders good at design?

I would probably put a shed or gazeebo or similar there just to stop anyone walking into it.

Even if they do say that, the neighbor is not going to be happy that they are unable to access their gutter. They will want some guarantee for that access.

Section62

[Deleted User] said:

Section62 said:

[Deleted User] said:

The only way I can see of resolving this is to replace the roof on the garage. Raise it on your side so that water runs off in the other direction.

That could only be achieved by raising the wall height - e.g. converting the roof from hip to gable.

The advantage of the low roof level and hipped arrangement is maximising the amount of light in the OP's garden.  Modifications to the roof will make the OP's garden darker and more shaded - the neighbour's (plot 144) garage already blocks light from one side (the south, at a guess from the orientation of the plan).

And I don't see either the developer or rear neighbour being willing to fund the re-roofing of a brand new garage.

Will it's not really a question of what they are willing to pay, it's a question of what they will have to pay to rectify this fault.

What "fault"?  The garage appears to be constructed according to the plans, for which the developer presumably obtained planning consent.  The OP has completed on their purchase and moved in.  We don't know - but can assume - that the garage has had BR signoff. We can also assume the contract the OP has with the developer allowed for variations in the design.

The design is poor, but the perceived safety risk could be managed by minor alterations (e.g. a KeeKlamp 'rail', or low wooden fence/barrier) that would cost the developer a trivial sum compared to re-roofing the garage.

Unless there is also an issue with the boundary position then I doubt the developer has an obligation to make any changes - their suggestion of putting up a fence is quite possibly a 'goodwill' gesture on the basis it is cheaper to do that than enter into protracted discussions with the OP.

The OP has very limited (if not zero) scope for action against the developer or the neighbour over a neighbouring structure constructed by the developer (for the neighbour) before the OP completed on the purchase of their own property.

Spending months or years trying to force the developer to put a different roof on the garage will most likely have the sole effect of ruining the OP's enjoyment of their new home - far more than the practical impact of the overhang ever will.  There needs to be some realism in the suggestions here.