Single story extension/PWA dispute

Mncrbloke88

We're well on the way to starting our new kitchen extension and i'm having a couple of issues with the adjoining neighbour. We've moved in a couple of months ago (Not that this should matter, but gives you a bit of awareness). We bought the house with a view to extend straight away. 

 

We've employed an architect to produce our drawings and plans. We initially wanted to go to 4m so would require planning, however with costs etc and a neighbour issue (She has a 3m extension already and wasn't keen on the idea of extending past hers.) Anyway, we have dropped the build to 3m to fall within the permitted development criteria. I have been nothing but upfront with our neighbour, explaining what we want to do face to face, rather than her just getting a letter from the local council. Straight away, it was as if she thought it was her divine right to grant us her permission to do the works which obviously isn't the case. 

 

I have been back to her a couple of times now and have had the same response each time. She has accused me of misleading her when I told her we will no longer be going through planning permission, but still be applying for building regulations through the local council's building control (She cant differentiate between the two separate entities)

 

She is (rightfully) bringing up the party wall act as we will be excavating within 3m of her extension, however when I advised her that we (the builder) will be diffing a trial hole to ascertain her foundation depths, and if the'yre deep enough for us NOT to be digging any deeper, notice and the PWA isn't required. Its safe to say she want happy about this and asked me to leave her property, which obviously I did straight away. She's also trying to use emotional blackmail with us, and its clear with her correspondence that she is trying to use legal jargon and text to intimidate us, and also threatening solicitor action. If we do have to dig deeper than her foundations then of course we will submit notice and a PWA but for obvious reasons, if we don't have to, we wont.

 

I have asked our architect, SE and builder all about this and i'm confident we are doing everything above board and in according with legislation however I don't want to get caught out with anything, and obviously do a proper job!

 

I'm sceptical to keep going to the builder with "neighbour issues" as I don't want to put him off in any way as we all want an easy life! 

 

Basically what i'm looking for is a confirmation of once we get the nod that her foundations are deep enough to match what we require, building regs submitted, calcs back, is there anything to stop us commencing?

 

Sorry for the long message!

 

Thanks al

Doozergirl

Once you've done that, there is nothing to stop you at all.  

How old is her extension?  If it's newish then you should be home and dry on the foundations front.  

God bless a hypocrite.  It's fine for her to go 3 metres past yours but not okay for you to go 1 metre past hers.   In fact, the whole concept that the building of her place inconvenienced anyone else hasn't even crossed her mind. 

Good luck.   I sincerely hope that your extension becomes the envy of all the neighbours and is miles better than hers ☺️. 

It's an idea to warn the builders that she isn't best pleased.  If they're as lovely as my team, they're usually happy to give the impression of playing Switzerland and have never had a problem beyond day 1.  

FaceHead

PWA or not, the neighbour can still claim that you've damaged something and generally make a nuisance of themselves. 

Usually I'd suggest serving an unnecessary PW notice at this point to get the 2 month clock ticking, but that doesn't seem advisable as they sound like they'll dissent and insist on at least one surveyor. 

Assuming the investigations show no PW Notice is required, what I would suggest is writing to them and advising them to take photos of the condition of their property. This shifts the burden of proof onto them a little for having before and after photos of any damage

You can generally expect them to deny you any access that might be useful, and to complain about noise a few times. Ensure, for example, that the builders don't choose to work any of the many upcoming bank holidays. 

I always struggle to understand why - usually homeowners - resist investment in their neighbourhood that increases the price of everyone's property. 

What about the proximity to water/sewerage, and the need for a build over?

GDB2222

FaceHead said:

PWA or not, the neighbour can still claim that you've damaged something and generally make a nuisance of themselves. 

Usually I'd suggest serving an unnecessary PW notice at this point to get the 2 month clock ticking, but that doesn't seem advisable as they sound like they'll dissent and insist on at least one surveyor. 

Assuming the investigations show no PW Notice is required, what I would suggest is writing to them and advising them to take photos of the condition of their property. This shifts the burden of proof onto them a little for having before and after photos of any damage

You can generally expect them to deny you any access that might be useful, and to complain about noise a few times. Ensure, for example, that the builders don't choose to work any of the many upcoming bank holidays. 

I always struggle to understand why - usually homeowners - resist investment in their neighbourhood that increases the price of everyone's property. 

What about the proximity to water/sewerage, and the need for a build over?

The owners of the house next to us made a planning application for a complete demolition and rebuild, including a major basement etc. Two years dirty, noisy, disrupting work, at least. Sure, we resisted. 

Mncrbloke88

Doozergirl said:

Once you've done that, there is nothing to stop you at all.  

How old is her extension?  If it's newish then you should be home and dry on the foundations front.  

God bless a hypocrite.  It's fine for her to go 3 metres past yours but not okay for you to go 1 metre past hers.   In fact, the whole concept that the building of her place inconvenienced anyone else hasn't even crossed her mind. 

Good luck.   I sincerely hope that your extension becomes the envy of all the neighbours and is miles better than hers ☺️. 

It's an idea to warn the builders that she isn't best pleased.  If they're as lovely as my team, they're usually happy to give the impression of playing Switzerland and have never had a problem beyond day 1.  

Thanks,

She was very quick to point out that the extension (both 3m and dormer) were already done before she moved in. I did ask the question would she have bought the house without these, something she refused to answer! I have pre warned the builder and he's more than happy, at the end of the day everything is being done above board and is pretty routine so there's nothing to worry about there. Her extension looks about 10 years old, the test hole is being done tomorrow so I guess we'll find out then!FaceHead said:

PWA or not, the neighbour can still claim that you've damaged something and generally make a nuisance of themselves. 

Usually I'd suggest serving an unnecessary PW notice at this point to get the 2 month clock ticking, but that doesn't seem advisable as they sound like they'll dissent and insist on at least one surveyor. 

Assuming the investigations show no PW Notice is required, what I would suggest is writing to them and advising them to take photos of the condition of their property. This shifts the burden of proof onto them a little for having before and after photos of any damage

Yes, thats exactly why if no notice is required I dont want to serve it due to her undoutib;y wanting 2/3 opinions which obviously equates to £££££.

Very good point about taking the photos, something I hadnt thought of. At the end of the day I know all structural builds carry their risks however this is a standard 3m build, I would understand if we were excavating for a basement!

Thanks all.

cc58

I know this is going to sound like a bit of a silly point but in all of this you're forgetting you're creating a very grumpy neighbour who, once your extension is done, is still going to be living next to you for a very long time trying to get back at you. I would suggest seeing what you can do to smooth things over and get off on the right foot. I do understand it seems silly the duration entitlement but from her point of view you've just moved in, you're planning on causing her quite a large disturbance and no doubt in her mind she's lived there, peacefully before you came. Although it seems totally pointless a little diplomacy in these situations goes a long way, especially if you're sharing a wall with someone