Fed up of looking at neighbours ugly extension

whosthatgirl1989

Hello, I want to do something about the neighbours extension. It’s so ugly. I’ve thought about painting the breeze blocks but then I’m stuck about what to do about the horrible black plastic under their windows. Anyone have any ideas?

Section62

whosthatgirl1989 said:

Hello, I want to do something about the neighbours extension. It’s so ugly. I’ve thought about painting the breeze blocks but then I’m stuck about what to do about the horrible black plastic under their windows. Anyone have any ideas?

Did they get planning consent, and building regs signoff?  How long since it was built?

Where is your boundary?

whosthatgirl1989

There’s no planning permission for it online, presumably as it falls under permitted development. The building regs online says it was built in 1999. I believe the extension is on the boundary as it’s in line with the rest of the fence in the garden.

Ebe_Scrooge

You can't go painting it without their permission (do you get on OK with your neighbour ?).  I might suggest some small trees or tallish shrubs in pots in front of it - though this would obviously take up some space in your yard.  And the other obvious option of ivy/clematis/any sort of creeper - has the potential to cause problems if it damages the structure in any way.

What is that plastic under the windows?  Is it just to divert rainwater away from the wall?  I'm no expert, but it looks a right shoddy piece of work!

MalMonroe

Hi, good questions from Section 62, above.

I feel sorry for you, that really is awful. Did they even tell you informally what they were going to do?

It looks as if it's leaning towards your property too.

You do need to find out if they got the appropriate planning consent. You can find information on your local council's webpage, or phone them. If the neighbours didn't have the appropriate planning consent you can complain to the council and they may have to remove it, especially as it's such an eyesore. I'm thinking they didn't have any consent because you'd have been contacted in advance by the council and that doesn't seem to have happened.

Section62

whosthatgirl1989 said:

The building regs online says it was built in 1999. I believe the extension is on the boundary as it’s in line with the rest of the fence in the garden.

Was it signed off?  It looks like it was meant to be rendered and they never finished the job.  The fact they've built two piers suggests the wall may only be 100mm thick and single skin.  I'd be surprised if it would have had signoff in that form, even in 1999.  Although it is long past the commencement of BC enforcement. it might be worth making enquiries whether any enfocement action was started at the time.

The boundary question is also important - either the piers have been built on your land, or the block paving (presumably yours) goes onto their land.  The DPC (if there is one) appears to be just above the level of the block paving.

Depending on the answer you could have some leverage to 'encourage' them to agree to improve the visual appeal of the wall, or to let you do something.  Alternatively, if you complain they may counter-complain that your block paving is causing their building to be damaged by damp.

Ideally you need to clarify the situation before doing anything which might disturb the status quo.

maisie_cat

there is nothing you can do without the owners permission, if he was forced to render it he could paint it whatever colour he liked because he would never see it.
We had a one of those years ago, I looked out of a kitchen window onto breeze blocks like that because it took him years to render and paint it.
I built some raised beds and planted climbing plants to shield it, nothing touched his wall but I did lose a bit of my 2m wide side access

Doozergirl

MalMonroe said:

Hi, good questions from Section 62, above.

I feel sorry for you, that really is awful. Did they even tell you informally what they were going to do?

It looks as if it's leaning towards your property too.

You do need to find out if they got the appropriate planning consent. You can find information on your local council's webpage, or phone them. If the neighbours didn't have the appropriate planning consent you can complain to the council and they may have to remove it, especially as it's such an eyesore. I'm thinking they didn't have any consent because you'd have been contacted in advance by the council and that doesn't seem to have happened.

Planning consent is deemed to have been granted if it's been in place for 4 years (presuming by the look of it that it isn't attached to a listed building!) This is 23 years old.  It's not going anywhere.  

Bendy_House

Yes, it looks like a fait accompli.

WTG, I presume you are not interested in challenging the build in any way, but just - understandably - want to hide it? In which case I'd sink some concrete posts close to these piers, fit arris rails between them, and mount something like trellis on this. Then some raised troughs with climbers, the type that doesn't cling to walls, but is intertwined around the trellis - Clematis type stuff?

Or lower troughs with shrubs bushes whatsits in them.

Or mount some other type of non-living screening to the arris rails for an instant effect - bamboo screening, artificial ivy, whatevs.

That's mighty ugly...

 

plumb1_2

Ebe_Scrooge said:

What is that plastic under the windows?  Is it just to divert rainwater away from the wall?  I'm no expert, but it looks a right shoddy piece of work!

Looks like plastic eaves trays, and then flashband stuck on top, very shoddy 

Rosa_Damascena

 The build quality makes me think its going to be difficult to sell. Will the next owner be able top get a mortgage on this?