New Build developer needs to construct a gradient on my front garden

Evalo

Evalo said:

Hi all,

Now in our new build house, there is no gradient in the front garden, and it is flat. But recently, we have got an email from the developer claiming that it has not been constructed according to the approved drawing. We have checked that there is a drawing showing gradient on my front garden marked by contour lines.

I would like to know what I could do to stop the developer constructing the gradient as I do not want to waste money hiring someone to flatten the gradient when the developer has left the site.

 The developer says that the gradient will slope from the parking space of the adjacent house on the right towards my property.

There are some concerns and potential danger if it is constructed.

1.       The gradient obstructs our access to the front garden from the gate.

2.       It causes potential danger when our kids access the front garden, especially in the dark.

3.       It may cause pooling of water near the foundation of my house.

However, the developer insists that they need to build in accordance with the drawings they have approval for, and they just agree to create a small flat area in front of the gate to allow access and egress from my gate.

I just wonder if they create a small flat area in front of the gate, they still do not build in accordance with the drawings.

Could anyone advise on what I could do so that I do not need to waste money to flatten my garden 2 years later?

The developer needs to build the gradient sloping from the parking space of the adjacent house towards my building.

Evalo

The developer needs to add gradient sloping from the parking space at the adjacent house towards my house 

silvercar

Is the parking space your neighbour’s? So the boundary is marked just by the vertical stones edging the parking space? I guess so that the owner has room to open the car door without hitting a wall, but personally I would prefer a fence of some description. 

[Deleted User]

That's a helluva difference in level !
I visit someone who has this very difference in level on their drive too, this summer they had it levelled but it isn't butted-up to their neighbours boundary.
There are member here who will add better insight than me - @FreeBear @Bendy_House @Doozergirl

HampshireH

[Deleted User] said:

That's a helluva difference in level !
I visit someone who has this very difference in level on their drive too, this summer they had it levelled but it isn't butted-up to their neighbours boundary.
There are member here who will add better insight than me - @FreeBear @Bendy_House @Doozergirl

Really odd they have installed a gate with no pathway to get to it too. I thought there was an expectation on developers to put an accessible pathway in to rear gates like this these days 

Section62

Evalo said:

The developer needs to add gradient sloping from the parking space at the adjacent house towards my house 

Was the neighbour's driveway on the plans, or is this something they've added after planning?

It looks to me like a possible design muck-up and someone on site has come up with a flagstone retaining wall as an easy fix.  It looks horrible and I wouldn't be surprised if the council were quite firm about improving it*.

Where is your damp proof course relative to the soil level?  They won't be able to bank soil up along the whole length without affecting the level access to and through your side gate... unless they are able to continue the level change through and beyond the gate.  The feasibility of that will depend on how high your DP is relative to the level of the driveway.

I would -

1) Check the approved planning drawings

2) Ask the developer for drawings showing the proposed alteration, including some cross-sections, particularly where the gate is.

3) Insist that the developer doesn't do anything which compromises the DP arrangements of your house.

4) Ask for a drainage solution which ensures any runoff from the neighbour's drive doesn't run down the grassed area washing soil down towards your house. (e.g. channel drain)

*ETA - the difference in level is also potentially a safety issue - with no fence or barrier along the edge it is high enough to potentially cause quite significant injuries if someone accidentally steps off the edge, but not high enough that people would necessarily be aware of the danger and take extra care.  There are BR and NHBC rules on the treatment of level differences like this.

Flugelhorn

that is going to be quite some slope with water going straight to the foundations - very odd 

ProDave

My guess is they need to correct the level change, which as it stands probably requires a barrier (fence) to mitigate the danger of stepping off it.

Their proposal is to make your grass slope from the neigbhours deive to your house wall.  I would not want that.

But something has to be done.

I would go with a counter proposal that instead they lay a path from your front boundary to your side gate alongside the neighbours drive, and set the path at a height half way between the neighbours drive and your grass.  This will in effect make it a step down and mitigate the need for a barrier.  It would seem to solve the level change issue, give you a path to your gate, and leave you with a flat lawn.

See what the builders say to that.

Bendy_House

Section62 said:

*ETA - the difference in level is also potentially a safety issue - with no fence or barrier along the edge it is high enough to potentially cause quite significant injuries if someone accidentally steps off the edge, but not high enough that people would necessarily be aware of the danger and take extra care.  There are BR and NHBC rules on the treatment of level differences like this.

I suspect it's that D'oh! moment that prompted this late insistence; as it stands, that's an accident waiting to happen. Even with a slope, that won't be an easy patch to step on to - anyone exiting a car without looking, could easy be put off balance.

The neighb's driveway looks to be wide enough for a car door to be opened if a fence were there, so I wonder if a restriction on the obvious solution - a fence - is written into the deeds as a means of keeping an open - what are they called? - 'street scene' frontage? Ie, the house frontages are kept physical boundary-free on this estate?

Evalo, do you chat with this neighbour? Worth asking what they think? Would they ultimately prefer a fence there, or would it be restrictive to their width for car door opening?

Ok, if the deeds say 'no physical boundaries out t'front', then in theory you might not be permitted to do this, but in practice - with the agreement of the neighb - you might quite easily get away with it after the last house has sold and the developer has moved away. (I am not suggesting this as s 'solution' - certainly not at the moment - but just a future possibility). Ie, there's a good chance that such restrictive covenants are written in to keep the estate's appearance as the developers intended until the properties are sold - they don't want caravans, commercial vehicles, tall mismatched fences, large hedges, stuff like that to 'spoil' their plans and put buyers off. Once all sold, some of these restrictions are often breached with no effect. So I am thinking that, later on, and with the neighb's agreement, you very likely could put a fence along there, and get away with it, provided it didn't come forward of the house's front wall. And then you could re-level that side entrance.

Meanwhile, ensure any changes won't aversely affect your house as S62 says.

I doubt very much you can - or should - stop them from doing this, Evalo; it's dangerous. Have you asked them why not a fence instead?

Sapindus

That looks a similar drop to what exists between my front drive and my neighbour's, mine being higher.  I have a very low wall, a bit more than two courses of brick, on top of the drop.  This seems to be enough that no-one has ever fallen off my drive onto my neighbours.