Neighbour building on my land

ThisIsWeird

You give the neighbour the opportunity to correct his error, and inform him what will happen if he doesn't.
If he doesn't, you take legal action.
Rarely have I read about such an indesputable case.
And, yes, rarely is taking legal action an enjoyable experience. But this will be the exception.

Eldi_Dos

I know Sunday is a busy day in their line of work but where is a Pontiff when you need one?

GDB2222

ThisIsWeird said:

GDB2222 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Hi Mistral and GDB - I couldn't disagree more.

Take this on rather than make the neighb do it? What's the fun in that?! And, if actual damage from damp ensues, imagine the sheer pleasure of getting the neighb to fork out for making it all perfect! After all, this neighb is a ...., and deserves everything they get.

I would only entertain a non-legal resolution if it involved getting a pro to do the work, and then billing the neighb. Oops - that's also a 'legal' approach, but you could sit back and enjoy after the job is done.

No WAY would I take on this job myself, with all the potential hassle that it could involve - dust everywhere, neighb calling the police, the sheer back-aching arrisolery of it all.

With the concrete over the DPC, this is as openandshut as it could be.

One or two people on this forum complain about how badly they are in dispute with their neighbours. You don’t have to be pals, but avoiding outright hostility seems sensible. 

So you are suggesting going on to the neighbour's land with a large angle grinder?
That should do it : 😄

I did suggest writing beforehand, etc. It’s important to try to get the neighbour to agree, but ultimately you have the right to enter your neighbour’s garden to repair your own property. You might need a court order, but hopefully the op and the neighbours can be sensible about this. Obviously they shouldn’t get into a fight over this, either physically or legally.

This is the first link that Google found

https://www.mylawyer.co.uk/going-onto-your-neighbours-land-a-A76076D34458/#:~:text=Generally%2C%20if%20you%20go%20onto,land%20without%20getting%20their%20permission.

GDB2222

ThisIsWeird said:

You give the neighbour the opportunity to correct his error, and inform him what will happen if he doesn't.
If he doesn't, you take legal action.
Rarely have I read about such an indesputable case.
And, yes, rarely is taking legal action an enjoyable experience. But this will be the exception.

Hopefully the op will try to sort this out far more cheaply, quickly, and less stressfully than going through the courts. As far as I know, the neighbour’s said that he won’t fix it himself. He hasn’t said he won’t let the op fix it. 

ThisIsWeird

Of course you try and sort it first. Kam has asked, but the guy fobbed him off. Yes, ask again, and if greeted with a similar response, you assure the guy that you will take action to sort it, if he doesn't.
When, again, the neighbour does nothing, what do you do? Get a court order to go on to his land?! Really? To do what - 'repair your own property'? 'Maintain your own property'? 
What will this involve? Could you outline the task that Kam now has on his hands? What will the job involve in practice? What tools will he require? How long will it take him? What tidying up will be required?
And Kam does all this while his neighb stands there smirking?
You have surely got to be kidding?

GDB2222

ThisIsWeird said:

Of course you try and sort it first. Kam has asked, but the guy fobbed him off. Yes, ask again, and if greeted with a similar response, you assure the guy that you will take action to sort it, if he doesn't.
When, again, the neighbour does nothing, what do you do? Get a court order to go on to his land?! Really? To do what - 'repair your own property'? 'Maintain your own property'? 
What will this involve? Could you outline the task that Kam now has on his hands? What will the job involve in practice? What tools will he require? How long will it take him? What tidying up will be required?
And Kam does all this while his neighb stands there smirking?
You have surely got to be kidding?

The OP appears to have the gear to do the job. About 10 minutes to run a line down the concrete with the angle grinder. 10 minutes to  break up the concrete strip and bag it up. Putting down the pea shingle is down to him. 

What is not clear is whether there will be any damage to the extension that needs to be made good, when the concrete is broken up.  There might be a small area of rendering to repair. 

I’d rather let the neighbour smirk at the work he’s causing than have months of stress over a legal dispute. And, that’s assuming the OP has legal insurance. If he doesn’t, it’s likely to cost him several thousand pounds in unrecoverable legal fees, and that’s assuming he wins. 

Now, you tell me, which would you rather, spend thousands of pounds and incur much stress, or allow your neighbour a little smirk?  

The building work involved to put this right is pretty minimal, which is why the sensible choice is to swallow pride and get on with it, as long as the neighbour doesn’t try to stop the op doing that.

ThisIsWeird

Stress? Should be next to none.
£housands? Great, because the neighbour would be footing.
But, if it's a 20 minute job, then... You have got to be kidding! Even a 9" 'grinder only goes in to around 3-odd depth. Then what? Come on, GDB - how long will/could a job like this actually take? When the cut doesn't go deep enough? When the cut line stops short from where it meets the neighbour's wall? Just marking out the 'exact' boundary line? Dumping the concrete?
And even if you were daft enough to do this, how much sweeping up and cleaning down of your neighb's patio and possessions would you do? Potentially in front of them?
And, would you DIYing this act as any deterrent to your neighb to stop being a tool?
Seriously, the neighbour did this, and the neighbour needs to sort it. Not only is it the neighb's responsibility, but it should teach him a lesson.
If he got a contractor to do it, then he needs to get them back - because they were the ones who got this wrong. But, neighb arranges.
I'd be very clear when speaking to him so he'd be in no doubt. "You must know that what you did was wrong? No? Look it up - 'breaching DPC with raised ground level'. You must know it therefore needs correcting or you could be responsible for far greater damage? You must know that, for the protection of my property, I have zero option but to pursue this? You must know that this is a case I cannot fail to win, so whatever it costs you will end up paying?"
Even if Kam does not have 'paid-up' LP,  they will likely take a call and outline the process for him to take - they did this for mil re a covenant issue. Or, Kam just needs to sort it himself.
Bottom line, it's his call.
Hopefully he'll keep this thread updated.

GDB2222

Ah yes, it should teach him a lesson! Just explain why you would put yourself out to help him in this way?

I don’t think that you understand how costs work in the English court system. Maybe, you should bone up on that before saying that the neighbour will be paying the OP’s costs.

You could be right that the op might need to hire a bigger grinder. 

ThisIsWeird

GDB2222 said:

Ah yes, it should teach him a lesson! Just explain why you would put yourself out to help him in this way?

I don't understand, GDB. I don't see how forcing the neighbour to sort this is 'helping' him at all.

GDB2222 said:

I don’t think that you understand how costs work in the English court system. Maybe, you should bone up on that before saying that the neighbour will be paying the OP’s costs.

Fair point - I don't!

If I didn't have LegProt, then the method I'd be inclined to choose is to written, dated, ultimatum, and then get a builder in to do the job, and MoneyClaim or SCC the neighb for the cost.

Or, a half-hour consult with a local solicitor to ensure I knew the prose and cons - including costs - and make a decision that way. Or a no-win, no-fee type if they'd take on such a small matter.

Bottom line, surely, is - there is no way that the neighbour would 'win' such a case. That slab needs to be removed, and the neighbour is liable for it?

Unless you are an experienced DIYer, that sort of job can be deeply unpleasant. Yes, the concrete should hopefully still be relatively soft, but could also have sizeable pebbles in it. I did a couple of straight cuts in an outside wall two weeks ago, and it was hellish. Hard as hell, and completely wore away almost three blades. I was on a stepladder, and my calves were aching afterwards. And I was thickly covered with dust. Deeply unpleasant.

And I didn't even get through one of the skins.

GDB2222

If the case is small claims track, then essentially both sides pay their own legal costs, regardless of the outcome. In the fast track, the loser pays around 70% of the winner’s costs, and the winner has to pay the other 30%.  That 30% would be a minimum of £1000, and possibly several times that. 

And, you mentioned smirking. If you go to court, there’s going to be no end of smirking. Everyone from the judge to the court clerk will be smirking at a couple of people who can’t settle a simple dispute amicably and have to spend thousands to get someone else to decide for them. 

Curiously, our neighbour has landscape gardeners in at the moment, and the amount of dust their stone cutting generates is phenomenal. They have been at it for days now, and we are certainly noticing the dust in the house. 

The op will hopefully be cutting green concrete, if he gets on with it. So, it may not be as bad as yours?  I have limited experience of using an AG on stone. I did cut a couple of paving stones and it was pretty easy.