Neighbour dispute after extension

sheramber

It is purely your choice what you do.

It doesn’t really matter what some strangers on a forum say they would do.

It sounds like if you  don’t do what neighbour asks they will bear a grudge.

If you do it, you will bear a grudge. 

Which will be easier to live with?

WIAWSNB

skintdaddy79 said:

Thank you for the replies so far. I know a lot of you are saying "just get it done" but it's more money to have to pay out when I don't think we are to blame? We have gone over budget on the build (which I know can happen 9 out of 10 times with every build). The builders had actually started laying down the pavers, just before the gap in question, and was told to stop the whole job. They offered to finish up to the gap at that point and sort it out potentially later but was told to stop it all. The space in question is around a metre wide by about 2 maybe 3 metres long and would essentially need a row of around 10-15 small blocks. Sounds like nothing I know but if the neighbour would have left it, it would probably have been sorted by now. He never actually asked how much it would have cost.
Over the course of the build they have complained about parking a bit over their driveway, which is fair enough; just ask them to politely move the vans ect but i believe he was quite rude to our guys when doing so. Also said our new boiler flue was 'encroaching on our property' (it really wasn't but we had flue adapter fitted to appease). As commented in another reply, they have definitely taken some amount of umbrage to our extension and a sprinkling of jealously. 

I still don't fully understand.

But I'll just reiterate - your obligation to them is only to restore the part of their path that you disrupted in order to lay your founds. Ie, take it back to the original condition.

That's it.

The rest is up to you.

This is not a 'dispute'. It won't become a dispute. Your neighbour is seemingly asking for something they are not entitled to, and you are saying no - there is no dispute. "Can I have your car?" "No." No dispute.

I'll also reiterate - if you decide to not do anything other than restore to original, and that ain't good enough for them, then make sure you can evidence your intention to repair what you have altered, and that they have refused this. Once you do this, then you are good to go - your builders should only sort out your side, up to your boundary. If this guy physically interferes, then you call the local bobby. 

Like others, I don't understand why your builder was minded to walk away; they work for you, and it was the neighbour who interfered with this.

Do you know what their thoughts are on this? Do they agree your neighbour's request is unreasonable, or do they think it's little extra work, so why don't you give the go-ahead? 

Your builders will have seen situations like this before, so perhaps they do believe in some give and take, if a neighbour hasn't been holding back work?

Do you know?

Anyhoo, you know the score. You know what you are obliged to offer. Anything else is up to you. I suggest you make a decision, and do not keep trying to justify it to us, as we cannot know the full issue on the ground.

theartfullodger

But neighbour probably thinks they are entitled to more e.g. compo.

Do you want to have to declare dispute when you sell.  I.e. try and negotiate... Getting on with neighbours is almost always the best idea.

Best wishes to all 

skintdaddy79

WIAWSNB said:

skintdaddy79 said:

Thank you for the replies so far. I know a lot of you are saying "just get it done" but it's more money to have to pay out when I don't think we are to blame? We have gone over budget on the build (which I know can happen 9 out of 10 times with every build). The builders had actually started laying down the pavers, just before the gap in question, and was told to stop the whole job. They offered to finish up to the gap at that point and sort it out potentially later but was told to stop it all. The space in question is around a metre wide by about 2 maybe 3 metres long and would essentially need a row of around 10-15 small blocks. Sounds like nothing I know but if the neighbour would have left it, it would probably have been sorted by now. He never actually asked how much it would have cost.
Over the course of the build they have complained about parking a bit over their driveway, which is fair enough; just ask them to politely move the vans ect but i believe he was quite rude to our guys when doing so. Also said our new boiler flue was 'encroaching on our property' (it really wasn't but we had flue adapter fitted to appease). As commented in another reply, they have definitely taken some amount of umbrage to our extension and a sprinkling of jealously. 

I still don't fully understand.

But I'll just reiterate - your obligation to them is only to restore the part of their path that you disrupted in order to lay your founds. Ie, take it back to the original condition.

That's it.

The rest is up to you.

This is not a 'dispute'. It won't become a dispute. Your neighbour is seemingly asking for something they are not entitled to, and you are saying no - there is no dispute. "Can I have your car?" "No." No dispute.

I'll also reiterate - if you decide to not do anything other than restore to original, and that ain't good enough for them, then make sure you can evidence your intention to repair what you have altered, and that they have refused this. Once you do this, then you are good to go - your builders should only sort out your side, up to your boundary. If this guy physically interferes, then you call the local bobby. 

Like others, I don't understand why your builder was minded to walk away; they work for you, and it was the neighbour who interfered with this.

Do you know what their thoughts are on this? Do they agree your neighbour's request is unreasonable, or do they think it's little extra work, so why don't you give the go-ahead? 

Your builders will have seen situations like this before, so perhaps they do believe in some give and take, if a neighbour hasn't been holding back work?

Do you know?

Anyhoo, you know the score. You know what you are obliged to offer. Anything else is up to you. I suggest you make a decision, and do not keep trying to justify it to us, as we cannot know the full issue on the ground.

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply. Basically it's a gap of around 2-3 metres (if that) by a nearly a metre between ours and theirs. There originally were x2 fence panels in that gap so no pavers were there in the first place. We've built up to our boundary so now the fences aren't there hence the need for a few extra blocks and this is what a charge would have been for. We would have paid this of course but didn't get a chance to make that choice as the builders were asked to leave. As i say they're not the most approachable and can be quite rude but I just want this 'putting to bed'. Are we at fault here or is it both parties?

sheramber

If you do not want to pay for the whole lot then you should replace the blocks as was agreed.

There was no agreement , I assume, to put additional blocks down on their  side of the boundary.

I would remind them that they told the builder to stop so , while you will ask the builder to return and relay these  blocks only, you will not be doing anything to the rest of the gap.

they will have to wait until the builder isable to return to do that.

Anything further is not your responsibility 

It is your choice nwhat you do. There is no right or wrong,

The fault was your builder taking instructions from your neighbour. He should have referred back to you to sort it  out at the time.

youth_leader

You do not want to have to declare a neigbbour dispute when you sell.  Your neighbour and builder are at fault - your neighbour had no right to instruct your builder, and your builder should not have carried out his request without your permission.  His contract was with you.  

Just suck it up and pay for the work, you won't regret it.  Then play loud music and have very smoky barbecues  

Herzlos

Why did nothing happen to resolve it in what sounds like the 4 weeks the builders were still there? Did you just assume that the neighbour would be happy with it left as is?


Anyway, that aside, is this a hill you want to die on? You need to restore it to the condition before you did the work, so is another £50 worth hostility with someone you're presumably going to be living next to for years?

skintdaddy79

youth_leader said:

You do not want to have to declare a neigbbour dispute when you sell.  Your neighbour and builder are at fault - your neighbour had no right to instruct your builder, and your builder should not have carried out his request without your permission.  His contract was with you.  

Just suck it up and pay for the work, you won't regret it.  Then play loud music and have very smoky barbecues  

This is what I'm thinking, i just wish the builder had rang me on the day at the time and it would have all been sorted. I got a voice note over WhatsApp after the event so there was little i could at that point as I was at work at the time all this happened. I've said to the neighbour to contact our builder direct and discuss but he wont. 

youth_leader

I hope you can get the builder back quickly and get it sorted and forget about it, life's short.  The neighbour obviously went inside and told his wife and she said wrong decision,  it's free!  Go back and say you do want it done. Was he sheepish?

We had a seven year dispute with our neighbour over the septic tank and it was a very smelly, very costly and unpleasant business - then they were the only people in able to help me when my husband died of a cardiac arrest.  It is worth keeping the peace  

skintdaddy79

Herzlos said:

Why did nothing happen to resolve it in what sounds like the 4 weeks the builders were still there? Did you just assume that the neighbour would be happy with it left as is?


Anyway, that aside, is this a hill you want to die on? You need to restore it to the condition before you did the work, so is another £50 worth hostility with someone you're presumably going to be living next to for years?

Yes it was about 4 weeks until he mentioned it to me after the event so yes i did assume that he was sorting it himself. No the £50 would have been just for the materials to finish the job on the day but this was never relayed or asked for at the time. I'm going to imagine if our builders come back they'll charge for re-laying and everything now.