Neighbour dispute after extension

Section62

skintdaddy79 said:

Section62 said:

skintdaddy79 said:

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. 

I don't understand why people are blaming the builder for taking instructions from the neighbour.  The work was being done in the neighbour's garden (AIUI) - so if the neighbour told the builder he couldn't do the work and had to leave the property then the builder had no option but to do so.

So the issue is about communication - when did the builder first tell you there was a problem and he hadn't been able to do the work?  Did you have a look in the neighbour's garden or speak to them on the day to make sure the work had been done correctly?  When did you first find out there was an issue?

The builder advised me on the day later on via a WhatsApp voice note (they had already left at that point). 
No i didn't speak to the neighbor on the day as I assumed they were sorting themselves and heard no more about it until nearly 4 weeks later when he confronted me about it saying it needs sorting....

So the builder did what could be expected of them - leaving when asked to by the neighbour, contacting you on the day to let you know.

Arguably they could have stayed on site (e.g. on the road) until you'd sorted things out with the neighbour, but I could understand why they'd just leave to do something more productive (and earning money) rather than hanging around waiting for the go-ahead to finish the job.

I agree with the point made already - building up to the boundary now means you are somewhat reliant on the goodwill of the neighbour to get access to that side of the extension if you need to do maintenance work.  And if the neighbour decides to 'go legal', it is probably quite likely a court would say you are obliged to make good where the builder has disturbed the original surface in the neighbour's land.

Is the wall of the extension on the legal boundary - and if so, do you have eaves or gutters etc which overhang?

skintdaddy79

Section62 said:

skintdaddy79 said:

Section62 said:

skintdaddy79 said:

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. 

I don't understand why people are blaming the builder for taking instructions from the neighbour.  The work was being done in the neighbour's garden (AIUI) - so if the neighbour told the builder he couldn't do the work and had to leave the property then the builder had no option but to do so.

So the issue is about communication - when did the builder first tell you there was a problem and he hadn't been able to do the work?  Did you have a look in the neighbour's garden or speak to them on the day to make sure the work had been done correctly?  When did you first find out there was an issue?

The builder advised me on the day later on via a WhatsApp voice note (they had already left at that point). 
No i didn't speak to the neighbor on the day as I assumed they were sorting themselves and heard no more about it until nearly 4 weeks later when he confronted me about it saying it needs sorting....

So the builder did what could be expected of them - leaving when asked to by the neighbour, contacting you on the day to let you know.

Arguably they could have stayed on site (e.g. on the road) until you'd sorted things out with the neighbour, but I could understand why they'd just leave to do something more productive (and earning money) rather than hanging around waiting for the go-ahead to finish the job.

I agree with the point made already - building up to the boundary now means you are somewhat reliant on the goodwill of the neighbour to get access to that side of the extension if you need to do maintenance work.  And if the neighbour decides to 'go legal', it is probably quite likely a court would say you are obliged to make good where the builder has disturbed the original surface in the neighbour's land.

Is the wall of the extension on the legal boundary - and if so, do you have eaves or gutters etc which overhang?

The builder was going to make good but was told to stop. Neighbor wanted paving all the way up, as opposed to the gravel/stones, which would have been extra (for the blocks). Yes we have built right up to the boundary give or take an inch or 2. Gutters are just on the boundary or they may hang over slightly, never really looked or it's not been mentioned anyway.

silvercar

skintdaddy79 said:

Section62 said:

skintdaddy79 said:

Section62 said:

skintdaddy79 said:

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. 

I don't understand why people are blaming the builder for taking instructions from the neighbour.  The work was being done in the neighbour's garden (AIUI) - so if the neighbour told the builder he couldn't do the work and had to leave the property then the builder had no option but to do so.

So the issue is about communication - when did the builder first tell you there was a problem and he hadn't been able to do the work?  Did you have a look in the neighbour's garden or speak to them on the day to make sure the work had been done correctly?  When did you first find out there was an issue?

The builder advised me on the day later on via a WhatsApp voice note (they had already left at that point). 
No i didn't speak to the neighbor on the day as I assumed they were sorting themselves and heard no more about it until nearly 4 weeks later when he confronted me about it saying it needs sorting....

So the builder did what could be expected of them - leaving when asked to by the neighbour, contacting you on the day to let you know.

Arguably they could have stayed on site (e.g. on the road) until you'd sorted things out with the neighbour, but I could understand why they'd just leave to do something more productive (and earning money) rather than hanging around waiting for the go-ahead to finish the job.

I agree with the point made already - building up to the boundary now means you are somewhat reliant on the goodwill of the neighbour to get access to that side of the extension if you need to do maintenance work.  And if the neighbour decides to 'go legal', it is probably quite likely a court would say you are obliged to make good where the builder has disturbed the original surface in the neighbour's land.

Is the wall of the extension on the legal boundary - and if so, do you have eaves or gutters etc which overhang?

The builder was going to make good but was told to stop. Neighbor wanted paving all the way up, as opposed to the gravel/stones, which would have been extra (for the blocks). Yes we have built right up to the boundary give or take an inch or 2. Gutters are just on the boundary or they may hang over slightly, never really looked or it's not been mentioned anyway.

Quite reasonable of the neighbour to say they don't want stones - they haven't got stones anywhere else, so why would they want them here? You've removed the fence on the boundary, so you need to replace it with something acceptable to your neighbours or put the fence back up. 

skintdaddy79

silvercar said:

skintdaddy79 said:

Section62 said:

skintdaddy79 said:

Section62 said:

skintdaddy79 said:

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. 

I don't understand why people are blaming the builder for taking instructions from the neighbour.  The work was being done in the neighbour's garden (AIUI) - so if the neighbour told the builder he couldn't do the work and had to leave the property then the builder had no option but to do so.

So the issue is about communication - when did the builder first tell you there was a problem and he hadn't been able to do the work?  Did you have a look in the neighbour's garden or speak to them on the day to make sure the work had been done correctly?  When did you first find out there was an issue?

The builder advised me on the day later on via a WhatsApp voice note (they had already left at that point). 
No i didn't speak to the neighbor on the day as I assumed they were sorting themselves and heard no more about it until nearly 4 weeks later when he confronted me about it saying it needs sorting....

So the builder did what could be expected of them - leaving when asked to by the neighbour, contacting you on the day to let you know.

Arguably they could have stayed on site (e.g. on the road) until you'd sorted things out with the neighbour, but I could understand why they'd just leave to do something more productive (and earning money) rather than hanging around waiting for the go-ahead to finish the job.

I agree with the point made already - building up to the boundary now means you are somewhat reliant on the goodwill of the neighbour to get access to that side of the extension if you need to do maintenance work.  And if the neighbour decides to 'go legal', it is probably quite likely a court would say you are obliged to make good where the builder has disturbed the original surface in the neighbour's land.

Is the wall of the extension on the legal boundary - and if so, do you have eaves or gutters etc which overhang?

The builder was going to make good but was told to stop. Neighbor wanted paving all the way up, as opposed to the gravel/stones, which would have been extra (for the blocks). Yes we have built right up to the boundary give or take an inch or 2. Gutters are just on the boundary or they may hang over slightly, never really looked or it's not been mentioned anyway.

Quite reasonable of the neighbour to say they don't want stones - they haven't got stones anywhere else, so why would they want them here? You've removed the fence on the boundary, so you need to replace it with something acceptable to your neighbours or put the fence back up. 

Yes, i get why they'd want the paving blocks there, would look neater, but there were never blocks there originally obviously because of the fence. The charge would have been for the new blocks (which we would have happily paid for). We didnt get chance to discuss this though as builder was told to stop the work.

sheramber

You could have discussed it with the neighbours when the builder contacted you.

That was your   chance to discuss it.
 

There seems to  have been assumptions made on both sides.
 

Neighbour assumed builder would be laying blocks all the way up.

You assumed they were making their own arrangements.
 

skintdaddy79

sheramber said:

You could have discussed it with the neighbours when the builder contacted you.

That was your   chance to discuss it.
 

There seems to  have been assumptions made on both sides.
 

Neighbour assumed builder would be laying blocks all the way up.

You assumed they were making their own arrangements.
 

This is what it's boiling down to I think. Like i said they're not the most approachable unfortunately. I've asked our builder about coming back to sort but the boss is on holiday until next week. I fear if they do come back they'll charge for the labour as well as materials. Would I be within reason to go halves with the neighbors on it?

Section62

skintdaddy79 said:

The builder was going to make good but was told to stop. Neighbor wanted paving all the way up, as opposed to the gravel/stones, which would have been extra (for the blocks). Yes we have built right up to the boundary give or take an inch or 2. Gutters are just on the boundary or they may hang over slightly, never really looked or it's not been mentioned anyway.

So there could be an inch or two of your property in front of the wall which needs finishing off in some way... if there is, then it isn't that the neighbour wants you to pave/surface their land, it is them wanting a neat and maintenance-free treatment of your bit of land. (e.g. so it doesn't become a weed patch).

If the wall is on the boundary and there's an overhang then potentially you could get into a situation of a trespass claim by the neighbour if they felt really aggrieved.

The path of least resistance might be to get your builder to do what the neighbour wants (within reason).  Or else make absolutely sure none of your extension overhangs the boundary if you feel like taking a stand.

Cressida100

skintdaddy79 said:

sheramber said:

You could have discussed it with the neighbours when the builder contacted you.

That was your   chance to discuss it.
 

There seems to  have been assumptions made on both sides.
 

Neighbour assumed builder would be laying blocks all the way up.

You assumed they were making their own arrangements.
 

This is what it's boiling down to I think. Like i said they're not the most approachable unfortunately. I've asked our builder about coming back to sort but the boss is on holiday until next week. I fear if they do come back they'll charge for the labour as well as materials. Would I be within reason to go halves with the neighbors on it?

If you want to maintain your 'cordial' relationship with your neighbour, you need to pay the whole amount.  Why not build a bridge rather than ruin your relationship altogether.

My neighbour built a small extension which goes right up to my boundary. If this had caused any issues on my side I would have expected him to make it good at his expense (and he would have). Going back and reading the whole thread I think you will do anything rather than sort it. These types of issues can escalate and WHO would want to live like that if they could avoid it. 

skintdaddy79

It's not a matter of not wanting to sort it out. It was being made good by our builder! The neighbor came out and stopped them! The issue was with this charge for extra blocks which didn't get a chance to be discussed on the day and now here we are. He did wait nearly 4 weeks before mentioning it to me so i assumed he was sorting themselves.

Herzlos

skintdaddy79 said:

sheramber said:

You could have discussed it with the neighbours when the builder contacted you.

That was your   chance to discuss it.
 

There seems to  have been assumptions made on both sides.
 

Neighbour assumed builder would be laying blocks all the way up.

You assumed they were making their own arrangements.
 

This is what it's boiling down to I think. Like i said they're not the most approachable unfortunately. I've asked our builder about coming back to sort but the boss is on holiday until next week. I fear if they do come back they'll charge for the labour as well as materials. Would I be within reason to go halves with the neighbors on it?

It'd be a hard sell. You (via builder) made the mess so it's on you to make good. 

If that means paying the builder for another half day of labour on top of the blocks then that's still going to be your best option. If you don't, then you're going to risk decades of hostility about it. 

Plus, if you're not 100% positive your gutters are on your side of the boundary, you want to keep them happy. Because if your extension crosses the line, they are fully entitled to force you to fix it, which will mean moving the wall and that's going to cost a lot more than some labour and blocks. 


Sure it sucks, but you missed the opportunity to resolve it for £50.