Neighbours garage construction

nikimummy5

35har1old said:

nikimummy5 said:

I’m not sure if this is the right chat for this question and it’s my first time using so I apologize if I have it wrong but desperate to get some advice. 

A few years ago my neighbour had their garage converted to a bedroom. No problem council signed it off all seemed ok. However I have just drilled through my wall to put a vent in and being semi detached had no doubts only to drill into their room. When the building was going up I spoke to the builder about making sure nothing was attached to my property and he assured me it wasn’t. To my horror I now find out it’s attached to my wall. I have looked at satellite photos and you can see it’s over the boundary. How did this happen without any agreement on my side and the council signing off on it? Any advice would be fantastic thank you. Oh as a thought the garages were never joined there was always a small gap between but it appears their garage never had a side wall built (strange but true) 

So it's not semi detached
Garage was actually a carport likely built after construction 

It is semi detached with a garage then a gap with another semi detached with a garage. The garages are on the front of the houses added as you say later on but now the houses are joined because of this extension and it comes into my boundary 

Keep_pedalling

nikimummy5 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

I am struggling to get my head around this. Surely you would have noticed long ago that there was no gap between your house and the garage conversion.

The gap was very small and the builder filled it in at the front. He said he did this to stop debris getting in. The back of the house still has the gap so I was unaware 

Even if there was a small gap, how were you going to fit the external part of the vent (cowling / gravity flaps). The other problem would be moisture trapped between the walls would cause a damp issue for both of you.

Was this a DIY job or did you pay someone to do this? A competent tradesman should have realised there was a problem before starting any work. 

I don’t think anyone on here can advise on the main problem. Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? 

nikimummy5

Keep_pedalling said:

nikimummy5 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

I am struggling to get my head around this. Surely you would have noticed long ago that there was no gap between your house and the garage conversion.

The gap was very small and the builder filled it in at the front. He said he did this to stop debris getting in. The back of the house still has the gap so I was unaware 

Even if there was a small gap, how were you going to fit the external part of the vent (cowling / gravity flaps). The other problem would be moisture trapped between the walls would cause a damp issue for both of you.

Was this a DIY job or did you pay someone to do this? A competent tradesman should have realised there was a problem before starting any work. 

I don’t think anyone on here can advise on the main problem. Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? 

Keep_pedalling said:

nikimummy5 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

I am struggling to get my head around this. Surely you would have noticed long ago that there was no gap between your house and the garage conversion.

The gap was very small and the builder filled it in at the front. He said he did this to stop debris getting in. The back of the house still has the gap so I was unaware 

Even if there was a small gap, how were you going to fit the external part of the vent (cowling / gravity flaps). The other problem would be moisture trapped between the walls would cause a damp issue for both of you.

Was this a DIY job or did you pay someone to do this? A competent tradesman should have realised there was a problem before starting any work. 

I don’t think anyone on here can advise on the main problem. Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? 

Thank you for that advice it never even occurred to me about the damp or flap outside. I will just fill the hole and use the window. Obviously still look into the permission side of the build. 

Dustyevsky

nikimummy5 said:

Dustyevsky said:

nikimummy5 said:

A few years ago my neighbour had their garage converted to a bedroom. 

Whatever it makes your house in a technical sense, it's likely there is now no way to make the neighbour change what is there. As has been pointed out, there are advantages in not having an unmaintainable gap between the two structures.

Your main problem seems to be an inability to put a vent where you wanted it. 

Well actually it could have caused structural damage to my house. I gave no permission to attach it to my property etc so I think it’s more than just about a vent. 

Yes, it is more than about a vent, but there is no point in supposing structural damage has occurred without evidence. 

You have already stated a desire to deal with this amicably, so it will help if you're aiming at an achievable outcome from the start. Getting the neighbour to remove the wall and rebuild looks unlikely, considering the construction was signed-off by building control, and has been in position for some years, without apparently causing problems.

Legally, you might have a case, but once things go legal, the expense and likely acrimony, possibly over several years, may not be worth it. Do you have legal cover included in your home insurance?

WIAWSNB

nikimummy5 said:

It is semi detached with a garage then a gap with another semi detached with a garage. The garages are on the front of the houses added as you say later on but now the houses are joined because of this extension and it comes into my boundary 

Ok, that is significantly different from what I first understood.

I would agree that your neighbour, and their builder, would appear to have breached the requirements under the PWA. Potentially to your significant detriment - as you say, you now appear to be terraced as opposed to semi.

I'm still unclear as to what the builder has done. Could you explain with complete clarity, please?

1) You have a semi-detached house, with a garage towards the other neighbouring boundary?

2) Your garage sits approximately 6" from the true known boundary?

3) There is another semi-D on the other side of this boundary? 

4) Is it a similar design to yours?

5) Is their garage also around 6" within their boundary? 

6) Your two garages were also separated, and this would therefore be by around 1'?

7) The builder 'closed' this gap at the front, but left it open at the back?

8) What do you see when you look up this gap?

9) Did the garage conversion involve the existing garage wall 'moving' closer to your wall? 

10) Do you know how their bedroom wall suddenly became part of your wall? 

As suggested before, look up this extension on your LA's Planning Portal, and download the plans. It would have been subject to Building Control at the very least. 

RavingMad

How does a 6 inch gap disappear out of interest? Shouldn't think you could lay bricks unless they demolished the wall first 

nikimummy5

Dustyevsky said:

nikimummy5 said:

Dustyevsky said:

nikimummy5 said:

A few years ago my neighbour had their garage converted to a bedroom. 

Whatever it makes your house in a technical sense, it's likely there is now no way to make the neighbour change what is there. As has been pointed out, there are advantages in not having an unmaintainable gap between the two structures.

Your main problem seems to be an inability to put a vent where you wanted it. 

Well actually it could have caused structural damage to my house. I gave no permission to attach it to my property etc so I think it’s more than just about a vent. 

Yes, it is more than about a vent, but there is no point in supposing structural damage has occurred without evidence. 

You have already stated a desire to deal with this amicably, so it will help if you're aiming at an achievable outcome from the start. Getting the neighbour to remove the wall and rebuild looks unlikely, considering the construction was signed-off by building control, and has been in position for some years, without apparently causing problems.

Legally, you might have a case, but once things go legal, the expense and likely acrimony, possibly over several years, may not be worth it. Do you have legal cover included in your home insurance?

Yes I have legal cover and tbh I’m not bothered personally if it’s been done properly apart from the fact I think it’s crazy that something can be done to your property without consent. I’m more concerned about if the value of it has been reduced by doing this as it’s obviously changed from semi detached to mid terrace. I’m planning on selling in a few years so need to know where I stand with that. 

silvercar

nikimummy5 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

I am struggling to get my head around this. Surely you would have noticed long ago that there was no gap between your house and the garage conversion.

The gap was very small and the builder filled it in at the front. He said he did this to stop debris getting in. The back of the house still has the gap so I was unaware 

So the question is how far the gap at the back extends and who it belongs to. Who has built to the boundary line and who has built over it. It seems no one has done as much as stick a broom in that gap to clear any debris, which would be basic maintenance. Highlighting that a 6” gap is probably more than useless. At least joining onto your wall means no maintenance is required to your outside wall.

It appears that the neighbours should have got a PWA, but they didn’t. There is nothing you can do about that now. You have lost maybe half the width of the gap. You’ve also lost the ideal place to put your vent, but would you have had room to fit a cowl on the outside? And how would you have accessed the external side of the hole to fit it? 

Keep_pedalling

nikimummy5 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

nikimummy5 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

I am struggling to get my head around this. Surely you would have noticed long ago that there was no gap between your house and the garage conversion.

The gap was very small and the builder filled it in at the front. He said he did this to stop debris getting in. The back of the house still has the gap so I was unaware 

Even if there was a small gap, how were you going to fit the external part of the vent (cowling / gravity flaps). The other problem would be moisture trapped between the walls would cause a damp issue for both of you.

Was this a DIY job or did you pay someone to do this? A competent tradesman should have realised there was a problem before starting any work. 

I don’t think anyone on here can advise on the main problem. Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? 

Keep_pedalling said:

nikimummy5 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

I am struggling to get my head around this. Surely you would have noticed long ago that there was no gap between your house and the garage conversion.

The gap was very small and the builder filled it in at the front. He said he did this to stop debris getting in. The back of the house still has the gap so I was unaware 

Even if there was a small gap, how were you going to fit the external part of the vent (cowling / gravity flaps). The other problem would be moisture trapped between the walls would cause a damp issue for both of you.

Was this a DIY job or did you pay someone to do this? A competent tradesman should have realised there was a problem before starting any work. 

I don’t think anyone on here can advise on the main problem. Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? 

Thank you for that advice it never even occurred to me about the damp or flap outside. I will just fill the hole and use the window. Obviously still look into the permission side of the build. 

Presumably neither your wall or the adjoining wall are cavity walls (I can’t imaging being able to go through both if either were) in which case plugging the hole should not be too difficult. 

QrizB

nikimummy5 said:

... the garages were never joined there was always a small gap between but it appears their garage never had a side wall built (strange but true) 

When you drilled the vent hole, how many layers of wall (brick or block leaves) did you drill through? One, two or more?

If the garages were never joined, might they have been single-skinned (not cavity wall) and you've accidentally drilled through two separate walls - yours and your neighbours?