Neighour's extension on my land

VictorMeldew

I'm not sure if this is in the right forum, but I could do with a bit of advice about this. My next door neighbour has just built a two storey extension on the side of his house which I am sure crosses over onto my land on one corner. He has also built a one storey extension on the back which is touching my fence, and the tiles of the pitched roof of this extension overhang into my garden. There is no guttering up yet, but when there is, this will overhang even more so.

I have informed the council two weeks ago that the building does not conform to the plans submitted (the one storey extension at the back doesn't even appear on them!), but they are yet to send someone out to inspect it, and I don't feel that they are taking my concerns seriously.

Also, to make matters even more complicated, the neighbour's parents have expressed an interest in buying my house, but I'm not sure if this is just so that I'm less likely to complain about the extension. I will be moving in the next two years anyway.

Does anyone have any idea about how I set about proving who owns the land, how much a solicitor will be, how likely I am to win assuming that the land is definitely mine, how long it will take and what would be the likely outcome.

Any advice would be most appreciated because I really am not sure what to do!

bryanb

How come you did not notice when they dug the foundations that the single storey was on your land? If the building is touching your fence the foundation must be well into your side.
Have you talked to the neighbour about the problem?

wymondham

Just a thought, but if the parents might look to buy your house, then you might be in a very good position to sell as you know why they want your house (to be next door etc)... Might be easier to see if you can sell as you could kill two birds with one stone?

VictorMeldew

If there are any foundations for the one storey extension, then they don't come over onto my side, because the fence hasn't been moved.

PasturesNew

Sounds like he's in the wrong for many reasons, but as house prices are falling and you plan to not be there in 2 years' time - I'd be looking to sell the house now to his parents for top dollar.

Solves everything.

bryanb

VictorMeldew wrote: »

If there are any foundations for the one storey extension, then they don't come over onto my side, because the fence hasn't been moved.

And have you talked? Are you on speaking terms?

VictorMeldew

We have talked, I asked him about the location of the two storey extension when it was still at the foundation stage, and he said that the wall would be entirely on his land. Unfortunately I mis-read the plans when the wall went up and thought that the wall was entirely on his land, now having looked at the plans again, I'm 100% sure that the corner of the extension is on my land. The extension has happened very quickly, they only started building about 3 weeks ago, and I only just realised last night that they've crossed the boundary line.
I would definitely sell to the parents and rent for a while, but I have a young family and wouldn't want to inflict the disruption of two house moves on them.

Lakey

I think you'd be better off selling and putting the kids through that then a long protracted court case. These land registry cases can be very messy and can drag on for years with all the pressure that could bring, take top dollar as PN says and run!
:money:

waddy80

You can look at your boundaries on land registry, but they aren't that detailed. You can download them on the net for £3

Lakey

I believe that if the LR does not show enough specific information, you will need to bring in an independant surveyor to confirm the land boundaries.
Costs a bit and could be quite inconclusive.

VictorMeldew

Does anyone have an idea how long it costs and takes to go to court over it? If I won, are the legal costs reimbursed? Do they make him pull it all down?

I've seen the land registry diagram and it is very basic, but even from that I can tell that he's crossed the boundary. Basically, the fence is a straight line, and they've crossed over the line of the fence. If I wanted to replace the fence panel that they removed, it would have to cut in onto my side. It seems like a pretty straight forward thing to me. Unless the fence has always been in the wrong position of course.