Neighour's extension on my land

cells

prudryden wrote: »

Besides, I thought it was a meter on one part.

depends on the size of the garden, the position, how you feel ect

no need to start by taking them to the courts or going to the council

go tell them you are unhappy (if you are) and that you feel the best option would be if they bought that slice of land off you at fair market price.
95% of people will agree to this.

why do people never talk with their neighbours

prudryden

cells wrote: »

depends on the size of the garden, the position, how you feel ect

no need to start by taking them to the courts or going to the council

go tell them you are unhappy (if you are) and that you feel the best option would be if they bought that slice of land off you at fair market price.
95% of people will agree to this.

why do people never talk with their neighbours

I think you missed out somewhere in the story. Why should the OP now talk? The neighbour didn't bother to talk - he JUST TOOK!! Bit late for talking now. Instead of her nice wood/brick fence - she now has a rendered wall of someone's else house as her boundary fence. Must look lovely.

If I have misunderstood, please someone correct me - I can handle it>

dander

I think a trip to the CAB and taking legal advice is definitely in order here. The more the story unfolds, the more liberties this man seems to be taking. It would definitely be worth talking through everything with someone with a good grounding of the legal aspects of all of this who could tell you exactly what steps SHOULD have been taken at each stage.

You'll find it far easier to discuss the matter with this man if you are confident you know exactly what your rights are over each issues.

VictorMeldew

If it was just a few inches of land then I would just let it pass. Unfortunately it is more than this and also it's proximity to my existing two storey extension. For example, now when I look out of one of my upstairs bedroom windows, my neighbour's roof fills nearly half of the view, and is just over 1 metre away.

My main concern is that when I come to move, the extensions are going to put people off from buying, I know it would put me off.

I am going to phone the chartered surveyors tomorrow and see what they say. I want to get it in writing that he has to put my fence back up for starters, its unsafe at the moment because there is a 3ft drop onto his land, and I have a 2 year old.

Depending on what they say, I'll go around to my neighbours tomorrow and explain my concerns, and what I want to happen.

Looking back now, my neighbour has know exactly what he's been doing all along. It really annoys me that he has done this, and probably even more so that I have been letting him get away with it.

prudryden

I would like to know how deep his foundations were. I would have thought that he had to go fairly deep (2.5m maybe) for a two story. If he is within 3 m of your house, then he should have had to underpin your house.

VictorMeldew

dander wrote: »

You'll find it far easier to discuss the matter with this man if you are confident you know exactly what your rights are over each issues.

That's the conclusion I've come to also. There is no point in going around there half-cocked and not really knowing where I stand. I hope it's a quiet day in work tomorrow because I've got a lot of phone calls to make!

VictorMeldew

prudryden wrote: »

I would like to know how deep his foundations were. I would have thought that he had to go fairly deep (2.5m maybe) for a two story. If he is within 3 m of your house, then he should have had to underpin your house.

It is definitely within three metres, and also the foundations would probably be lower than mine are because the building is 3ft lower than mine to start with. Is this some building regulation that I can enforce? How do I go about getting this checked out? The chartered surveyor route I presume?

I'm off to bed now because my wife says I'm getting obsessed!

prudryden

The original planning officer that approved the extension would have told him how deep he had to go - there will be a record at the council planning dept.

If you can get that information and it was that deep, then you need a lawyer most haste. But as others have said, get the information (ammunition) first before firing.

I don't wish to scaremonger, but there may be a bigger problem here than losing a little bit of land and your fence. Definitely, get a surveyor out to take a look once you get the depth of the foundation trench.

clutton_2

its easy to get these things out of proportion - a good nights sleep - a chat with someone who is utterly impartial tomorrow may help you get to the "core" of what you want - maybe you can put up with what he has done if you get money for the land and insist on getting him to get his "Solicitors Undertaking/Irrevocable Authority" that this will happen - these are law and he will have to agree to do what ever is in them once his solicitor issues them.

tbs624

Just picking up on your comment about the fence, a three foot drop & the fact that you have a 2 year old. You may find The Party Wall Act S7 (3) useful to get that one dealt with - and you may find some of the rest of S7 interesting too:

Party Wall Act S7 Compensation etc

(1) A building owner shall not exercise any right conferred on him by this Act in such a manner or at such time as to cause unnecessary inconvenience to any adjoining owner or to any adjoining occupier.

(2) The building owner shall compensate any adjoining owner and any adjoining occupier for any loss or damage which may result to any of them by reason of any work executed in pursuance of this Act.

(3) Where a building owner in exercising any right conferred on him by this Act lays open any part of the adjoining land or building he shall at his own expense make and maintain so long as may be necessary a proper hoarding, shoring or fans or temporary construction for the protection of the adjoining land or building and the security of any adjoining occupier.

(4) Nothing in this Act shall authorise the building owner to place special foundations on land of an adjoining owner without his previous consent in writing.

(5) Any works executed in pursuance of this Act shall—

(a) comply with the provisions of statutory requirements; and

(b) be executed in accordance with such plans, sections and particulars as may be agreed between the owners or in the event of dispute determined in accordance with section 10; and no deviation shall be made from those plans, sections and particulars except such as may be agreed between the owners (or surveyors acting on their behalf) or in the event of dispute determined in accordance with section 10.

Whole Act available here for your perusal http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/ukpga_19960040_en_1#pb3-l1g8

I'm amazed that no PWA notice seems to have been given - under the PWA you have the right to have a pre-work survey done on your own property (at the neighbour's expense) so that you would be able to flag up any damage done to your property after the work has been completed, eg, if as Pru says there is a lack of necessary underpinning.

Professional legal advice needed for this one - someone who specialises in this area.