Neighour's extension on my land

Lakey

You've shown him you have a few sharp teeth, make sure he is in no doubt that you have big incisors. If I were you, I would not go back to see him without you having a witness. I don't know if I would put anything past him.

hethmar

Well done Victor and by the sounds of it you have done the right thing. The surveyor mate sounds just the sort of thing my NFH would produce - as you say if it wasnt tragic you could laugh. Be prepared for more tricks like this - weve had them all, before he started turning nasty.

Keep us updated and keep your distance from matey now for a while. Do take lots of photos immediately of the situation because as someone said above he may do something to distort it. You should also update the council with the advice you have received from the surveyor. This may get them moving and putting a stop to the building work until its sorted.

I wonder if the parents will appear with their offer now???:) Get them to put it in writing and as we have all said dont remove any of your objections if they do offer to buy until you have that contract in your hand.

waggys

He should have issued you with a party wall notice if he was ging to dig foundations that were to the 'line of junction' and therefore foundations were projecting under your land, or if the foundations were within 3-6 mtrs (and a 45 degree angle @ 6m) of your property. The Party wall act is a schedule of works that agree a schedule and timescale of works to be carried out in close proximity of your property - agreed between yourselves and a surveyor (or 2) however, they act on behalf of the wall and not the building owner/adjoining owner. The whole point of the party wall act is to facilitate the works to go ahead not prevent it.

If you 'google' party wall act you will find lots of information. If you have boundary queries, try reading a book called 'Anstey's Boundary Disputes'. Once the party wall work has been carried out, there is very little you can do - yes, he should have issued notices by the sounds of things, but he hasn't and the work is now completed.

It sounds like your neighbour assumed he still has permitted development rights in addition to the planning permission for the 2 storey extension. Does he have building regs for the single storey?

VictorMeldew

Thanks for the photo idea - I'll do that tomorrow morning before I go to work. I'll have a look at that book waggys, thanks for that.
Forgot to say before that the council phoned my wife this afternoon, and said that the original plans hadn't been changed enough to warrant a further planning application, but I'll phone them back tomorrow just to make sure they know exactly what he's built.

The solicitor I spoke to explained that its to late now for the Party Wall Act. He said that it probably wouldn't have made that much difference anyway apart from me having a report on my property that I could have referred back to in the event of any damage.

I'll speak to him again tomorrow.

planning_officer

VictorMeldew wrote: »

Forgot to say before that the council phoned my wife this afternoon, and said that the original plans hadn't been changed enough to warrant a further planning application, but I'll phone them back tomorrow just to make sure they know exactly what he's built.

Can you estimate the dimensions of the bit of the extension that doesn't have permission? If he's built a single storey extension without permission then I can't believe the Council are saying that. Is it just a very small extension or a whole room? At my council, if anything is larger than the thickness of a wall (i.e. about 30cms) then we would ask for a retrospective application to retain it.

Well done on the 'chat' with your neighbour - at least he knows the relevant issues and you said the right thing when he alleged the boundary 'must be right as the Council passed the plans' - which is of course completely irrelevant!

hethmar

One assumes that the building is getting regular visits from Buildings Control Inspector? How can a whole extension only be a minor change?

VictorMeldew

planning_officer wrote: »

Can you estimate the dimensions of the bit of the extension that doesn't have permission?

I've just measured it. It's about 3.5 metres by 1.3 metres. I phoned the council today but they wouldn't put me through to the planning officer. They gave me his email address, but said that from what I'd said there was nothing they could do about it. What can I do now?

My neighbour came round this morning and filled in the gap to make it safe. He also offered to put padding around the scaffolding uprights! At least he seems to be doing something.

The chartered surveyor was on a course today so I'll try him again tomorrow.

hethmar

Do you know what such a narrow extension is for? Just out of interest Is it some sort of lobby.

My NFH is currently banging about doing something next to the boundary, god knows what and I doubt NFH knows either. Madness.

clutton_2

NFH ?? Newly Found Husband ??

VictorMeldew

NFH - neighour from hell !

I think it's a corridoor linking the two extensions together - he probably had a few bricks left over!

I emailed the council planning officer and asked why retrospective permission wasn't required - this is the response I got -

"The single-storey extension is classed as being built under what is termed Permitted Development Rights – the amount of work you are able to do to your property before Planning Permission is required. Only Building regulations approval will have been required, which was obtained"

I must remember this if I ever extend!

Quote planning-officer -

At my council, if anything is larger than the thickness of a wall (i.e. about 30cms) then we would ask for a retrospective application to retain it.

Does this vary so much from coucil to council? My council is Liverpool BTW.