To deny neighbour access to render extension?

You cannot grow anything on their wall, and if you do and it causes any damage you are completely liable for repairs. If the building is not structurally sound without the render then they can apply to the court for access for essential work and they will get it. Im afraid the only thing you can do is be difficult and refuse and have an ongoing bad relationship with them, or not. The wall will still go up and if it has to be rendered it will be. Your choice.

My main issue is that the layout of the houses means the wall is literally right outside my kitchen/livingroom window which feels really close and intrusive and when people are working on it they are literally looking right at me sitting in my house.

They will be busy focusing on getting the job done, they won’t be standing around peering in through your windows all day. Is shutting the curtains/blind/taping paper to the window to temporarily obscure view an option?

I can’t really imagine not allowing my neighbours to do this tbh. But, having lived next door to nightmare neighbours in a previous property, I’d prefer to keep a happy neighbouring relationship. Once things sour it can be hell to live nextdoor to some people.

Inconvenient as it is, is it worth falling out with your neighbours over. You may be living side by side for many years

Pick a period of time that suits you, ask that they use stuff that doesn’t need painting and cleaning, tell them which covers you are happy with. Tell them how much notice you will need and that they will have to pay for all clean up & any damage.

A total home goal not to you have to look at it
take a couple of days tops

Also how would you grow something to cover it you can’t attach anything to it

if they are anyway decent neighbours I would just let them do it. I would everything put back the way it was though.

YABU and petty.

Rendering will take a matter of hours.

Were you aware of what the planed extension would be like before they built it? Did you have any chance to object on the grounds of proximity, blocking light or anything.

I mean, if you didn't object before it was built presumably they are reasonable to suppose you are ok with it being there

TBH now it's there I probably would let them but first I would want to enquire:

• how long the work is likely to take
• For some idea when it is likely to take place as you have plans for that bit of the garden which you wouldn't want to start until all work is done

Did you object to their planning permission or was it not needed?

I would probably agree in the interests of future good relations but wouldn’t do anything to help aside from allowing access. So they have to move everything and put it all back exactly as they found it. And I would set any limits about future access. For example not being allowed access to paint it within three years or whatever.

It might be essential to render the wall if it’s made of porous material (eg concrete blocks). It would then also be essential to re-apply the render occasionally in future.

So I think you should tell them now that you don’t plan to allow access, that you will be growing plants in that area that you don’t want to be disrupted/damaged now or in future, and so they should build the wall from weatherproof materials that they don’t need to render, like brickwork.

Annoying but I’d probably let them, at the end of the summer once you’re no longer using the garden to sit out in during the day. You don’t need to inconvenience yourself too much, while still not being horribly awkward.

If you need access to do essential work on your own property (like painting, repairing a roof, or fixing a wall), you have two main routes:

Ask for Permission: Always try talking to your neighbour first. If they agree, get it in writing.

The Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992: If they refuse, you can apply to the County Court for an Access Order. A judge can grant this if the work is essential for the preservation of your house and cannot be done otherwise.

Is their work essential?
Doubt it.

So sounds like they're stuffed and you effectively can hold them to ransom if you want to. Not necessarily good for future relations though.

However, if you choose to allow them to, you can make it contingent on payment for your disruption. How much is a conversation to be had between yourselves but payment is a classic way of resolving disputes.

I'd just let them. It'll be inconvenient but sometimes in life things are. I'd rather be a good neighbour than be deliberately awkward.