To ask neighbour to pause building work and sort out planning permission and party wall agreement before continuing?

123MyName321 · 2026-11-09T10:12:04+00:00

Semi detached neighbour has just started digging foundations for an extension. Foundations are more than 3 times deeper than our house foundations and within 5cm of our party wall. No party wall notice was served. After speaking to the builders, it also transpires that the extension is large enough to require planning permission, which the neighbours do not have. We aren't opposed to the neighbours improving their home, but we want to make sure things are done safely and legally. We would like a surveyor to check that the plans are structurally sound given our house's very shallow (less than 30cm) foundations and we would like to know what the plans are for their extension, as it might end up substantially overlooking our garden. We would also like them to apply for the required planning permission before continuing their build as I understand an unpermitted structure next door can affect our ability to sell our house. Are we being unreasonable?

Musicaltheatremum · Today 17:40

Goodness they are trying it on aren't they. They'll have great fun when they try to sell it in the future if they don't have the necessary permissions

SirenScream · Today 17:23

123MyName321 · Today 17:16

And it gets worse—they have finally agreed that a party wall agreement might be necessary but they want us to pay half the surveyor costs for it 🫠. We obviously will not be doing that. The party wall agreement is part of the cost of them deciding to do building works. Asking us to pay for it is like us deciding to renovate our kitchen and then asking them to chip in. It is bizarre.

I think you should keep a record of all coms but dont reply to the request. Let the relevant authorities deal with them.

Original poster

123MyName321 · Today 17:16

And it gets worse—they have finally agreed that a party wall agreement might be necessary but they want us to pay half the surveyor costs for it 🫠. We obviously will not be doing that. The party wall agreement is part of the cost of them deciding to do building works. Asking us to pay for it is like us deciding to renovate our kitchen and then asking them to chip in. It is bizarre.

OP posts:

Keysfound · Today 16:59

You may have done them a favour, they could be dodgy builders and they may realise before it gets out of hand. If I read correctly, there was an extension there that is not on the planning register, if this was there when they moved in, they may not be in correct council tax band. Total random thoughts, no response required. ☺️

Comtesse · Today 14:06

123MyName321 · Today 12:26

They definitely thought everyone would be too stupid to notice. Since this happened, we looked at planning permission history and discovered the behemoth of a double storey extension that the neighbours built over 10 years ago (which happens to block most of our property's light) also had no planning permission. It nearly doubled the square footage of their house so they definitely required it. The person who lived in our house at the time was a little old lady who didn't make a fuss about it. They got away with it once and were hoping to do so again.

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Holy moly that’s shocking. Definitely need to have a LONG chat with the planning department.

Original poster

123MyName321 · Today 13:31

Mendii · Today 13:20

I had a similar thing once. It wasn’t my house though it was my mothers house and she had just gone into care so I think they thought they could get away with it. The neighbour came round to tell me they were planning a single story rear extension “next year” and they would be in touch nearer the time. Cool. I have no issues with that and neither would my mother. It was currently August. I then went on holiday for two weeks and came back to this. (Photos may take a while to upload). I almost had a heart attack. They’d removed part of my mums fence and broken other bits (definitely her side that she owned) without asking and just started digging without any party wall documentation and were actually digging on my mums property. (You can see where the boundary line is with the remaining fence). People are just arseholes and try to get away with whatever they can.

People can be terrible. I’m so glad this happened to us while we were home. If we’d been on holiday we might have come back to find it almost finished.

OP posts:

Stillreadingalot · Today 13:30

Hi OP - this sounds like a complete nightmare and you have my sympathy.

Original poster

123MyName321 · Today 13:30

JohnofWessex · Today 13:03

That might be interesting when they come to sell, no building regs

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Because it has been over 10 years, the double extension’s lack of planning is officially forgiven and they will get away with it, sadly.

OP posts:

Mendii · Today 13:20

I had a similar thing once. It wasn’t my house though it was my mothers house and she had just gone into care so I think they thought they could get away with it. The neighbour came round to tell me they were planning a single story rear extension “next year” and they would be in touch nearer the time. Cool. I have no issues with that and neither would my mother. It was currently August. I then went on holiday for two weeks and came back to this. (Photos may take a while to upload). I almost had a heart attack. They’d removed part of my mums fence and broken other bits (definitely her side that she owned) without asking and just started digging without any party wall documentation and were actually digging on my mums property. (You can see where the boundary line is with the remaining fence). People are just arseholes and try to get away with whatever they can.

To ask neighbour to pause building work and sort out planning permission and party wall agreement before continuing?

JohnofWessex · Today 13:11

Given its proximity to your house I might push for the Council to inspect the extension for Building Control assuming they can still do this.

JohnofWessex · Today 13:03

123MyName321 · Today 12:26

They definitely thought everyone would be too stupid to notice. Since this happened, we looked at planning permission history and discovered the behemoth of a double storey extension that the neighbours built over 10 years ago (which happens to block most of our property's light) also had no planning permission. It nearly doubled the square footage of their house so they definitely required it. The person who lived in our house at the time was a little old lady who didn't make a fuss about it. They got away with it once and were hoping to do so again.

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That might be interesting when they come to sell, no building regs

Original poster

123MyName321 · Today 12:31

Sweetandsours · Yesterday 19:37

They refused to show you their plans?
You didn't think that was unusual?
Really!

Tell the council you requested to see them and they refused.
You had better get real soon.

I would be telling the builder they refused to show you and that any damage he has done will be HIS responsibility too.
Surely he knows that planning would have been required due to its size?

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They hadn't told us they were starting building work so we hadn't expected to see any plans. Once they started doing the work, we asked to see their plans and they initially refused, but by that point, everything seemed unusual! Now that they've shown us their 'plans', we understand why they weren't sharing them. They are more of a rough sketch than architectural drawing but they make it very clear that the project requires planning permission and building control sign off, neither of which they have.

OP posts:

Original poster

123MyName321 · Today 12:26

Puzzledandpissedoff · Yesterday 19:23

But I think you said the builder and surveyor appear to be the same person (?), in which case shouldn't he have known there'd be a likely problem?

Unless they all thought everyone would be too stupid to look into it I suppose ...

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They definitely thought everyone would be too stupid to notice. Since this happened, we looked at planning permission history and discovered the behemoth of a double storey extension that the neighbours built over 10 years ago (which happens to block most of our property's light) also had no planning permission. It nearly doubled the square footage of their house so they definitely required it. The person who lived in our house at the time was a little old lady who didn't make a fuss about it. They got away with it once and were hoping to do so again.

OP posts:

rwalker · Today 11:58

123MyName321 · Today 11:51

I’ve contacted building control and the council planning team. They have also told me that a surveyor (and potentially a solicitor) is urgently required due to the lack of party wall agreement. Unfortunately they’ve breached 3 separate regulatory areas/laws and dealing with it all is going to be very complicated.

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And they will pick up and deal they can serve a notice to stop works

Original poster

123MyName321 · Today 11:51

rwalker · Today 10:36

All it needed was OP to contact planning at the council and they’d get an enforcement office around to stop it
But instead, it’s been escalated into a huge drama liaising with builders demanding plans instructing surveyors which will achieve absolutely nothing more than simply contacting the planning department and getting an enforcement officer out in the first place
Just seems to be blown up into any enormous drama
where there was an easy obvious solution to it in the first place with a couple of phone calls

I’ve contacted building control and the council planning team. They have also told me that a surveyor (and potentially a solicitor) is urgently required due to the lack of party wall agreement. Unfortunately they’ve breached 3 separate regulatory areas/laws and dealing with it all is going to be very complicated.

OP posts:

Askandyforcompo · Today 11:51

rwalker · Today 10:36

All it needed was OP to contact planning at the council and they’d get an enforcement office around to stop it
But instead, it’s been escalated into a huge drama liaising with builders demanding plans instructing surveyors which will achieve absolutely nothing more than simply contacting the planning department and getting an enforcement officer out in the first place
Just seems to be blown up into any enormous drama
where there was an easy obvious solution to it in the first place with a couple of phone calls

That's not quite true. Once work on a party wall has started you can't retrospectively get an agreement. So the 'drama' was entirely necessary. It took my council officer 3 weeks to come round, by then most of the extension was up.

Askandyforcompo · Today 11:48

BackJustToSay · Today 11:30

I don't think asking for them to follow regulations would count as neighbour dispute that you have to declare OP. To be honest I'm shocked the builders would go ahead without planning, it's usually the first part of their process, so they must be a bit of a cowboy outfit too.

It is a neighbour dispute. The idea is to show what the neighbours are like to prospective buyers.

I declared my situation(the same as this) and 'sold' my house twice. By then the extension was built so it was over and I was able to explain it to the buyers. The sale fell through, nothing to do with the dispute.

BackJustToSay · Today 11:30

I don't think asking for them to follow regulations would count as neighbour dispute that you have to declare OP. To be honest I'm shocked the builders would go ahead without planning, it's usually the first part of their process, so they must be a bit of a cowboy outfit too.

rwalker · Today 10:36

All it needed was OP to contact planning at the council and they’d get an enforcement office around to stop it
But instead, it’s been escalated into a huge drama liaising with builders demanding plans instructing surveyors which will achieve absolutely nothing more than simply contacting the planning department and getting an enforcement officer out in the first place
Just seems to be blown up into any enormous drama
where there was an easy obvious solution to it in the first place with a couple of phone calls

JohnofWessex · Today 10:04

If you read the OP posts they have got on to the Council and work has stopped

Laurmolonlabe · Today 09:07

If they have signed off planning permission then the party wall notice has been overlooked- you need to talk to the Planning department today, because there is a real possibility they have no permission.

Janetwin · Today 07:00

Get your big girl pants on! The extension might be the least of your problems but certainly something you should object to as it will certainly block some light into your house onto some of your garden. But if they deepen the foundations and your house is attached to theirs, then your house will sink on that side… picture your furniture sliding across the floor. Foundation extensions are common in my neighbourhood and I’ve seen houses where this kind of work was not done properly, tilt so badly, the neighbours house wasn’t safe or habitable anymore. Then you’re into lawyers territory and it can take years to sort out.

my own neighbours did a huge renovation (deepened basement, gutted inside, extension) and it was 18 months of insane noise. At one point they drilled right into my living room!

Plmnki · Yesterday 21:36

Why are you asking? Are British people such utter doormats? Ring building control, put in a formal complaint to planning, have a personal meeting with your ward councillor! Jesus Christ you need to do something.

don’t bother talking to the dickhead neighbour, get legal advice now.

SylvanMoon · Yesterday 21:09

How long have they been in the house? Are they new neighbours? And you've mentioned about the value of your house a couple of times in this post, are you thinking of selling soon?

Good luck with this all. Also I'd get on to your house insurers legal department too to see what you are covered for just in case. They may also send someone to have a look at what's happening and how it might affect your house.

pamperedhooligans · Yesterday 20:01

HisNibs · Yesterday 19:30

That's more if the works have already finished. You can't then apply the party wall legislation retrospectively. If the works are ongoing and the neighbour won't stop, you go to court for an interim injunction to force them to stop. In this case though, the council should get involved regardless because of the lack of planning and building regs

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In our case by the time we had tried to do this, the neighbours just pushed on with the work and had it finished by the time we looked into legal action. It was ruinously expensive to pursue through the courts, which they knew. They totally fucked our party wall and did the most desultory effort to correct it after the fact. We were so lucky to be able to sell to people who didn’t seem remotely bothered by the sudden emergence of an RSJ through our joined lofts