Can my new neighbours get planning permission for this?

[Peronipony]

New NDN (semi-detached) have recently completed. I’ve met them briefly to which they explained they were completely gutting and renovating the house, expecting it to take up to a year. They are not living on site as it will be too disruptive for them, not sure when I’ll see them again to speak to them. I have 2 babies under 3 and work night shift so not ideal as I am currently dying of sleep deprivation but I understand there’s nothing I can do other than grin and bear it.

However, they are planning a large double story extension spanning the length of the house. The house already has a one story rear extension which does not really bother me as it’s alongside a fence. The new one will be double story which will mean when I’m looking out of the bedroom window, instead of my current view which is farmers fields (I cannot see into their garden because of my mature trees before anyone accuses me of wanting to ruin their privacy or whatever) I will now see a huge brick wall. I will also be in the shade due to the way the light falls.

Firstly are they likely to be approved for this or do I need to object? If I do is it a pointless activity? They are building up to the boundary line so will they need access to my property?

If I do object do they have an alternative, making it less wide or whatever?

They also have no access to their garden or rear of the house without going through the house…how do they get around this? I have side access, are builders likely to ask me?

I don’t want to stop them enjoying their home but equally don’t want to devalue mine. One of the plus points of mine is the great views and being relatively private. Now I’ll see someone’s ugly side wall or worse a window. I also don’t want to have bad feelings if I object and they get it anyway but at the same time surely they have to think about others also living here?

Thanks anyone who has a clue about this sort of thing.

I’ve included a terrible diagram which probably won’t help my case 😄

Right to light is a specific legal thing and not part of the planning system.
Whether there is a loss of natural light, over shadowing, creation of an unacceptable sense of enclosure, and unacceptable overpowering/physical dominance are all material planning considerations that can form legitimate grounds for objection.

Absolutely not true. No one has a right to a view, but properties should have a reasonable outlook, and levels of light.
Not all Councils use the 45 degree rule

If you go on Google Earth you can get an aerial view of your street.
A party wall agreement isn’t only for when someone is building against your property, anyone doing major building work adjacent to your property needs a party wall agreement,

Very knowledgeable!

Surely their application is in with the planning dept. And you can look it up online and see what they plan. Council website. If they are breaking rules they will have to change it. But not if you do nothing.

I challenged planning in very similar circumstances - they already had single storey. The extension was refused.

it was a while ago but I believe you’ve no right to a view so best not to mention that but do have right to light and not to be overlooked. I’d look up some wording online and object completely and vehemently rather than making any mitigating suggestions.

It so rubbish when people come along and spoil your home with their wants. I really feel for you. But sadly I don’t think either of your points will be considered , to not grant planning. People are fundamentally selfish and as long as they get what they want , they don’t care about anyone else. Sorry to hear about this OP. I think planning and peoples ability to get planning for things needs an overhaul , people are granted permission for too much nowadays. If the home wasn’t big enough , they should have purchased somewhere/ something else that did. Not ruin your enjoyment of your home in the process 😢

Am a planner.
if someone was proposing a two storey or first floor rear extension that would be right up to the boundary of the adjoining semi-detached house that would very likely be refused. Because of impact on the amenity of your house - including outlook and potentially loss of light/sunlight. It would also be potentially seen as being a disproportionate/overdominant extension which wouldn’t respect the appearance and scale of the pair of semi-detached houses.
depends though on your local planning authority and the policies in the local plan.
part one/two storey extensions, that maintain a first floor separation to the boundary, are more likely to be granted. For a first floor projection to the rear of around 3 m we would generally require about 3m separation to the boundary (not a hard and fast rule - depends on the site-specifics and assessment of impact, but a general gist).

Most people have ground floor no loft extensions here but not double storey which is more unusual

Is it worth falling out over? I would get a party wall agreement and save to bring our downstairs level possibly with something like a orangery attached to the party wall.

@Peronipony think it also depends on how much garden ground will be left! complain about windows proximate to your bedroom. there are guides and angles which they must follow for windows. your mature trees must be safeguarded. do not allow access into your garden. or scaffolding. no one is entitled to complain about shade. or loss of views. do your research now. get a company if necessary to document your objection. 5 objections from anyone, anywhere in the world is enough for the application to be taken to committee and not be decided by a planning officer. you can object and your partner can object. that is two. go round canvassing your neighbours too. just ask them if they would like to object. is there a wall there already?? that is jointly owned and they cannot use it as a base for the extension wall. also footings will need to be quite deep, will this endanger your house or cause cracks??? you can ask your local councilor to become involved or community council too. even better if you know someone on the committee who you can enlist to help guide you through.

5 objections from anyone, anywhere in the world is enough for the application to be taken to committee and not be decided by a planning officer.

This process will vary from Council to Council and will depend on the delegated powers if the officers.

Put in an objection to the planning application if you aren't happy.
Loss of light
Overshadowing
Loss of privacy
Overbearing /too dominent
Are all reasons you could use to object.
Loss of view isn't.
Check your councils local plan and the policies within it as that will be what planning officers refer to when they make their decision.
If you think the plans are contrary to any of these policies quote the policy in your objection.

I had this with a neighbour on 1920s semidetached. I did write an objection, as did many neighbours, but they did get planning permission which shocked me as no other house on the road had a double height extension. The angle of the properties apparently meant I couldn't say light would be affected.
In my case, I ended up moving for other reasons and the neighbours were delaying works for other reasons too.

I think aiming to be friendly and in good communication can help, eg make sure they stick to legal working times; no early starts at weekends, that the builder lets you know when particularly noisy works will happen. White noise, eye mask and ear plugs hopefully will help. It does suck but I'm not sure if there's much you can do if they are granted permission.

They need a 3rd party wall agreement if it’s within 3 metres of your foundations. Our new neighbours have taken the piss big time with theirs, damaging our drive, foundations too close, working after 1pm Saturdays and Sundays all day despite not supposed to be doing anything during those times. The surveyors who did the agreement are worse than useless. I was told we could sue if the extension impacted us but nothing much be done and we can object but that came to nothing.

Thankyou all.

Do I just outright ask them for a party wall? It will be within 3m of my fence and conservatory but not the main house as it will be built on top of an existing extension which I don’t have. My house ends at the original site, theirs comes out another maybe 3-4m from the original and that’s what they want to build onto.

They haven’t submitted yet but from the sounds of it it would be worth objecting!

Read up on it. There is lots on gov.uk. Knowledge is power in these circumstances.

It's their responsibility to start party wall, but if they don't you can. It must be before work starts though.

There are a few different things going on here. Planning permission is different from a party wall agreement and that is different from giving them permission to have their builders on your property.

First off, planning permission. There have been some very knowledgeable posters here who have given advice. As a neighbour, you should be notified by the council when an application is made, but I have heard that not all councils do this.

If you google something like "[your local council] planning applications" you will be able to see when they make an application. You will then be able to object at that point.

"Do I just outright ask them for a party wall?"

A Party Wall Agreement comes later, but before they actually start work. The Party Wall Agreement comes into play if either:

1. they are doing work which affects any existing party wall (or other structure) between the two properties, or
2. if they are building right up to the boundary, or
3. if they are building within 3m of your property and are digging foundations that are deeper than yours (or 6m if they're going really deep for eg a basement)

"It will be within 3m of my fence and conservatory but not the main house as it will be built on top of an existing extension which I don’t have."

So, they are adding a first floor extension to an already existing ground floor extension?

If the extension is literally the entire width of their house and goes right up to the party wall, (the wall separating your two houses) then they do need a Party Wall Agreement.

But you say that there is a fence between your properties? So it sounds as though it is not a full width extension?

It will then depend if they have to excavate and put in deeper foundations than already exist and if those foundations are deeper than your foundations.

They will then have to give you notice under the Party Wall Act. You can either agree to this work or not. In your situation I would suggest that you do not agree.

This does not stop the work going ahead, but what it does do is that it ensures that surveyors come out and check the current state of your property so that if it is damaged in any way that you can claim compensation from your neighbour.

They will also determine how the work should be done. But this only relates to work being done under the Act. So in this case it would only be digging the foundations if they were to go deeper than yours and/or, if the extension really is full width then any work done extending the party wall on the first floor.

Apart from that, the Party Wall Act won't affect any of the building work to be done.

From then on, when the work actually starts it is likely that they will try and get you to agree to have scaffolding on your property. There are no end of horror stories here on MN from people who allowed their neighbours to do this.

Do not at any point agree to let them put any scaffolding on your property without first reading some of the threads here.

"...but if they don't you can."

I'm sorry, but that's wrong. It's only the owner of the property that is doing the building work that can give notice.

Yes, only the owner can give notice but you can force them to do it by getting a party wall surveyor yourself. That's why there are so many ambulance chaser party wall surveyors out there. You have to do this before work commences though.

This is why it's very important the OP does her research rather than rely on Mumsnet. People start squabbling here and facts get muddied.

We are living with this at the moment - NDN got approval for similar despite many objections. Planning required amendments to maintain some light to our patio but the neighbours have ignored this and also built something is not in keeping with the plans. We complained months ago to the Council but not even had a response. If it does get approved my advice is definitely get your own PWA surveyor ( do not agree to use theirs), take lots of photos on a regular basis and keep a log of issues. They should not work after 12 noon on a Saturday or at all on a Sunday.