Neighbour is damaging our property with a marquee tent

[DiscoBob]

We have never had any issues whatsoever with our next door neighbours. They've lived there probably since the late 90s.
Basically the majority of our kitchen wall is located in their back garden.

They've put a marquee tent in their yard about 10-20cms away from our kitchen wall. This has been there for a year and a half. Obviously the water run off has caused damp that's now seeped through our brickwork into our kitchen.

We've paid a damp specialist to do a report and showed it to the neighbours. It includes instruction to move the tent so it's at least a metre away from the wall and this would allow the damp to dry.

Unfortunately the neighbour accosted me while I was helping my disabled friend into my house so I was flustered and started saying the tent wasn't touching my wall, and that the overgrown plants on her yard came from my property. They don't. And if they did we'd be happy to cut them back as we regularly pay for gardening maintenance. So that threw me.

They never have done any gardening once except to borrow my loppers to make enough space to place this marquee tent. Which we assumed was temporary.

I'm now in a dispute with my mum who says I shouldn't contact the council about it. That she might contact a lawyer? But she doesn't even have a lawyer and the neighbours I doubt have money to be sued. Plus I'd hate to get into a dispute with them. Surely the council is more sensible as that's their landlord. After we've tried to explain and reason with them once more.

I don't want them to hate us but I really don't know what to do. Both of us are disabled and can't really handle conflict. But if she doesn't move her tent it's going to cause rising damp that could permanently wreck my home and the neighbours. We told her it could be affecting her house too but she was unbothered.

If theirs is a council house and yours isn’t, I would speak to the council.

I don’t see how your kitchen wall can be on their land.

are you both renting and it’s a shared property?

you can pay anyone to do a report but a report isn’t enough to force them to take action.

i’m presuming as a tent it’s a temporary structure (do they keep it up all winter? Most marquees and tents aren’t intended to be out in storms or high winds and can blow away/lose bits).

I would have contacted the Council ages ago tbh.

Absolutely speak to the council if it’s a council house. Is yours one?

How can your kitchen wall be in their garden?

It's probably either a party wall or on the boundary line.

Doesn't really matter though where the wall is if the marquee is casuing damp issues to your property they need to move it.

Do they rent or own their house? If renting you could get in touch with the landlord. If it's theirs then maybe a strongly worded solicitors letter would work if they aren't listening to you. I don't know if your insurance company maybe helpful with this it maybe worth giving them a call especially if you have legal protection. 🤔

I'm guessing it's a kitchen extension and the wall forms part of the boundary.

They need to move the marquee so I’d be contacting everyone I could to make that happen!

Yeah it's an anomaly that part of our kitchen is in their garden. It's terraces in a wedge shape and we're at the tight end of a triangle. It's two fully separate old houses. Garden boundaries just odd.

Yeah marquee it's a temporary structure. Apparently only meant to be there 28 days. I'm muggy for not doing anything before but I thought they'd take it down and then they just didn't...i DK it was harming my walls till recently 😬

It's not even that. Half our sitting room used to be a two storey factory. The houses are built in a triangle shape..
It's all kind of ancient and weird.
Basically their garden wall is about one metre into our kitchen and....grr...I should try and do a diagram! 🥴

Yeah they're council tenants. It is awful really that my wall is in their garden and it makes no sense! Maybe I should check the deeds? God knows where they are 😭

I know right. Because the boundary of their garden is two thirds Into my kitchen? It's bizarre.

Who owns their house?
Who owns your house?

Pretty sure a marquee would need planning permission if it erected permanently.

28 days is the limit without permission.

Part of out house forms the top of our neighbours garden. I suppose there is an easement in place if we ever needed to do anything to the outside wall.

Maybe you just caught them on a bad day? Ask again and explain you are not asking them yo take it down, just move it back. If still no luck let them know you will have to take it to the council.

We own, they're council.

It may depend on what they are actually using it for though.

For the sake of....everyone @DiscoBob , could you try a diagram? I know it won't make a huge amount of difference to the advice but I think everyone is struggling to visualise The Wedge.

Yeah the thing about the bad day I think works both ways. I felt like I got hot headed and I wasn't rude but I kind of couldn't really get my words out and we both I think got flustered. But she kind of accosted me while I was with friends. And when she started saying her overgrown shrubbery was my fault it sounded childish and tit for tat.

I'm definitely going to try and speak to them again calmly and try and explain that it needs moving. Truth is we could report it to the council as it's not meant to be there anymore. But I don't want to sound threatening. I guess I was surprised they didn't just accept it.

This needs another conversation when you're not flustered. A conversation doesn't have to be confrontational or a dispute, and you can let your neighbour know that damp remediation can be costly and urge them to move to tent before it gets to that.

It's good that they are council tenants, as you have someone to take this up with if the tent is not moved.

Not that it helps at all, but I have a policy of only buying property where I have full control of all my borders for exactly this sort of reason - neighbours doing silly shit that affects my home.

Edit - crossposted with your reply.

Ok I'll try!

Then you take the surveyor's report to the council. This makes things easier, as the council may be slow but should respond.

Here for the diagram.

Not sure if this will work...edit. it didn't. Sorry I'm a luddite can't work out how to upload diagram. Soz!

@DiscoBob don't panic if it's not instant. MN take a moment to review images.

I am very excited to shortly behold: THE WEDGE