To think I can stay living next door to this neighbour?

[hooliodancer]

I will try to keep the story brief.

We have lived in our house for nearly 20 years. We have a tiny back garden- 12 feet wide.

New neighbours bought next door and said our garden was too wide by 8 inches. They wanted this 8 inch wide strip 'back'. They were planning an extension.

We did lots of research and told them that as we had had possession of this strip for so long it was ours, and it was difficult to prove either way, as Land Registry plans state they cannot be used to determine the boundary. After months of him threatening us with legal action ( delaying his extension because we wouldn't give in to him), sending threatening emails daily, awful pressure we said we would split the 8 inches with him. Our solicitor told us that we would be likely to win the case in court, but that a judge would probably not award us costs as they hate boundary disputes over such as small piece of land. Which seems very unfair to me. He said it could cost us 30k.

So we agreed he could build his wall 4 inches in from where the boundary was. This involved destroying a garden border filled with beautiful climbing plants. We thought we would be compensated for this, but he decided not to get a party wall agreement- which would have protected our interests. The only way we could have forced him to issue a party wall notice was to get an injunction. Again we were warned off doing this, as our 'loss' would have been minimal.

We agreed he would compensate us for the plants. He is now refusing to pay us, because I called him a bully! I feel we need to claim this money from him in the small claims court, but that drags it out even more. But if we don't, we will be out of pocket as well as having lost part of our garden.

He has bullied and harassed us for months. His 9 metre wide extension is 4 inches wider than it would have been, and I have lost my beloved plants. He lies to us. He now ignores our emails. He used to email us saying "if you don't reply by the end of today I will do x y z".

The layout of our gardens is complicated, but basically we cannot fence ourselves off from him. We will see him every day. He is having bi fold doors right up to the back boundary, and not putting a fence in front of them. We will be able to see him all the time!

Will I be able to stay here? Hate is not strong enough for how I feel. He has made me ill, my partner and I have had huge arguments, it's just been awful. The neighbour hates us, he seems to think we have wronged him in some way. The atmosphere is dreadful.

I love my house, and can't really afford to move, but am I kidding myself to think it will be possible to stay? The build is happening at the moment, will it be better when it's done? Thanks for reading the essay. Has anyone been through anything similar?

[hooliodancer]

We did have insurance, but they won't pay because the legal costs are greater than what we would win. I had a feeling there would be a clause for them to wriggle out and there was.

It seems crazy that this is allowed to happen, I agree. But it is. Even with the law on our side we couldnt afford to actually put it into practice. He has lots of money, so thinks he can walk all over us.

He chose not to get a party wall award, and there is nothing that can be done legally. It seems a crazy law to me.

Under old planning rules he would never have got permission for how close he was building, but permitted development allows it. Our front gardens are big, so his extension is 50% of his available land so there for is permitted development.

His bifold doors go onto his land, not ours- he has about 2 feet in front before the back boundary. The issue is that we can see it very clearly as we walk into or out of our garden. I think bamboo is the way to go though, in big pots.

I just feel violated really, that sounds strong, but he has torn down my plants and basically helped himself to a strip of my garden. I have started to hate my lovely house, noticing all the negative things about it. I have to find a way to live with it I suppose, or move. Moving would cost a lot though.

[PurpleAlerts]

He can't choose not to have a party wall agreement. If you want one you can demand it and he has to pay for it.

[nonline]

Sending sympathy - my parents went though a similar thing (other guy got what he wanted but paid costs). Problem neighbours eventually moved, but went through several years of stressed parents first. It completely clouded my view of having neighbours to the extent that I was obsessed with boundaries, fences etc. when we moved as I was naive to think people couldn't be so unreasonable.

I would back the bamboo pot idea- I like bamboo (hopefully your neighbours don't!) and in pots stops it spreading and makes it moveable.

[sharknad0]

It sounds horrendous, and there is nothing worst than being at war with neighbours.

I would seriously consider moving if I was you, by researching the real cost and all the details to see if it is at all possible.
If not, you should let it go, and follow above advice (like bamboo pots to hide him). As hard as it is, you are wasting your own life with bad feeling towards that horrible person, you are the one suffering not him. It's not fair, and he's not worth it. Sometimes, it doesn't matter if you are right or wrong, your peace and quiet are more important.

[wonkylegs]

The problem with party wall agreements is that although he has a legal responsibility to do it, if he doesn't the only way to force it is for you to bring a civil case against him which can be complicated and expensive.
It makes the legislation a bit toothless unfortunatly.

[thinkfast]

Wouldn't insurance cover you for applying for an injunction requiring him to pull down the part of the extension on his land and build purely on his own property?

[WriteforFun1]

Interesting that old planning rules wouldn't allow it. Worth letting you local MP know this I think, just becaus they might have info on other cases and one day it might lead to a change back!

The problem wth moving is that this might happen again, unless it's the kind of property where that isn't possible?

[mistlethrush]

Have you carefully checked that what they're doing is actually permitted development? All the regs are here:

PD extensions

[hooliodancer]

Yes, it is permitted, we have talked to the planning officer at the council.

Insurance won't pay for an injunction, no. We checked. An injunction costs 3k, then there is a risk because if a judge says you were unreasonable to get the injunction you are liable for all sorts. It's always risky, according to our solicitor, and that's why the legal insurance won't cover it.

The legal insurance has been a total waste of time and money to be honest.

[LIZS]

Have you also spoken to the Buildings Regulation office? They differ to Planning and look at issues such as position of windows and visual impact, services etc even within permitted developments.

[mistlethrush]

And it depends which planning officer you speak to whether they give you the right information. Just read through those bullet points and make sure that they really do comply with them.

[limitedperiodonly]

The legal insurance has been a total waste of time and money to be honest.

I don't know about money, because it generally just comes as a standard part of your policy, but when you need it, you discover that you can't use it. It's pointless but insurance companies push it and people on MN cite it like a magic bullet.

And yes, an injunction is very expensive and even if you did pay for it, it's only a stop notice. It wouldn't apply in your case OP and to try to get something demolished would cost even more money with no guarantee of success. But you know that.

The fast growing bamboo suggestions sound quite good - though you have a tiny garden, like mine, so they'll be a pain in the arse for you unless you put them in pots so they don't spread. Maybe try that as a screen.

Sorry to sound so downbeat. Believe me, I understand how awful this is.

[thinkfast]

An injunction would cost far more than £3k imo.

Did your solicitor advise on ate insurance?

How sure are you they've crossed your boundary?

This would drive me crazy if I was sure I could prove they'd built in my side.
Any dispute could cause a problem if they / you want to sell.