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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Neighbour's extension

131 replies

SooSmith · 01/02/2017 17:21

So the neighbours want to build. Original plans no problem but now they want to do something else.

As it is on the party wall they have to have a survey. Have insisted on my own surveyor which I know they have to pay for. Delayed their work while they submit new plans and give me a copy.

No entrance up my side passage, and if they want to scaffold my side of the fence then they pay for the privilege. My garden fence stays intact.

No Sunday or bank holiday working.

I've just been callled a bitch by next door. Why? All I'm doing is protecting my property and insisting they work reasonable hours.

OP posts:
flummoxedlummox · 01/02/2017 17:36

Just remember if you ever come to sell you'll have to declare neighbour disputes.

HyacinthsBucket · 01/02/2017 17:36

If my neighbours had just called me a bitch, they wouldn't be getting access through my property to make their building work possible. Simple as.

wifework · 01/02/2017 17:37

You have to allow access.

Original poster
SooSmith · 01/02/2017 17:38

The passage is not shared.

OP posts:
AndShesGone · 01/02/2017 17:38

No, you have to allow access to their land - not yours.

They have their own side passageway, they don't need yours.

pipsqueak25 · 01/02/2017 17:41

sounds like war has been declared, i'm with you op for the best part.i wouldn't tolerate the name calling either.

Original poster
SooSmith · 01/02/2017 17:42

No they don't have a passage but I do - I'm end of terrace. The gate stays locked.

OP posts:
Original poster
SooSmith · 01/02/2017 17:43

My surveyor says I do not have to allow access for an extension!

OP posts:
civilfawlty · 01/02/2017 17:44

I wouldn't be letting anyone put scaff in my garden. It's my absolute joy and builders are NEVER considerate. And my fence couldn't come down because then a) the garden wouldn't be safe for dc and b) likelihood is builders would be in and out my garden. I think your constraints, except the payment for putting scaff in your garden (which I think is unneighbourly), are reasonable.

If you decide to go ahead with them removing the fence/ putting scaff in your garden, I'd be less worried about charging them and more about getting an agreement about fair reparations up front. I'd take pictures of the fence and garden and agree a price UP FRONT for the cost of replacing plants and fence like for like (ie - mature plants, and anything buried like bulbs) and get it in writing as a contract with them (or have the fee held by a third party).

I would consider side access between fixed times, but I would again have a contract in writing with conditions - only working between reasonable hours (ie, not starting before 8am/ finish time/Saturday hours/ no work on Sundays) and perhaps no litter/ mess in the alley, no shouting/swearing and a tidy front and skip, not parking outside your house. You can then use this to ensure good behaviour and withdraw it as a penalty for bad behaviour (which will otherwise usually play out).

AndShesGone · 01/02/2017 17:45

If you don't have to then don't. That's not a 'neighbour dispute' either in my opinion.

FannyWisdom · 01/02/2017 17:47

If you are terrace then how do they access their back?
An easement?

FrancisCrawford · 01/02/2017 17:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pipsqueak25 · 01/02/2017 17:52

francis because some people don't communicate properly to start with, or someone tells someone else something is going to happen and takes for granted there won't be any objections.

mambono5 · 01/02/2017 17:52

if you ever come to sell you'll have to declare neighbour disputes

true, but that's not a dispute. Nothing sounds unreasonable at all, why should the OP fence be removed and her garden destroyed?

Check your local council website, around here, building work is not even allowed on Saturday afternoon. Why should everybody else suffer when someone decides to build an extension. Being a good neighbour should go both ways.

Katy07 · 01/02/2017 17:54

Why wouldn't you want to make life a bit easier for people?
I wouldn't allow someone to access my property like this because I'd find it very intrusive and therefore very stressful. I'd feel that I didn't have control over my own home. It would be difficult enough putting up with the noise next door from the building (I'm at home full-time) & there'd be the effect on my pets (security of the garden for the dog etc). So even if I got on fabulously with the neighbours I'd still not want it because my anxiety would be through the roof.

FrancisCrawford · 01/02/2017 17:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

user1471545174 · 01/02/2017 17:58

YANBU, OP. Stick to the law and don't let them get away with anything.

user892 · 01/02/2017 17:58

They have right of way to access their rear across the back of your house, correct?

They will reinstate the fence in the same condition it was when they remove it, yes?

Tread carefully as any disputes with neighbours have to be declared if you sell the property. If this escalates and they become difficult as a result of your obstructiveness it could devalue your house.

Bensyster · 01/02/2017 17:58

Be careful, my neighbours wanted to build on the boundary, they decided they had every right to have builders on my side without the need to ask. When I objected to not even being asked, they threatened to build it from their side - over the top - in all likelihood they said it would be a mess, but they didn't give a shit because they wouldn't have to look at it every day unlike me. Lovely people they were - didn't celebrate at all when they moved!

expatinscotland · 01/02/2017 18:02

Fuck them. I don't blame you one bit for protecting your property.

ToadsforJustice · 01/02/2017 18:04

Don't take your garden fence down. Don't allow scaffolding either. I did this for my neighbours and the builders all but destroyed my beautiful garden - pulled up my roses, shrubs, cut down my fruit trees and then just left it looking like a building site. It took years to recover. My neighbours and the builders refused to pay for the damage and I had to take the builder to court for compensation. The firm went bankrupt and I didn't see a penny. My neighbours refused to accept responsibility. They moved not long after the work was finished.

mambono5 · 01/02/2017 18:06

FrancisCrawford as the OP has already been called a bitch by next door, I am assuming her neighbours are nowhere near as lovely as yours.

thebakerwithboobs · 01/02/2017 18:06

You sound awful, I can't lie. Absolutely fair enough that you want to protect your property, but how is it protecting your property to charge them for putting up scaffolding? If it does no harm to your property in the long term then you're just charging them because you can and that's not neighbourly. You could well be shitting on your own shoes there anyway, because if not being able to scaffold in your garden (whilst causing no harm I hasten to add) makes things more awkward for them, it's perfectly likely that it will make the work last longer, no? Would it not be preferable to just say that you want your property to be unaffected by the end and that the neighbours should put right any accidental damage?

Itisnoteasybeingdifferent · 01/02/2017 18:11

Dig your heels in..
Make a bad atmosphere between you and your neighbour
What do you achieve?

GardenGeek · 01/02/2017 18:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.