Planning permission boundary cheeky or norm?

[Tia48]

(Can’t sleep as feeling anxious about something so my mind drifted to a memory!)

In my old house neighbours were building an extension. We looked at the plans and it seemed okay, we had no issues. The neighbours were a lovely older couple and we got along. Well when the building work started they told us they need to remove 2 or maybe 3 fence panels and I said yes okay as long as they take care and put them back on when finished. To which the neighbour replied “no, they won’t be going back on”.
Talking a bit more and the builder chiming in they expected to build the end of the extension INTO my garden! Not the boundary but actually into my garden. There was nothing in the plans to indicate. I said I have to wait till husband gets home and they were huffing n puffing and moaning that I’m causing delays.

In the end they didn’t build into my garden and built it close to the end of the fence. Serious question are neighbours really allowed to build into the next door garden. The fence was owned by us.

YABU: this is normal and is allowed even though on planning permission wasn’t obvious

YANBU: no they cannot do this

They have to build in accordance with the approved plans - if they don’t, the council can take Enforcement action (including making them pull it down).

You can’t build on someone else’s land without their permission. You can get planning permission to develop on someone else’s land but you can’t implement it without getting agreement in place w the owner.

Your fence may not have been in the correct place/ marking correct Legal boundary. Title plans would confirm.

Thank you @elsiebob! The fence was all put up well before we moved. I don’t think the boundary was the issue.

Sorry clicked before I finished! It a good point, but if this was the case then I think it would have been picked up by hybsbavd and my father who looked at the documents and planning permission in detail. Also neighbours would have argued that point.

Can anyone think of anything else why they might have thought this was okay? Gosh I really can’t sleep and can’t believe this popped into my head of all things!

Can anyone think of anything else why they might have thought this was okay?

The only reason I can think of is that they're closely related to the CF on an old thread who told the woman next door that her (CF's) builder would be coming over to assess and measure up her (neighbour's) loft, as she (CF) was planning on knocking through and extending into her (neighbour's) loft to build her (CF's) DC an attic bedroom. When the neighbour reacted with incredulity, the CF assumed she hadn't understood and said she'd send her DH over to explain to the neighbour's DH what was going to happen. When the neighbour told her to rethink her plans (possibly using stronger phrasing than that), the CF got really upset and claimed that it was only fair as she had more children and so needed the extra space

Your old neighbours may have seemed lovely, but they were actually stealthy thieves. Outrageous. They only bothered to (vaguely) tell you their plans at all so that they could later claim you'd agreed and then play the 'lovely older couple with grossly unreasonable, word-breaking neighbour' card.

Lol! WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll please send a link if you have it to that thread!

The thing is I go through times usually when I’m feeling low of thinking about past things and wondering if I was in the wrong. Bloody low self esteem doesn’t get better with age! Please send me the thread I need a laugh

Some neighbours can push the boundaries if you pardon the pun. Check your deeds and point that out to your neighbours.
And a link to that thread would be great @WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

Did you look at the plans they showed you or what was on the planning portal for your local council? (Assuming they needed planning permission?)

No they can't build on your garden it's not their land but they may have obtained permission to build up to the boundary.

We are having an extension, we have elderly neighbours next door. We physically showed them where the house would be coming to on the back and side (doesn't actually interfere with their house or view or anything) they got the notification through from the council explaining any objections etc. They didn't. Now work has begun they have taken issue that they didn't realise how big it would be and can't understand why we bought the house if we needed "more dwelling space" 🤷‍♀️ they had the same info made available to them as everyone else. Now I'm being made to feel guilty wondering if I should have printed them full size copy.

Sorry posted before finished

• bearing in mind this was all available for them to view online or in person if they wished to

this is some of the best cf ery i've read on here along with the loft thread WHO the hell would agree to the loft business ??

Was the fence on the actual boundary? Maybe it the boundary was or they thought it was further over?

I am always so astounded by the cheekiness of some of the people indicated on mumsnet and the lengths they will go to get what they want that I wonder if many are true.

Are people really this bad? I quake if I have to make a reasonable request/complaint in case it starts a war.

Planning permission and land ownership are two completely different things. I could apply to build a house in my neighbour's garden and have it approved, planners will not look at land ownership. That doesn't mean I actually CAN build the house though, as my neighbour in all likelyhood wouldn't allow me to. Seperately to this though is if they are building in accordance with the approved plans, ie are they building what has been approved. If they build something different to what is on the approved plans planners will get involved if you report it, but if they're building what has been approved planners won't get involved it's a civil issue if you don't want them on your land. (Former planner working for a local authority, not worked there for 2 years though). Hope that helps

@Ohnoducks thank you! That really helped fantastic to get professional insight.

@Somanysocks I know I’m the same as you. Unfortunately some people try to take advantage of our soft natures.

My neighbour showed us his plans for his extension, then sent his builder around to discuss joining it onto the side of our DETACHED house...we said 'not gonna happen'...we dont speak now!

Very sorry I can't help, but I've searched and can't find the original Attic Thief thread anywhere.

I'd love to read it myself, but I've only seen the details recalled and related second-hand in a different thread by @CaptainButtock (thanks, CB - much appreciated!)

Of course they can’t build on your land! How ridiculous of them.

Why did you have to wait for your husband to come home?

If they were applying to build onto property they didn't own, they would have to put that on the application. There are different ownership forms to fill in on the planning application.

Did you look at the red boundary line on their drawings? If the fence is yours, I am surprised they are so confused? To the point that they are trying it on. Builders aren't boundary experts. Let the owners hire a chartered surveyor. One who does party walls.

Nothing would surprise me tbh. Years ago (before we moved in) our neighbour has put up a fence and high hedge about foot over the boundary line into our garden. We are thinking of an extension, so looked at plans and it was obvious that’s what they’ve done.

It depends, it makes sense in many properties to just build one wall that straddles the boundary that you could build off if you also wanted to extend. However, it must be in the party wall agreement and you have to tell your neighbours!

When my mum was having her extension, the planning permission officer went to assess the property and he was very surprised that my mum’s next door neighbour’s kitchen extension was right up to the boundary.

He said that because they had done that, we would be allowed to use their wall as the wall to mum’s kitchen extension. Our builder didn’t in the end.

The neighbour certainly didn’t ask my parents and it never occurred to us until then that perhaps they shouldn’t have done that.

Anyway, OP, YANBU, they had their chance.

I had to read your OP a few times and all through the replies I am thinking "Why doesn't the OP know its not OK"" - why would you wonder whether or not you should let a neighbour build over the boundary onto your land?

I mean I could understand it if the site of the boundary was in question, or if you felt you wanted to gift the neighbour a bit of your garden but surely then you'd still know that they can't build on your land?

I got refused planning permission last yea because my proposed extension would block my neighbours light. Ground floor extension on a bungalow.
OP you are in the right..