New neighbours extension plans

[Greenfingeredsue]

Hi all

My current neighbour has died. Now probate is completed her house is being sold.

Her son has prospective buyers. He has mentioned in passing to me that they want to extend the property out the back. I am wondering wtf they can’t just buy a house that meets their needs?

The gardens are quite big so there’s plenty of room for them to do this. However, we don’t want them to.

We need a new shed, so my husband has suggested we build a new one with a greenhouse on their side right as near to the boundary as we can, next to the house.

We’ll do this once contracts have been exchanged so we don’’t scupper the sale, plus they would have to get planning permission.

My only concern is that the new neighbours could force us to dismantle them so the builders can work?

The building work would be over in a few months. Annoying? Yes perhaps but crikey you must be very very bored with life to be hatching plans to scupper someone you've never even met plans. Like others have said, get a life.

Wow, you've got a chip on your shoulder before they've even bought the house?

To the extent that you've researched and made plans to sabotage their extension.

You sound like nice

Our new neighbours extended into their back garden. There was some disruption but they did their best to keep it minimal - no evening or weekend work, for example. When it was finished they threw a big party to thank the street for putting up with it and to give us all a chance to have a good nosy at what they’d had done.

I am wondering wtf they can’t just buy a house that meets their needs?

Ah. You’re one of those neighbours. Let me help you. If it’s in London, the likelihood is they can’t actually afford a house that exactly meets their needs, so they’d like to extend their own property. You know, that they spent thousands buying. Which they own.

Our neighbours were exactly the same as you; they didn’t want us to do a tiny side return extension on the back - we didn’t even want to build further back, beyond where the original kitchen was, FFS. Numerous similar extensions on our streets for which planning was granted because those people were lucky enough not to have absolute pain in the arse neighbours. They delayed the planning process with their groundless objections, were a nightmare from start to finish of the build and nearly gave me a breakdown.

They knew well enough to object on some kind of valid ground though (light and amenity, though neither was affected). They have other properties elsewhere and basically spend their whole time there now, rather than in their house in London.

So now we have a square of our side return extension, which the council made a condition of the build so their “light and amenity” won’t be affected. And that square is a complete pain. And they basically don’t live in their house any more. I mean, their light and amenity definitely isn’t affected wherever the fuck they are in the country at the moment, you know? Because it certainly isn’t living next door to us.

Just FYI - when you object (which you will, by the sounds of it) it is not a valid objection to say “I don’t want this to happen because I’ll be inconvenienced by the noise and disruption from the work”. At least research valid grounds for objection.

YABVU and very, very selfish. But you won’t change. Gear up to fall out with your neighbours and never to speak to them again.

Why is building a shed going to affect their plans, you need to build wholly within your boundary anyway

They can easily do a single storey extension without putting a toe on your land. We did (mid terrace). They built it from the inside, reaching over to mortar it.
They can probably do a 2 storey one as well, as builders are very inventive, and are used to attitudes like yours.

If it's got a big garden people will think about extending it. Why shouldn't they? Not everyone can afford or find a house that's got everything they need. We bought our house because it was in a beautiful area, close to work and had the school we wanted. You could land a plane in the garden (!), so we decided to buy with a view to extending it as soon as we saw it. A larger house would have been far more.

In short: you can make it more difficult, but you can't stop them - grow up.

Wow

You would actually build a shed on their side in the hope that it might ....possibly cause a problem with potential extention. YOU don't sound very nice at all - why are you so against them having an extension if there is room and it is on their garden?

They probably cannot afford a bigger house so they are buying a smaller one with room to extend.

I agree sour grapes - not nice at all.

The most you can do is object to the application, but you can refuse any scaffolding on your side of the garden and I would do that - the mess is awful and if the builders injure themselves on your land, there could be issues.

Getting your arse handed to you here @Greenfingeredsue i am heartened to see.

If the house is a probate sale then the vast majority of people who would purchase it would at some point look to modernise it/ upgrade/ extend. It’s really not unusual.

Builders won’t need access through your side alley or in your garden, which is lucky as you do seem determined to be shitty about it!!

As others have said, a shame as your new neighbours might be lovely. Maybe better to work with them on it in terms of understanding.

If they do extend/ modernise then they’re raising the value of houses on the street too rather which will benefit you. Just a thought to leave you with.....

You sound delightful. Why not just get in and enjoy your own life and let others do the same.

Read up on the party wall act and planning permission/permitted development. A shed isn’t going to scupper anything.

My mum’s neighbour built an extension right up to the boundary and we don’t even blink.

You sound extremely petty and I feel really sorry for your prospective new neighbours.

Noise is not a reason to dispute an extension if it's at reasonable times of day. We're end of terrace and our neighbours (mid terrace) are having a ground floor extension built and we've never once been asked for access to our property by the builders, they've managed it all on neighbours property so I suspect your shed plan won't have any impact whatsoever.

I think you really need to reflect on your reasons and feelings about this, you seem very unreasonable.

I understand that living next door to building work can be quite disturbing but how will their completed extension affect you?

You sound quite conniving to not want to scupper the sale but to try to stop an extension being built which may be a major factor in the vendor buying. When we were house hunting we couldn’t find a house in the area that suited our needs so we choose our house because of the potential to extend.

I wouldn't hang about waiting on the neighbours to sell to put up a shed or greenhouse - the incomers are the people that are going to live next to you for however long ongoing.

You're incredibly daft to put the selling-up neighbours' interests first. If it's going to put off buyers, never mind - it'd be far worse to get off on the wrong foot with new neighbours, if you think your shed or greenhouse are going to potentially be eyesores or whatever . Better to have them in situ so they know what they're going to be living next to.

Put the bloody things up and worry about potential new neighbours wanting to extend when it actually happens.

So basically you want to allow the unsuspecting buyers to complete the sale, knowing they intend to extend, and then do everything you can to make it difficult for them to do so? Do you hear yourself??. Shed or no shed you can’t think prevent the extension. You can make it a bit less convenient but don’t kid yourself that you can stop their plans. All you will accomplish is making yourselves look petty and small and creating awful relations with people who could be your neighbours for decades. Never mind the disruption your shed-building will have on your other neighbours.

Dealing with neighbours’ building works is part of living in close proximity to others. If you don’t want any noise and disruption move to a house in the countryside far from anyone else. People who do what you are proposing make the world a worse place to live.

Just make sure your shed doesn’t need planning permission (see www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/43/outbuildings assuming you’re in England). It’d be a terrible shame if it turned out you had broken the rules and had to take it down...

If you don't let them on your side then your side probably won't look very tidy because they will have to point the brickwork from the other side. This will impact you and not them. Don't be a twat about it.

Be careful what you wish for. The proposed extension which may inconvenience you for a couple of months may result in years of peaceful neighbours. Someone else might buy it and put in a garden bar, massive trampoline, goalpoats, and hot tub in it. I dread to think the effect that would have on you. Actually on second thought you are so unreasonable I hope they do that and build an extension.

My neighbours are planning on doing a double story extension, the houses are small and they have a couple of kids so it makes sense. As much as I'm not looking forward to the disruption I'm really looking forward to having a nosy around once it's done.

I might even do one myself depending on how it turns out.

Talk about getting your retaliation in first... If you do build a shed and greenhouse, do so because you want them and not to scupper any plans your new neighbours might have. Remember that you will need to access the sides of the shed/greenhouse for maintenance.

Why not buy the house yourself, add a covenant that prevents the house ever being extended and then resell it? You may reduce its value though and some restrictive covenants may be unenforceable. Or buy a house that suits your needs i.e. with enough land around it so that no-one can affect you.

I hope your new neighbours install a hot tub.

Wow you sound incredibly mean spirited and petty. Are you generally this selfish?

Why shouldn't they extend?