Neighbour putting up extension

[BigPaperBag]

Ok, our neighbour has informed us that they are going to be putting up an extension. No problem with that, their house and all that. What really riled me was when he just said ‘and we’ll be putting the scaffolding on your patio so we can rebuild the wall’ (in total it will be there about 6 weeks) Please don’t anyone ask me why it’ll be there so long as I genuinely don’t know, this is just what he said.

Anyway, AIBU to say that he can put scaffolding up but only if he rents my patio space? Do people do this? It’s my first owned home so I have no idea, just asking for opinions really.

I agree with PP about implications in terms of managing relationship with neighbours but that is exactly why party wall agreement is non negotiable. It protects you both. If your neighbours are going via permitted development then party wall act also ensures they have completed relevant structural plans as these all need to be submitted with the application and they need to abide by them when building.

I like previous PP suggestion of stating that your insurance doesn't allow them access without party wall. It deflects the blame from you being difficult (not that you were to start with) and onto insurers so neighbours can't argue

The entitled attitude would worry me if any damage should occur. If he had asked nicely I may have been more inclined to act on trust.

To be planning to take over your neighbour's garden for the summer without any discussion is beyond rude. I have young children so I wouldn't allow this without a solution for how my garden could be made safe for them to play in while the work was going on. Why should I keep my children indoors all summer because my neighbour wants to build an extension?

In your case, you have your new patio which presumably you want to enjoy and a valuable car which might be damaged. I think it's fine to say to your neighbour, sorry but this just doesn't work for us.

I'm obviously completely stupid as why wouldn't the scaffolding go on his property?

Watching with interest as we have a similar situation.

I would suggest you explore party wall rights as well as other considerations to the impact on your property such as right to light and planning permission. It seems like the neighbour is doing this with great haste so it would be worth looking into this ASAP

Thanks for the fab advice @honeylulu

Does he gave planning permission? If his extension will affect light into your property I'd be informing the council so they can take this up with him.

@diddl

I'm obviously completely stupid as why wouldn't the scaffolding go on his property?

I'm sure it will be on his property as well but, in general, the broader base you can have for the scaffolding, the better. But there are other solutions in most cases - just more expensive ones.

@BigPaperBag

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Don't start incurring costs without getting the NDN to agree to cover them. The costs could be considerable, especially if he is an arsehole. It's his project, for his benefit - he covers your reasonable costs.

@BigPaperBag

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I wouldn’t be engaging anyone until I’d told him that his scaffolding wouldn’t be going on my property. See what he says next.

Speak to them or write saying that before you agree you would like a lot more information. As others note the party wall is important and the fact your neighbour thinks this is expensive is insufficient for you to not object. You do not have to accommodate your neighbour, though I would providing he acknowledges he should ask rather than tell, that he makes assurances around noise, mess and working hours, and also I would ask that he does not start until later in the Summer- I do not think it is unreasonable given we have all been locked up inside to expect to use your garden for the next couple of months.

I’ve seen the plans online as I’ve had the pics and diagrams through from the council. Tbh, some of it I didn’t really know what I was looking at. The boundary is going to be the wall which is 9 inches wide, rather than the wall of the extension.

@BigPaperBag If I were you I would a) tell him you do not agree to your patio/garden being taken up and potentially made unsafe during the summer as you will be using it and b) you want something in writing and to see the scaffolding/builders insurance in case something ruins your patio! As for him just telling you that your patio will be used... I would have probably said something right there and then! He cannot dictate to you how your property is used and I think he needs telling that!

@Charm23 When he said about using the patio I was so surprised I just sort of spluttered ‘what if we don’t want you using the patio?’ And that’s when he said about it taking so much longer doing it over hand (not our problem) and also about the finish on our side not being as good. I don’t really care if the finish isn’t as good as it’s a pretty ugly wall anyway so we could put up a climber and have some plants on there 😆

I'd go for "bright and breezy" in terms of wanting to be as accommodating as possible with an underlying steely determination to be not one penny out of pocket or minute inconvenienced. Push all of the worry and work back on to him. E.g. "We've had a think about your request (sic) neighbour and absolutely happy to consider this for you. I understand that the first step is to see your party wall thingy". And back it up in writing (ask for his email address) include a very firm statement that nothing is to happen on your land.

Also, what a dick. Why do some people just stomp around dictating to the world?

The thing is, technically speaking I’m not bothered if he has an extension. But we’re selling in about 18 months so if (like a PP alluded to) the buyers are likely to need to see a PWA agreement then I don’t want to have to buy an indemnity. I tried to call my insurance company but they’re closed today, job for tomorrow. Will update for anyone who’s interested 😂

In my experience - if you have the misfortune to be stuck with a neighbour who tells you what he's going to be doing to your property rather than asking - there's no neighbourly goodwill and keeping the peace - because they'll just keep at it raising the stakes and taking the piss.

We've got neighbours either side and the houses are at the age where the roofs all are needing replacing. Ours was done with no scaffolding overlapping into the next door gardens at all, but when they came to do the other houses they must have got different scaffolders or something and we ended up with the down poles in our garden along the side of the house. Was a bit of a pain in the arse because I couldn't get the double buggy down easily - but the neighbour involved was mortified and threatened to throttle the scaffolders for doing it like that without asking us (and him)... we get on well with this neighbour - he does a lot of stuff to help us out and vice versa so it was OK.

Guy on the other side is very fond of banging on the door and telling us - gonna get the render on my house replaced - they'll be using your drive for access and stuff... and he does it in such a bullying way that it's bloody hard to refuse if you're a small woman being confronted with a gammony fucker of a huge man (who thinks very little of women). Couple of years ago he tried this again, and his builders, not only parked right outside my house with a van with a misplaced apostrophe glaring at me through the window for days on end (this annoyed me so bloody much - that apostrophe was taunting me), but he caused some minor damage to the front of the house and work that we'd just had done ourselves. I went absolutely fucking ballistic - told him he had a week to put it right or I was taking legal action and if he did any work going up the boundary again I wanted proper legal safeguards in place... and the guy nearly shat his pants in terror.

Yep he no longer even speaks to me - but it's so bloody liberating not to have to wonder what he's going to announce he's going to fuck us over with next. His builders have been back with scaffolding to do other stuff - not a pole has strayed over the boundaries, not a fragment of rubble has entered our garden and his pisstaking has completely stopped.

I'd be furious to be told he was using my patio. He has no manners, you definitely need a 3rd party agreement for the wall.

I remember a few years ago coming home from work and scaffolding on my garage roof for my neighbours extension and I hadn't been asked. I went off it, but couldn't do anything other than insist they paid for any damage they made. Make sure you take a picture of your patio before they install the scaffolding then if they do any damage you have yourself covered.

This is what it says on the FMB website
The following works require you to obtain a Party Wall Agreement:

Any work to shared walls (party walls) between semi-detached and terraced houses.
Work involving shared ‘party structures’, such as floors between flats.
Work to garden boundary walls.
Excavation works – or underpinning – to, or close by (within 3-6m), the party wall.
Loft conversions that mean cutting into a party wall.
Inserting a damp proof course into a party wall.
Making party walls thicker or higher.
Building a second-storey extension above a shared wall.
Building a new wall up to or off the party wall.
So if any of that applies @BigPaperBag then he has to have a PWA .

@Garlia

He needs to ask your permission, he can't just 'tell' you. What a knob!

This.

Anything that involves him or his agents (workmen) going on to your property require your permission - and you are perfectly entitled either to refuse it or (I would think) to charge for it.

6 weeks is a long time to have someone else's builders in your garden. And what about the mess? They will be mixing concrete etc - and I'll bet they'll leave your space looking like a bombsite! And they may also damage your patio.

Do you have a dog? What if they expect you to keep it in all the time while they are working there? Children? Building work isn't safe.

They will be able to do it from the other side (except for pointing the brickwork, and that won't take anywhere near 6 weeks). Tell him "No".

Does he need insurance for putting scaffolding on your property. What about privacy issues and security. I would just say no, sorry, they will have to find a different access.

Tbh I would just say an outright no. I never understand why people risk damage to their own property, or put up with the massive inconvenience and mess, for the benefit of cheeky fucker neighbours.

And if I'd come home to someone else's scaffolding on my property, with no prior discussion or agreement I'd have taken an axe to it and seen them in court.

Just tell them to piss off. Don't let their extension become your problem

Thanks @Floralnomad I really don’t see how I can’t have one. DH is just being so annoying and asking why we need one and I keep explaining that it won’t cost us anything. What made me jittery is when NDN said ‘I heard about a couple who were so difficult that they ended up having to pay half’ (of the joint stuff eg rebuilding walls) Surely we’re not being difficult but asking for a PWA. I’m definitely calling the insurers tomorrow. Luckily we’ve got until 5th April to make object to the planning permission if we can’t get him to agree to this. Don’t really want to go down that route though.