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 think we’re past agreeing to scaffolding on the property, @Butt

SORRY! My dog crashed into me! @Butterfly44!!! Definitely not calling you names!!!

@memberofthewedding

Good reason to insist upon checking out the company to ensure they are properly qualified tradespeople and VAT registered, and not a bunch of people employed on a cash in hand basis because they are cheap.

Excellent idea.

I wouldn't hesitate to give notice to MY house insurance company if I was semi detached and a bunch of cowboys had been employed next door.

For a lot of people, their house may be their largest asset.
Why would you be cavalier about protecting it.

The stress afterwards can be horrendous.

People in the area I live in have denied a new house owner access through their end of terrace house.
This will cause enormous extra cost to the new owner who foolishly bought without checking with the neighbours.🙄

The neighbours have a gorgeous garden apparently, and the idea that they would agree to 6-9 months of dozens of builders AND a digger to go over their garden is so bizarre.

The offer to have the garden fully restored didn't move them.

I only heard this second hand last year, but
someone else gave permission a couple of years ago, and it was hell.

Their garden had been ruined and will take a couple of years to come back.

It is completely unreasonable IMO to expect a neighbour to give up their garden to be a building site for months and I wouldn't dream of it.

I find it utterly extraordinary that anyone would think that anyone would believe that a new neighbour would do that for you, and you have just bought a house.🤷🏻‍♀️

I would like to see much stronger legislation protecting the rights of neighbours when someone decides to do extensive building work. Even if they are not going to access your property with scaffolding etc there are the noise, dirt and dust to contend with as well as their vehicles blocking access. There are people naively thinking of purchasing a property and developing it without doing their homework. Perhaps they are unaware of how groups of neighbours with similar concerns can act together to block planning applications for an unpopular development.

I would like to see much stronger legislation protecting the rights of neighbours when someone decides to do extensive building work.

How would that work ?

Even if they are not going to access your property with scaffolding etc there are the noise, dirt and dust to contend with as well as their vehicles blocking access.

All of which are already actionable if they cause you loss.

How is it going @BigPaperBag?

Crikey this is a read. I'm a PW Surveyor.

The works fall under the PW Act. Sounds like you're dealing with a shared garden wall. Next door can take it down and rebuild it as part of their extension (full width) and the PW Act gives them a right of access to do so.

I would NOT just agree to any PW Notices for this kind of work.

They're spending a chunk of money and you can appoint a surveyor to represent you at their cost. You could use their surveyor to keep costs down, but sound them out first. They've not been helpful so no need and you're moving so burn that bridge if you need to feel secure and get fully independent advice.

The surveyors can agree how and when they work your side, what is a reasonable time for them to do so (no open ended programme, written notice prior to access), how they protect your patio, how they access the area (your back gate sounds unnecessary to me) and things like working hours and security measures. Valuable protections.

I know PW surveyors get little sympathy but where the Act applies they can stop you getting walked over and control the exercise of rights of entry.

If you appoint a surveyor, legally you'll need to declare this during the conveyancing process to any incoming purchaser, who will 'inherit' your surveyor with any ongoing works. Most surveyors will chat through the process with a new buyer or their solicitors and hopefully reassure them. It should not affect any sale.

I think PW surveyors are great! We have a garden party wall - before we moved here the then neighbours made the owners of our house "step in" the extension from the party wall rather than go full width so we had a 6 inch partially infilled gap and a nice black wall of mould next to it. We managed to have it permanently infilled with a bitumen "lid" so no more damp. I love finding out about these things too.

I must admit though I didn't realise the Act would give next door right of access when rebuilding wall as part of an extension (in my case the new owners have never wanted to - so far).

Good to hear! Where the Act applies it does grant rights of access, but the exact status of the wall and nature of the works needs to be considered. In the case you describe, I would expect access to be available. Always hard to diagnose without a photo..

If I was buying a house and you had declared a 'dispute' as being insisting on getting a party wall agreement for a neighbouring extension this wouldn't put me off. In my mind it would show you have protected your property from possible damage.

Your neighbour must ask for your permission to put scaffolding on your property in order to build their extension.

They have the right of access to your land to carry out maintenance on their existing property, but no automatic right of access in order to build a new extension.

In order to avoid a neighbourly dispute at a later date, it might be best to let your neighbour know of your decision regarding access to your patio in writing.

The PW Act allows rights of access for works in pursuance of the Act. Not all extensions trigger the PW Act. What has been described certainly sounds like it does. It's sometimes the case that half an extension has access (say for a new wall on an undeveloped boundary) and the rest doesn't (e.g. a slightly stepped in upper floor extension above it). Rights turn on the specifics of the proposals, existing building and boundary conditions.

I feel I’ve missed my vocation ... ponders

Scaffolder's are generally not the quietest? Tidiest, careful-list of workers, I would want full details and whether it's going to be attached to your house anywhere. And as he's just told you he dosen't sound particularly considerate. You need an agreement that he will pay for repairs if any damage is caused. Or say no.