Neighbour has built their wall half in our garden.

[Poppingmad123]

Thus the wall that is theirs is now a shared wall as its half on our house and half on theirs. Trouble is this now means if we want to make our driveway bigger, we have their wall in the way and can’t just build in our own grounds. Not sure if we can move their wall back to their side. Just don’t understand why they did this (other than greed for more space on their side) but they had plenty anyway.

I am so upset and angry about this. It doesn’t even match our other walls! It’s actually stressed me out so much that I can’t sleep and I’m thinking about this all the flipping time. I see it every time I step out my house so can’t just ignore it. I feel they have ruined the look of my house. I feel really resentful towards them now which I hate but just can’t help it! They never applied for a shared wall (party wall) or went through the process. They just acted as though they didn’t know what they were doing , didn’t seem to understand boundaries etc despite having professional builders. I can’t believe they wouldn’t have advised them. Also what kind of builders build walls not knowing where the boundary between houses is?

I just need some perspective as this is making me somewhat ill. Am I unreasonable for being so upset, is this normal that I’m letting it get to me this much or should I let it go? I know it’s just bricks and mortar but it’s my house! What would you do in my shoes?

By the way, we want to sell our house in the future so don’t want to be in dispute as that would put potential buyers off.

I had this dispute with my neighbour; she was elderly and has since died.
Basically, her landlord was chancing his arm when putting up an extension at the back of her rented house (ground floor loo and bathroom, council grant because she was elderly and infirm, those were the days!).
Basically, by having the wall running up to the boundary above ground level, ie extending the party wall, the foundations, which were wider , were on my land.
I'm no expert, but more knowledgeable friends warned me that, if I left it, I would eventually be deemed to have accepted it, and as well as loss of land, would be held liable for any maintenance issues. That's one reason not to let it pass, never mind "It's only a tiny bit of your garden")
So I got on to the council building inspectors, who knew the landlord of old, and made him take down the wall that had been built thus far, restarting in the correct position. Even so, I lost sunlight from my garden, although the extension is now a legal one.
My previously civil relationship with my neighbour was sadly ruined by this. Building work is bad enough at the best of times, but having to watch what has partly gone up, come down again, must have been awful, and she blamed me for raising objections.
Her own son, when he became aware of what was going on, admitted that she, or rather the landlord, had been in the wrong.
You should have been consulted before work began.

Ring building control at the council.

Dont let this fester... The longe ryou leave it... You could be deemed to have accepted this...

Be aware of where your bottom line is...

Is the encroachment so great it makes a significant difference to your lives? Can you now not pass through easily/get your car into drive...?

Are you willing to get legal/ pay money to get this remedied..?

There are plenty of CFs that build and just wait until someone complains...

Persoanlly if it were just a couple of inches I'd ignore it... Unless it was very unsightly...

Which it sounds it may be...

You’ve deleted my comment MNHQ .... why? As far as I remember I didn’t say anything wrong, nasty, against your rules ... I’m genuinely confused ...

Are you sure you know the actual boundary, as sometimes these disputes can evolve and you may find you have encroached on somewhere else. Historical builds/driveways may have been placed inaccurately.

If you’ve lost 3” i wouldn’t bother, if you’ve lost a foot and it’s an actual inconvenience, i would.

Re: color. I would raise this with the neighbor, let them know it doesn’t fit with your house and maybe it would have been courteous to have discussed it, especially as it’s encroached on your property. If it’s on your property, you can paint it, render it too if it bothers you that much, but I would let them know beforehand, as part of the same discussion, and that’s your compromise to having it taken down as it’s not something you agreed to have built on your land.

YABU. You agreed to it being half on your garden and have now changed your mind.

How is a diagram of a wall between two houses "outing".

Are your properties shaped like a pair of massive tits or a giant dick n balls that would be visible on Google Maps for us all to go looking for.

Are we talking half a brick, like PPs have asked?

A standard UK brick size is 215mm long x 102.5mm wide x 65mm.

So, the neighbours have greedily nicked a 6.1cm strip of your land? And that's going to stop you building a new drive?

Sorry, don't get what you are practically having a mental breakdown over.

@fruitbrewhaha

I'd also be pretty pissed off if my neighbour employed a surveyor and solicitor and started official proceedings in the manner being suggested without even knocking on the door about it, or doing anything when it was being built.

Indeed, and in fact after even agreeing to it too.

It’s really hard to envisage but it sound like you have been a complete pushover to be honest!

Local council buildings officer should be able to help.

I believe you can report to local planning anonymously (altho neighbour may suspect who reported) and they will investigate and if contravenes any restrictions will act according.
Call your local planning office for advice.

if you sell your house the deeds will show the wall has been built on your property and will definitely affect the potential sale. You need a solicitor to look at his

I think the issue here is that somebody has put something pretty permanent on your patch that you've had no say over, you don't like it and you had little or no control over what has happened to your property.
I totally understand that. Had they come to you and discussed their plans and you had the opportunity to approve or disapprove, you'd probably feel ok about it, but the fact that you had no say is 1) just very rude and thoughtless of them and 2) is probably the main cause of your anxiety.

However, I'm not sure that it's worth the battle.
Is it really that bad? Is it not just a standard garden wall?
If it is really ugly and will prevent the sale of your house then yes definitely say something. But if this is an emotional reaction because you didn't get a say over the wall then it's probably best to try and put it to the back of your mind, especially as you want to move anyway, it's not worth fighting over.

@Charlieiscool when it comes to selling it will be flagged because the deeds won’t show the correct boundary. They need to sort it now.

If it was in my garden I would knock it down

Really can't envisage this intrusion which is causing so much anxiety?

Sorry, don't understand the problem

@DrManhattan

If it was in my garden I would knock it down

And you’d be arrested foe criminal damage. Don’t be so daft.

Unfortunately Planning and Building Control are not interested in boundary issues, which is what this is. Unless the wall needed planning permission that is.

All these suggestions are great, but useless. The only thing you can do if he won't knock it down is go down a legal route.

You sound batty to me. You wont give a drawing to explain what you mean. You let them build on your land. They didnt do it when you were on holiday. If you didnt have the guts to say anything when it was happening what do you expect to do now?

Get a copy of your deeds check your boundries and seek professional advice or visit your local citizens advice.
Prepare a folder of useful information, photos of the original boundaries before the work, work in progress etc. so you can present this as evidence.
You neighbours cannot alter your boundry. A party wall can only be altered with co sent from all parties being signatures. Generally a party wall is part of your property/home as boundaries are generally not shared but belong to one party or the other.
You need to rectify this matter as it will potentially delay or stop the sale of your property if you sell in the future if a vendor's solicitors are diligent during conveyancing searches.

Sorry but no one likes a martyr! If you’re not willing to take any steps to rectify the conflict what on Earth do you think the people of mumsnet to do?

I’m still laughing at ‘outing diagram’ 🤣

Anyhoooo, to recap, you negotiated and agreed to build the wall half and half on their and your side and now you’re not happy with the agreement? Surely the time to do something about this was at the point of negotiations? No?

I don't understand.
They've built a wall that's on your land???!!!
Then it needs to come down and they need to build within their own land.
You need legal advice... this will bite you if you plans to sell.
Why didn't you say something? Saying that you don't like confrontation is silly, they've stolen your land!!!

Call the council planning department and they will make them take it down if it is on their land.

Maybe contact the planning office? They should have applied for party wall agreement if they plannedcto build on the boundary. Don't let this go. It will cause issues of you want to sell

you really need to fight your corner. this is your property. Your home. Not wanting to fall out with a neighbour who is effectively trying to steal your land? They are doing it. Not you.