To think my neighbour can drill a whole in my house to permanently hang a 15ft tarpaulin?

[Euro21widow]

So, name changed as obviously outting as pretty sure this isn't a normal occurance!

My neighbour has drilled a hole in my (grade 2 listed) building so she can permanently hang a piece of tarpaulin about 15ft up (as high as my 1st floor roof) for "privacy". Surely she can't just do this? Where do I go from here? It blocks all the light out to my ground floor windows now. Have included (bad) diagram.

Where would one even get a tarpaulin that big?

It is quite clear she is breaking the law - party wall or not.

www.netlawman.co.uk/ia/walls-boundaries-2

wezaggle.com/can-a-neighbour-attach-something-to-my-fence/#:~:text=Attaching%20plant%20pots%2C%20lights%20or,damage%2C%20although%20cases%20are%20sporadic.

@vivariumvivariumsvivaria it is huge! It runs all the way to the floor!

I’m staggered that she got a tradesman who would erect it without checking you and she had a party wall agreement.

Regardless of planning that is criminal damage. I would get a solicitors letter sent. Do you have legal cover on your house insurance

Can you lean over the fence/wall further down your garden and just take a knife to it under cover of darkness? Blame the local cats/

@whatthejiggeries Yes we do! I hadn't thoughT of that! That's a good idea!

It's too late now, but on Monday I'd ring the switchboard at your local council and ask to speak to someone in Planning Enforcement. Tell them you've already emailed and how concerned you are that your building could be damaged. Excellent diagrams, and a grade 1 CF neighbour!

What shes done is totally out of order. I'd be tempted to reply in kind. Scale the fence and remove it. You could be waiting a long time for the planning department.

@Euro21widow

Someone's probably already said and I've missed it in my skim reading the thread, but don't do anything physical OP and do contact your building insurers if you have legal cover with your house policy.

She absolutely cannot do this legally. Inform the conservation people/ listing dept at your council. They take this sort of thing (ridiculously) seriously. You cannot do anything that changes the appearance of the building without permission. I needed permission for internal, removable shutters!

I’m not a lawyer but it may count as nuisance in civil law as well as possibly criminal damage in criminal law.

Before you spend money on a solicitor - send a letter by recorded delivery (even though she lives next door), requesting that she remove the tarpaulin and put right the damage. Give her 7 days to comply.

If she fails - report her to the police for criminal damage and instruct a solicitor to make a claim on your behalf.

Take photos of the structure and of the damage and ask a surveyor to inspect the damage and give you a quote for fixing it. You will need this info if you need to take her to court.

@Theunamedcat

Throw some bird seed on it

😂

Why would anyone think it's ok to drill a hole in someone's wall. She should ha e put a pole in the garden and mounted it to that.

[quote Euro21widow]@yesitsbess she wrote me a note complaining about the children's noise from playing in the garden and said in the note she would be erecting an awning for privacy. A few days later she shouted over the wall about the awning and I didn't really think much about it as we don't really care what she does in her garden! Then the scaffolding went up and she had men working on her roof so didnt think anything about it. Then it appeared and when I asked her about it when I saw her outside the house she was really defensive and said it wouldn't be coming down as she is entitled to her privacy and she is allowed to have non-permanant things in her garden. I said I was going to check it out as didn't think she could do that, but she was adamant she was correct and that is wasn't our house wall but her garden wall.[/quote]
So she expects the awning to stop her hearing children? Maybe the flapping of the damned thing will drown out all other noise. She's an absolute delight isn't she?

And your extra diagrams! SHE HAS TURNED YOUR HOUSE INTO A PIRATE SHIP! I know this is an awful situation but I am giggling...

Is it not a fire risk? What’s if someone threw a cigarette out of one of your windows, or had a bbq outside, could it catch on fire?

Best quote ever!

Idiot is definitely extracting the urine

@yesitbless it does have a very pirate ship feel to it!

Bet it cost her loads to buy and have put up then.

And now it's going to cost her a ton more to put right.

@Euro21widow I do rather feel that whilst following all of the excellent advice here (phone your insurance company too) the entire family should adapt to your new 'Lords of the high seas' status. I'm thinking sea shanties, I'm thinking treasure raids, I'm thinking Rum.

I'm also now having extra giggles at her thinking it's her garden wall.

I'm generally quite relaxed about this sort of thing - I know our neighbour has several outdoor mirrors drilled onto our garage (it's detached and acts as a back fence for her garden), that doesn't bother me at all.
But drilling into a grade 2 listed building to attach a canopy for privacy is a step to far - I agree with reporting her.

Scaffolding costs a fortune...

@TatianaBis

I’m staggered that she got a tradesman who would erect it without checking you and she had a party wall agreement.

I agree. I would have thought that a decent tradesman would have checked this before drilling into a neighbour’s wall.

As a PP said I'd be worried about the attachment to the buildings. That looks like a huge tarp and even in a small amount of wind that's going to put an awful lot of pressure on the wall fixings.

In even a light wind, the stress that puts on the wall of your house could do an awful lot of damage. It's likely to be pretty heavy, particularly when wet.

I think she may also have been trespassing by accessing your wall like that.