It's a nasty neighbour one with diagram!

[bathroomwindowargh]

So much of this is tedious backstory, but better to contextualise and not drip feed, so here we go. Also I’d prob be wise to change details but on the other hand I can barely get my head round it myself so this is all straight facts. Name changed though!
We live in a weird house, and when I moved in with now DH 15 years ago, as part of a revamp we built a new bathroom in part of the existing garage, bathroom had no window. The back wall of our house and garage and therefore the outer wall of the bathroom is a wall in someone else’s garden. I know I’m gonna have to add a diagram and I will!
The someone else was an elderly neighbour who I really loved and visited a lot, but she died a couple of years ago, and the house was empty for a bit.
This just happened to coincide with us re-doing the bathroom and DH thought it was a chance to put a window in. He didn’t put one in first time round because we asked elderly neighbour’s late DH and he said no, so fair enough we didn’t push it. But this time DH thought the timing meant he could get away with it. I was a bit unsure but he basically just went ahead.
In the process he a) informed the son of late elderly woman that window was happening and could he please tell any buyers.
b) informed the estate agents to please tell any buyers.
c) got planning permission.

Basically he kept in touch with son and EA so we thought all good. Window finished. New neighbours moved in. A couple in their 30s, new to the village (yes we live in a village, so it's rural). The bloke hit the roof at the window, and claims no one told him, but we have our suspicions that he might be telling porkies.
Now the window cannot be seen at all from their house (I know this for a fact because I spent plenty time in their house visiting elderly friend, and I’m well aware what parts of the garden are visible from the house and what are not). This wall is not. It’s not a large window it’s a wide but shallow window from top to bottom window and the glass is not remotely see through, proper obscured glass. But the bloke hates it and is obviously very pissed off.
I have some sympathy for this to be honest, I did think DH was chancing it building the window while the house was empty, even though he played it all by the book.

Now to the meat. Since they moved in bloke and DH are at loggerheads but managing to be sort of surface polite, bloke came round and discussed it with DH and DH agreed to a window limiter so window would only open a couple of inches. Not happy but agreed. I was away so I haven’t met them.
However – DH says bloke was subtly threatening and bullying, and since we agreed to window limiter bloke has put both a shed overlapping one end of the window, a trellis right up almost touching and – worst and most aggressive – a piece of wood against the outside of the window so that effectively we can’t open it all all, not even a centimetre. DH very upset. It does feel like a bullying act of aggression, especially given we agreed to limit the window from our side, and it means we can’t clean the outside of the window by opening it and with the trellis etc DH thinks it’s going to get quickly fouled up with trapped leaves.
Meanwhile the pretence at being civilised carries on apace and DH, who bumps into the bloke fairly regularly (I never seem to see them but I’m away a lot) has invited them both round for coffee and to see the bathroom, to which they’ve just replied they’ll get back to us with times.
DH wants civility to prevail and wants me to re-open the question of a window limiter and could he please kindly remove his fucking aggressive stick from our window (my words, I’m getting angry writing this).

My problem is I’m a post-menopausal harpy and I feel only capable of two modes with this. 1. Play dumb and nice but not get involved. 2. Give it to bloke with all barrels, tell him what I think of his piece of wood and call him out for bullying DH. DH is a totally non-macho pussycat by the way and probably mildly autistic, hence walking into this by blithely building his bloody window.
I could do without ANY of it! By the way there are no other windows on the back of our house except three roof skylights in the upstairs living room.

Help – what should I do? I’ve been putting off even thinking about it but it’s now upon us – the civilised visit – and I’m going to have to meet these people and say something. But what? AIBU to want to fight the bully?
Sorry so long. Really didn’t want to drip feed.

You absolutely need pp to put a new window into a wall where there wasn’t one before op. We did it at our last house and the window only overlooked our own garden. They came round to inspect before approving.

I suspect you will be told to brick it up if you haven’t even bother to get pp and just went off the old lady’s son giving permission.

Sorry, that was in response to DrPrunesquallor.

How long did it take to get pp anyway? I thought these things dragged on for yonks!

@bathroomwindowargh Ultimately it is you and your DH who are in the wrong here.

You can have a window looking out onto the neighbours property, but the window should NOT open outwards as that is trespassing.

The window needs to open inwards or not open at all. A window limiter is pointless. Either install a window that opens inwards or one that does not open. Take it out and turn it round!

Your neighbour is also entitled to block the window and put a shed up against it.

You should be grovelling to these neighbours with an apology.

I would fit a new window and suck up the cost of tidying up the window frame.

If you want fresh air in your bathroom you'll need to change the window to one that opens inwards then you can do what you like your side of the boundary, he can do the same on his.

I would just be too worried about bad blood with neighbours to do this. Have no idea about the legality of the window, but either he blocks with a massive fence, or this issue rumbles on for years. Is it really worth it?

If I'd just bought a nice new house with what I thought was a private garden and found that the neighbours had sneakily installed an overlooking window after the previous old lady died I'd be annoyed too. You are in the wrong here I'm afraid. Privacy is a big plus point in a garden. He might now hear you pooping and smell your poos and have you snooping on him 😅

1. You should have got a party wall agreement for the work on the shared wall.
2. Your window opens outwards onto their space? YABVU in that case, and it is probably not even legal.

Hi @bathroomwindowargh I am a barrister and I have litigated a lot of cases about nuisance and trespass.

A window that protrudes onto someone else’s property is both a nuisance and a trespass. There are many examples of similar scenarios in the case law - for example if you construct an eaves which overhangs your neighbour’s property even by an inch, or if water from your house drips into your neighbour’s property (even if that only happens periodically).

This is your neighbour’s land. You can’t use it to open your window into - or for any other purpose. There is no difference in principle between this and someone parking their car overhanging their neighbour’s drive (a common situation in threads on here). It might be very convenient for the owner of the car, and it might not happen all the time, or prevent the neighbour from parking their own car. But it still isn’t the parker’s drive to park on.

I’d be amazed if your DH had got planning permission for a window opening into his neighbour’s land for precisely these reasons. Even if he did get permission for an outward opening window, the grant of planning permission is not determinative of whether the window is a nuisance or a trespass, because the courts have decided that planners can’t be lumbered with adjudicating questions of private law between neighbours.

The upshot of that is that even if there was planning permission for an outward-opening window, your neighbour could still sue you in nuisance.

As for him preventing you from opening the window, it is more bad news I am afraid. The victim of a nuisance is entitled to abate the nuisance, which means taking action to remedy the nuisance without taking legal proceedings. Provided the action doesn’t involve more than is necessary to abate the nuisance and doesn’t cause unnecessary damage, it’s legal. Preventing you from opening the window by using a stake strikes me as well within the scope of reasonable abatement.

You've gotten a hard time on this post, OP. I think you're perfectly reasonable. You got permission so he can take it up with the council.
Moreover their garden is enormous and now here near them; it'll barely affect him. Don't get me wrong, if I were the neighbours I wouldn't love it either but it's opaque glass and you haven't done anything wrong..

The delicious irony of this post following one from a qualified barrister stating the exact opposite has made me laugh. Bless...

Is he allowed to fix things (like a trellis) to your wall?

I dont believe you can @sylvandweller as it could cause structual damage

Wonderfully clear.

Maybe your neighbour wants to sell part of his garden to you - then the window will be in your garden.

If they can't afford to replace the (small they say) window for an inward opening one, then they'll never be able afford to buy part of the garden from an aggrieved neighbour.

The OP has now said that it's 'quite possible' her husband didn't apply for planning permission for the window after all so that would explain why it wasn't flagged by the solicitor. There was no planning application to flag.

Not at all. She said it was quite possible it wasnt specific to opening outwards. The actual window was approved by someone from the council. Whether that is the same as PP Im not sure

I wouldn’t like this, OP.

What if he wanted to build a summerhouse etc, at the bottom of his garden, or if they want to sit at there on a warm Summer’s evening, when suddenly a you switch your bathroom light on and they’re illuminated and most likely can see your fuzzy outline through the window.

Sorry but your DH took a gamble with this one and gas to admit defeat.

It definitely made me laugh too. There’s the law…and then there’s the law according to internet users!

Thanks.

That taught me something interesting.

Guessing this is referring to building regs.
Not planners
There won’t be planning approval for this as it stands.

OP should avoid an injunction ( all costs will be OPs )

Do you need to open the window?

I agree with previous posters that it was silly to put the window in, but you already know this. The fact is, the two parties agreed to an amicable solution and the neighbour has decided to heighten tensions with the wood.

Me, in this exact scenario… I would not open the window (it’s frosted so who cares if it dirty?) I wouldn’t invite them round for peace making, and if you or your husband ever bump into them, ignore them. No eye contact, no niceties, just point blank ignore them.

However, If you absolutely need to open the window then do what you have to do. I personally wouldn’t!

Surely this is going to continue to escalate until the neighbours complain officially and the OP is forced to remove the window? Then you'll also have a neighbour disagreement to inform sellers of. Isn't the most straightforward option to remove the window, and therefore the issue?

However.
If the window is there as it is for 20years the OP will have acquired an easement over the neighbours land
It won’t work for the neighbour to allow the openable window, as it is, to be there whether they agree to leave it closed or not.