To have given my neighbour short shrift on the phone after I allowed access under false pretences

[TooManywines]

Neighbour is almost at the end of a first storey extension.
i never opposed any of the plans and as she was extending to the end of her garden I figured that it would give my small garden a litttle bit more privacy. I can see having reviewed the plans her builder has built out 1400 more than was on the plans.

she messaged me to ask if her builder could come into my garden as he needed to make a small hole - there are three brick vents n the new bit so I summised he must’ve been adding to it.

my DD text me at mid day to let me know we had a window facing directly into my garden - I check on my CCTV and she was right.

i phoned the neighbour aghast and asked her what the hell she was playing at and that the window was definitely not on the PP application-her response
‘we needed more light’ 😩

I told her under no uncertain terms that her builder was to vacate my property and to stop work

AIBU to ask them to brick up the window and return it back to how it was - I’m tempted to call the planning enforcement officer so they can see all the other gaffs they’ve made but panicking that she might get asked to tear it all down - which although I’m really cross about I’d not want that to happen.

Report her.

Definitely this.

That gravel board that slide between uprights sounds good. However, if the flat roof in that drawing is 3m, then the window starts roughly 3m and goes to roughly 4m high. You couldn’t have uprights that high.

The metal post in concrete, with a board flush (1cm grace) against the entire window area would be more doable. Covering every last glimmer of light. The good thing is that if the window opens outwards, they can’t access it.

Best thing is to have the new window removed and opening filled in as on the plans. Neighbour sounds awfully entitled, no way is waiting for the weekend as work is proceeding at full pace good enough, so you’ll probably have to call the council.

You reply I won’t be available to talk on weekend I will be busy following up with the urgent communications I put in on Thursday to the planning department on your cheeky fuckery destroying the amenity of my property. I’ve been really nice and this is how you treated me- I’ve learnt my lesson. Talk to me now or you will have to pull the whole thing down not just brick up a window, I will be telling them everything you’ve done.

and verbally not in writing if you for a second think you can get away with this, if you end up with this window in the completed buildings I will train my dd on catapults and nerf guns to shoot at it and every time it opens I wil grab the axe and legally chop off everything that protrudes into my property. Like I said, I’ve tried being nice, brick it up NOW.

"That's OK, I understand if you're too busy to speak, I can take my concerns straight to council if that's easier for you."

What a CF. Get right on to the planning department this morning.

This! ⬆️ She's taking the piss.

If she is so busy I would be on the phone to council now.

What a CF.

I’d definitely report all 3 breaches - window, size and lack of party wall agreement - to the council. If you only report the window, they may see it as a minor breach and just allow her to make it closed and frosted glass. The whole lot, less likely to get away with, especially given she’s made it 1400mm bigger - that’s nearly 5ft! I read it first as 140mm, and thought, ok, barely a brick width. But 1400mm? That’s taking the piss.

And tell her. ‘Neighbour, given you don’t appear to be taking this seriously, I will be reporting the breaches in planning to the council this morning.’

If there’s no response from her today I will tell her she has 24 hours then I’m ringing the council

Don't wait - she's made it clear thats she isn't going to stop. The longer you wait the more difficult it will be.

I agree, ring the council today.

WTF does reply to planning concerns ‘in due course’ mean anyway? She clearly has no intention of getting rid of the window.

I agree that you should not wait. This needs to be addressed as soon as possible. I would be contacting the planning department immediately.

I don't think you should view contacting Planning as a threat to get her to remove the window. It's a necessary step and perfectly reasonable given the concerns about deviation from the approved plans and the potential knock on effects on your property and public amenities.

It's in her best interests that they are involved now too, as well as building control. It's not like calling the police on her. If the builder is prepared to - or as perhaps suggested to - ignore the most basic requirements of the plans they sound like cowboys.

You are fair too kind for your own good. This is why CF can push the boundaries

She's already used up any grace period, do not hesitate, contact planning today.

No, call planning today. No more Mrs Nice. You need to show that you're serious.

And planning won't leap into a van on blue lights and come straight round, you will need to keep on at them to act promptly so it's best to start the process straightaway.

I agree, don’t delay. She took the piss right from the start and she’s already fobbed you off once.
Ring planning this morning and follow up with an email for a paper trail. And contact the relevant local councillor(s).

I agree with the others. Phone planning the second they open today. You've given her fair warning, she's disregarded it, time to go to step 2, and in the meantime start planning how you'll make it that she can't see out or even open that window.

Absolutely don't delay, the longer you leave it and the more work that's done to make it a permanent fixture, its likely the council may just given them a plan to make what they have done more acceptable - such as frosted glass in the window. If you call them before it's properly fully secured in place they will make them remove and brick it back up hopefully.

The longer you leave it the harder it will be to stop your neighbours.

Report it today- on the phone and in writing/email. It will be much harder to enforce changes to a building when it is finished, as opposed to as a work in progress.

You don't need your neighbours to give you a copy of the plans btw- all the details and correspondence will be on the council's planning portal.

It's not just the window- building right up to the boundary should have had a party wall agreement to protect you against possible damage to your property.

Time to get real- protect your home from this CF!

Why are you dealing with her, you've spoken to her and she isn't prioritising you, and has already demonstrated what she plans to do. You need to speak to the council urgently. This will be a real problem when you come to sell, who wants to buy a house with a garden like that? It would be like zoo animals with your neighbour the viewing public. You wouldn't be able to sunbathe, allow DC to have a paddling pool ect. It really will be a problem for you and you need to find your anger. Also if she's right up to the boundary, what happens when she needs to maintain the boundary?

Also report to (or threaten to) the building inspector. If they aren't working according to the plans on this, there could be more dodgy going's on.

I hope you have plans to install a basketball hoop on that wall!

As others have said, don't wait - phone the council planning dept today as this clearly isn't the first change they've made to the plans that were approved.
This now illegal extension will impact the value of your home and potentially make it unsellable - are you really prepared to accept that ?!

Yes this! If the building inspector isn't happy, they won't get a completion certificate.