To ask neighbour to pause building work and sort out planning permission and party wall agreement before continuing?

[123MyName321]

Semi detached neighbour has just started digging foundations for an extension. Foundations are more than 3 times deeper than our house foundations and within 5cm of our party wall. No party wall notice was served. After speaking to the builders, it also transpires that the extension is large enough to require planning permission, which the neighbours do not have.

We aren't opposed to the neighbours improving their home, but we want to make sure things are done safely and legally.

We would like a surveyor to check that the plans are structurally sound given our house's very shallow (less than 30cm) foundations and we would like to know what the plans are for their extension, as it might end up substantially overlooking our garden.

We would also like them to apply for the required planning permission before continuing their build as I understand an unpermitted structure next door can affect our ability to sell our house.

Are we being unreasonable?

A lot of people go in blind to projects like this
there’s absolutely no need to go in all guns blazing
just say we need this all rubber stamping officially by planning and will possibly need party wall as if it is required and there isn’t one it invalidates our insurances

exactly the same result and hopefully not start a war with the neighbours

no need for the aggressive approach

I dont know what your relationship with your neighbours has been like up to now, BUT its pretty obvious that they are either idiots or dont give a damm

Every need for an aggressive approach, its all you can do

Yeah, don't worry at all about falling out with them. They aren't your friends, and this is way too big to ignore. They would do it to you if the roles were reversed.

@123MyName321 It is much easier to stop this now and get it sorted rather than trying to be nice and hope your neighbours will be reasonable.

Much better to disclose a dispute because neighbours didn’t do party wall agreement and get planning permission rather than explaining damage to your property because you didn’t act quick enough.

You need to do this properly and notify planning control today. They are the ones who can stop all work now. The longer you delay the worse it will get.

Talk to your chartered surveyor and be guided by them on how to manage this once the work has stopped.

You get to choose your surveyor - & they get to pay for it. You do not have to (& should not) use theirs. It's your home & you need to protect it.... Speaking from experience.

Well you won't sell a house without risk of it backfiring if you don't address this so it's a moot point.

I don't know why you're tiptoeing around neighbours who clearly don't give enough if a toss about you to a) do things properly and b) work with you if you have legitimate legal concerns.

Not surprised the builders have stopped, they will be reputationally impacted by continuing. Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if they've dropped in the planning issue to you so you can have the chance to do the right thing because theyre uncomfortable they dont want it to come back on them.

This happened to us with our neighbours doing a loft conversion without following party wall rules (or notifying building regs). They punched three holes in the party wall and brushed us off everytime we tried to raise it with them politely. When we contacted a party wall act surveyor his advice was to immediately seek an injunction to get them to stop. By the time I had drafted it the builders had left for the weekend so we put it through their door as a draft with a covering letter to say if they hadn't confirmed works were on hold pending resolution of the issue by the time the court opened on the Monday we'd be filing the application.

It worked and they very reluctantly engaged. Yes it irreparably damaged our cordial relationship with them but that's on them not us and I'd rather have zero relationship with them and a structurally safe house than vice versa. We did also report them for having no building regs certificate for both the conversion and an earlier single storey extension they'd done but the council were useless on that front.

Its a pity that builders are not required to satisfy themselves that appropriate consents etc are in place before they start work.

Do everything by the book. Your neighbours may not like it or speak to you afterwards but that's on them.because they want to short cut every process.

If you need legal advice you might have cover on your house insurance you can use.

The noise of building works and additional vehicles in the area is likely to affect other neighbours too, even if not as directly as you. So other people might look for a planning application, realise there isn't one and report them. Please contact your local authority right away, you don't need to tell your neighbours you have done so. It's in everyone's interests that their extension is properly constructed.

Asking them about planning permission once they finally show us their plans feels less aggressive than reporting them to the council, but perhaps I’m being naive.

I'm afraid you are being a bit naive and your neighbours are taking advantage of that. Nobody wants to be in the position they have put you in, I am sorry that it is happening to you, but the potential consequences of not addressing it could be a lot worse than having a strained relationship with your neighbours.

Why????

Building control are as important as the planning department as they can tell if what they are doing is safe.

We had quotes from
four builders and every single one advised that they wouldn’t start work without planning permission in hand…

There's no point avoiding a neighbour dispute for the sake of a smooth eventual sale if you thereby have a property which you can't sell as any homebuyer report will highlight the extension next door and advise buyers to seek info about party wall agreement and building signoff which you won't be able to provide. Chances are that they will either not escalate it into a dispute and will comply with the law when it is officially explained, or if they don't then they might move elsewhere themselves before you want to move. We once had to declare something minor in the neighbour section - the property had a right of access over neighbour's land that he kept obstructing - saying on the form that this had happened, and a formal letter sent to the neighbours outlining the contractual rights and responsibilities which were then complied with - did not obstruct the sale or cause any problems. You can slam the lid on this right now before it gets out of hand, and saying "neighbours tried to do their extension without planning permission but we objected and it was eventually all resolved within the law" would not cause an issue.

We needed to have a large tree removed and none of the tree lopping/removal companies were willing to come out to quote without proof of approval from council for the removal of the tree in question. Fortunately we already had that so the process of quotes and removal was very quick.

I’ve had a developer ask to work next door without a party wall agreement. She claimed to be a single parent and needed to move in quickly. She also told me that she needed more room for her children.

i told her to get a surveyor and send me the paperwork. She did so using her own name on the forms, our surveyors had to issue a new agreement when it was discovered the house had been bought by a property developer.

Her lies have delayed the start of work by four months. I don’t think she’ll be making much of a profit!

Definitely get them to stop.. Chance are they will end up reported anyway, cause I am sure I am not the only person who likes to check the local planning applications when folk near me do any work (yes, I am THAT person).

A family friend is currently having issues buying a house that someone did building work on and is now hastily trying to get retrospective permission for the work so they can sell the house - so reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally, your doing your neighbors a favour.

@123MyName321 you can't 'think about' this. You must act without delay.
Council planning department first - they will probably involve enforcement.
As far as the party wall award is concerned, this is 100% the responsibility of your neighbour. They will need to appoint a party wall surveyor and I strongly recommend that you require a second surveyor to act for you (the neighbour has to pay).
If you don't nip this in the bud you will have a whole world of pain in front of you. Anyone attempting to build a huge extension without permissions is a CF and very likely to do a shoddy job that will damage your property. Could make it uninsurable and unsellable.
Neighbourly relations were finished the minute the first trench was dug in these circumstances and not down to you.

You need to ring planning and get them to stop. And you need a party wall surveyor.

I know you want to avoid a war. But you’re already in one.

You didn’t start it. Doesn’t change it’s not happening.

Your home insurance is unlikely valid if you know about this and ignore it. You probably need to ring them too.

They probably can’t afford to do it properly. Hence doing it this way. But that cost is there to protect everyone. My parents surveyors made their neighbours put tens of thousands of £ into an independently held safe pot upfront. This was incase anything happened during the works which damaged their house.

You really can’t ignore this and be all nicey nicey. You are not dealing with nicey nicey people.

This isn't a time to worry about people-pleasing the neighbours. That can't be your priority here (and it certainly isn't theirs, is it?). No need to be personally aggressive with them, but you do need to be assertive and follow the correct procedure.

It might not feel comfortable, but it's nonetheless the right thing to do. Knowing you have your next door neighbour's approval will be cold comfort if your house falls down and your insurers don't pay out.

Friend of mine had to live for over a year in a rented house because his house pretty much fell down when the neighbours dug a basement in the house next door. The whole situation was awful - beyond stressful - and they were insured and the insurers paid out....

If it helps, you could say to your neighbours that you spoke to your insurers who insisted the planning dept be notified. That might take some heat out of any discomfort.

however, your neighbours wouldn’t have any cause to be annoyed with you for notifying the planning dept without any made up excuse. You’re simply playing it by the book which is what they should have done if they didn’t want delays or agro.

What have the Planning Department and Building Control said, OP? Presumably they have insisted that the work stops?

We had issues with our neighbours earlier in the year when their builders exceeded the agreed height of their extension party wall. We contacted the Planning Department, the enforcement officer came round the same day, and made them stop work immediately. He then made the builders reduce the height of the party wall to the agreed level. And that was with a full party wall agreement, planning permission, and visits by Building Control (it turned out the builders were using a private company who just happened to be related to the ocntractor). Your neighbours simply CAN'T start excavating within three metres from your property, and when they send you the party wall agreement , you are entitled to appoint your own party wall surveyor, at your neighbours' expense.