Neighbours garage practically in our garden

[airspaceissue]

Next door have just built their own garage and it's an inch away from our fence. The roof overhangs our garden and I'm not really happy about it. We didn't realise how close they were building to our fence until they got it to a level we could see and now they obviously aren't going to knock it down and start again. My partner has spoken to them once and they've said they roof won't come that far out they'll cut the wooden bits back - but there's no way they'll cut it back enough to not overhang at all? Their guttering will essentially be in our garden? I'm worried about devaluing our property to be honest, rather than just being picky. What can we do?

Those trusses will be cut back, so won't overhang much if at all, but any gutter will.

Some questions:
1/ what exactly do the plans say about size, position and construction of the garage and does what has been built match? This information should be online via the planning portal for your council.

2/ what do your deeds /plans say about the ownership of the fence, access for maintenance and positioning of any garage?

Check out exactly what the legal position is, then you will know what you can or can't do.

Cheeky feckers.. id be out with a chainsaw

Even with PP they may have needed a party wall agreement.

You need legal advice.

I don't think anyone would be ok with that!

I hope you can get it all sorted.

Visit planning at the council and show them photographs & request assistance with this matter

Action to take

Party wall agreements aren't legally required but advisable

Is it your fence? Because I'm sure you are meant be allowed access to the other side of it to maintain it eg paint? Either way I'd be fuming and contacting the council, way too close to your boundary.

Agree with others.
Check original planning application for the garage.
Take lots of photos showing as many perspectives as possible then approach Planning Dept .
Maybe send photos to your solicitor too.

You need to contact your planning department at the Council - they are overhanging into your property (and that's before they've put guttering on). If you have an OK relationship you need to speak to then asap, and tell them this is too far over.

Definitely not right. It's too close to the boundary. Speak to Planning at your local council.

• If it has planning permission, it's unlikely to be compliant with it. You can check if they have planning permission using the Planning Portal (you'll fin a link on your local council website).


• If it's built under permitted development rights than it's too close to the boundary and possibly too tall.

Most new builds have limited or no permitted development rights. If the developer had pp originally there may be a time limit for construction before it lapsed.

There is no way that can be legally allowed to be where it is.

Presumably there is PP as the developers were offering garages as part of their scheme. But worth checking that the DIY version complies.

I would act fast, tell your neighbours in writing that you do not give them permission to overhang your land, and that should any part of the garage eaves or guttering overhang your land you will recognise it as a trespass and take legal action. So could they please confirm that no eaves, guttering or any other structure will cross the boundary.

You can say ‘hey guys, don’t want to fall out but obviously we all need to observe what’s what and protect our interests. So I’m putting this in writing now so that you can talk to your construction team and make sure they haven’t miscalculated’

Depending on the size of the proposed garage, it might fall within "permitted development" and no planning permission required.

I’m a planning officer.

I would advise/ask the following…

Is the garage the same size/location as that which was granted planning permission with the houses? I assume not, if it’s hanging over the boundary.

If no: An outbuilding within 2 metres of a neighbouring boundary should not exceed more than 2.5 in height if it’s to be constructed under Permitted Development (without planning permission). Looking at the fence, I assume it’s closer to 4m in height. It appears that planning permission would therefore be required.

I would contact your planning enforcement team at your local council.

You may also wish to contact Building Control, as it could fail building regs depending on the size of the garage.

That is bad! Talk to the neighbours again get them to move it or tell them you will be getting a solicitor. I like the idea of putting up tall wooden planks on your side. They won't be able to complete their roof.

100% this.

I don't know, but dearhummingbirds seems to actually know what they are talking about, so I would follow their advice.

That’s exactly what they’ve done. I’d ring the council and ask someone to come out urgently if you don’t think they’ll roll it back voluntarily.

Contact the planning office and building control. Hopefully they won't sign off.

They can't do this with resubmitting plans and a consultation period. How long have you/they lived there?

Just chop off the bits that overhang, like you would a tree. Chuck then back over the fence like you would with branches 🤣

If it's allowed to be where placed, then they either need a flat roof, or they need a roof that slopes front to back not side to side (unless that is the back of the garage? Then they need it side to side)

I have no idea, but that is completely unacceptable surely.

This exact thing happened to a friend when her next door neighbour built a garage with the tiles overhanging her garden with no guttering, causing the rainwater to discharge onto her property. She contacted the Council and sent photos and they took the matter in hand. The neighbour had to reduce the tile overhang and put on guttering.