Neighbour dispute over shared access

[Bombshell2022]

Can someone please help. My neighbour has set up a home salon in their shed. They are using shared access for customers. So there are strangers are constantly walking down the side of my house and around the back of my garden to access her garden. I complained to council in March but haven’t heard anything. Surely this isn’t allowed. I don’t know if they are her customers or burglars!

They are walking the other side of a fence?

Sorry op, I don’t know which is your house from the deeds. I am also voting for a diagram

Noisy kids getting hair braids coming out screaming with excitement

Do you realise you could spend thousands of pounds trying to get her to close?

a letter from a lawyer is just that a letter!

She seems the type to ignore it too

Doesn't matter what side they are walking.

The neighbour's property and garden shouldn't be used for having visiting customers.

Lots of residential properties have covenants to prevent people doing anything like what this neighbour had done to setting up garages to setting up brothels.

You have to get planning permission to override the covenants.

I have a local shop that is 5 minutes walk away. I get planning and alcohol license letters regularly. They actually got in trouble for extending their opening hours without getting permission and they are already a commercial business.

Yeah covenants blah blah unless you pay thousands of pounds to get a judge to enforce this then you are stuffed

OP you need to keep a noise diary.

You have been given many ways to tackle this by PP, however you need to collect as much evidence as you can showing her customers causing a nuisance.

If the neighbor hasn't done anything wrong regarding taxes etc HMRC won't do anything, so not vindictive at all. If neighbor is doing something wrong, hassle from HMRC could cause the business to close down. This would have the effect of no more clients coming through the alleyway to access a business that shouldn't exist in that location, which is the outcome OP wants. I'm sure the OP doesn't care how or why the business ceases to operate from the shed, just that it does. Nor should she care, her neighbour is negatively impacting her life by doing something they ought not to be doing. OP doesn't have to put up with that. The neighbor can earn a living by some legitimate means instead.

@Bombshell2022 Be very careful what and who you record on any video cameras. You can only have them record your property, not your neighbours.

And definitely don’t record children.

Also check if she’s paying business rates on the business shed.

All you can see on recording is my driveway shared oath and a fence!

as Long as children don’t trespass they won’t be recorded!

It will be at her cost!

Don’t worry she will be paying the legal fees 😂

There’s a clear picture of my house on its own in the deeeds she’s to the left of me

if I start presenting this to her customers and make their experience unpleasant it may put them off coming. I may even out a sign up. I’m just getting started with her. There’s ways and means at the end of the day!

My camera is coming today so I will post a picture

She’s really picked the wrong person to start a battle with because this is my house and I will not let this drop! Iv got nothing to loose as she’s already using my access. She has a lively hood to loose. I know what I’d do if I were her!

Sorry if I have missed this but have you reported her to the council for business rates? If that shed is solely used for her business then she has to pay business rates. Usually falls under council tax and business rates at the council. I used to work in council tax and business rates.

That is usually an eye watering shocker of a cost.

I’m still trying to get through to the planning department, what department do I need to speak to regarding business rates?

You really don't need to go to the expense of a solicitor. As the earlier planning solicitor poster stated, you need to bother Planning Enforcement.

If no planning application has ever been submitted (which you would have been notified about), she does not have permission.

As it is causing nuisance in a residential area, she would not be granted permission.

In this instance, covenants are irrelevant and not a planning matter (but a separate legal issue). She doesn't have an appropriate access to carry on the activity without unacceptable disturbance to you.

You need to speak to your Council's Planning Enforcement team and badger them. They may be short staffed, but they can instantly check and see whether any permission is in place.

They can visit the property and invite her to make an application or cease the use.

Clearly it would be unlikely they would grant permission given the level of harm in a residential area.

See the link below about Enforcement.

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/responsibilities/planning-permission/failure-to-obtain-or-comply-with-planning-permission

It's unlikely that you'll speak to Enforcement officers today, so I would phone tomorrow.
Make sure you ask for Planning Enforcement and not just the planning department.

Many planning departments won’t let you speak to a planning officer. They just have someone to pass on messages. Cornwall have this unfriendly user system. I found it easier to contact my local councillor. Especially one on the planning committee.

@TizerorFizz Planning Enforcement are different to Planning Officers. The latter deal with applications and try not to speak to members of the public if they can, otherwise they'd never get any applications processed.

Whereas Enforcement Officers deal with breaches and generally do speak to the public.

This is why when you phone, you need to make sure you do not ask for the Planning Department generally, specifically Enforcement.

If you don't have any luck though, definitely speak to your local District or Borough Councillor.