Neighbours being difficult about our extension

[Ghanagirl]

I need some advice/ space to vent we have decided to extend our 1930's semi we live in NW London and can't afford to buy larger property nearby we have boy/ girl twins who currently share 2nd bedroom as third is teeny, have planning permission for loft and L shaped extension, it's probably going to cost over 100,000 pounds now the neighbour is being difficult about party wall agreement and trying to get other neighbours onside, they have one grown up son and have a small rare extension which we didn't object to, she's still being friendly and her husband is talking to my other half but it got a bit heated yesterday starting to feel really stressed, can she put a spanner in works?

OP, it's a shame everybody isn't as understanding as you clearly were about building work when your twins were small. But the PWA is there to stop the kind of daftness you seem to have been getting into whereby you've spent £1k just on drawings to appease them, which they now won't talk to you about. I can't really understand why you would spend so much on drawings you didn't actually need for your own purposes?

Anyway, good luck finding a surveyor to sort out your PWA, and hope it will all go smoothly from then on.

The main problem with the Party Wall Act is that it has no sanctions so some people simply do not bother.

Any subsequent damage to their property could leave you vulnerable to a claim however very few people press claims as far as court acton so the gamble may be worth taking.

If you have already commenced the PWA process however this may prove difficult.

Was the work designed by an architect and / or structural engineer?

pendeen my DH did original design as he's a chemical engineer so designs oil plants etc but he then had plans professionally drawn up by both a architect and structural engineer, our builder also is a trained structural engineer so the design and execution should be spot on really hoping we can allay fears of our neighbours because I hate conflict

Sounds as though you have it covered from the design and also the construction POVs. Keeping comprehensive records of the existing situation and the construction as it progresses will surely help your case.

I too loathe conflict and sincerely hope that you get through this unscathed!

Thanks everyone some really good advice

Can you separate the two applications ie the loft conversion would possibly be less of an issue to them than the extension itself and fall within permittted development. Maybe if they could see that one job was handled professionally they'd be happier with the other.

If your neighbour build an extention in the last few years and you singed no party wall act, does that mean they have done something wrong? I don't really understand this thread at all, or what the party wall act is?

Also, if a neighbour has gone over the boundary a little, they have build in brick their extention along the boundary line and their plastering on top of the brick work, so in effect steeling your walk through space, is that legal?

If they put their wood and over lap of the roof flet in your space rather than inside the boundray is that right?

If they put their vent from their kitchen venting into your side is that right, it was not on the plans?

Also they went higher than the plans for part of the extention and block out my light.

I had a lot going on in my personal life when the extention was build and I am at a point where I can deal with this now, they took advantage of me when I was vounerable and focused on other things.

Can I do anything about it now?

They were all sickly friendly and made loads of promises to me then when the extention went up their true rotten selves came through, they were very nasty to me after without provocation. I never said anything, they had their builders trampling all over my garden the lot, and never put right what they said they would afterwards, and they used me and every time I get less light and smell their strong cooking smells now my personal issues are not my focus and I am able to deal with other things in life, I feel quite angry at them for being so two faced and how they took advantage of me and angry at the situation I was in that I was not able to focus on anything. I would like to get my light back, my space back down the side of my house and their cookings smells to not be in my home continually!

The neighbours cannot build onto your land without your express agreement via Party Wall Act (read my earlier post) but as it is now done, you probably cannot do anything about it retrospectively unless you are prepared to go to court. Ring a PW surveyor and ask what you can do - the advice is usually free as PW surveyor's hope to make money out of you.

Building higher than planned would depend on whether they sought planning permission (PP) or did it under permitted development (PD). Building on / along boundaries is NOT allowed under PD. If they got PP, then they would have submitted plans to council for approval. Ring Council and ask for an investigation on what was approved by them and what is actually built. But be warned, that neighbours won't take to it kindly and also if the PP is showing less of height than what is built, the Council will ask the neighbours to simply re-submit a new PP, showing what is built.

The mainpoint is how high is the wall - this varies from Council to Council and in my area SW17 Wandworth allow 2.7m on the boundary. Find out by ringing your council Planning department what they typically allow as height on the boundary for new development, measure the neighbour's wall height and tehn you can decide what to do next.

Discharging of vents etc comes under building control. Ring the building control department and ask whether they issues a completeion certificate for the build next doors? If not, then you may have grounds to ask your neighbours to remedy the work.

Be prepared for writing letters, phone calls and follow through....

Not sure what to do now, this morning as I was bundling the twins into car for school run, neighbour came running out and asked if I wanted our spare key back just in case things get nasty, as on the surface everything seemed to be okay I was bit shocked and said of course not that I was hoping things could be amicable she was about to reply when a stray dog looked like a (staffordshire bull)sped towards us barking started growling at my DD then started jumping up at me so neighbour picked up DD took her in her house while I jumped in car with DS, eventually dog got bored left and she brought DD out and I did school run trembling as I'm terrified of dogs, the reason I'm posting this rambling message is I just don't know what to do about party wall agreement should we press on as the neighbours seem so distressed by the whole idea although we've tried to be diplomatic , what would you do I'm getting stressed by the whole thing :(

Hope you've recovered a bit, that sounds like an extremely stressful morning.

You have the right to build the planned extension to your house, along with the resposibility to do it legally and in a considerate way. You sound as if you're doing exactly that by getting a party wall agreement. You can't let the fact that your neighbour is a bit weird stop you.

Have you found a party wall surveyor yet? Would they be prepared to have a meeting with both you and the neighbour to explain the process and why it's so important? Sometimes having someone 'official' explain things in a neutral way can defuse these situations. And the surveyor will have seen all of this before, and should be experienced in dealing with it.

Swedish Edith I was just about to suggest that! Not that we did it with our extension and horrible neighbours oh no

She texted me to see how I was after dog incident, so I replied thanking her and also asking if she wanted us all to sit down together to chat and put thier fears to rest she hasn't replied but I'm hoping she will as I really can't take anymore stress

Fiolindon the police will so not be interested in party wall agreements or lack of. It's a civil matter will be their response.

Good. May I offer some advice? You sound very considerate of your neighbour, maybe a little too considerate. Building an extension is stressful enough without taking on your neighbour's worries as well. As long as you do everything legally and as considerately as possible, that's all you need. And the occasional comment like "of course, you know what all of this is like as you went through it yourself when you built your extension" just subtly reminds her that you were once the neighbour being disrupted and you were very good about it.

Keep telling yourself you're not doing anything illegal or unreasonable. And don't try and deal with her on your own - get your DH and the relevant professionals involved so that everyone is calmly saying the same thing. Sounds like you guys are all going to have to be the grownups in this.

Lawrere the Act does envisage the use of police assistance for enforcement so it's not wholly a civil matter.

I think Fiolondon has confused preventing work with the Act's grant of power of entry when accompanied by a police oficer to undertake work on unoccupied premises.

Okay so she replied to text thanking me for my kind words (I thanked her for help with mad dog incident) but didn't say anything about taking me up on my offer for us all to sit down together just added that this has been a stressful time for her and John that's her hubby, honestly feel like crying dd came out if school crying because she didn't get "the listening bear" maybe because she doesn't listen, feel like a woman on the edge!

Reminds me of the importance of wanting a detached bungalow with a good distance at the sides from neighbours, so no need for party wall acts and access to neighbouring land act nightmares with neighbours. But couldn't afford one here in Hertfordshire, despite selling my 2 detached homes with 1,500 square metres of land each in Germany and my mothers english inheritance.

Access to neighbouring land act does not automatically allow access, the neighbours have to be asked in writing for permission weeks before and if they refuse or just not reply, you have to gain a court order to do this and there are still cirmustances in which it will not be allowed by the court dependent on the neighbours claims

ghanagirl-I fully sympathise, we had the exact same problem with our neighbours.
Cost us about £2000 in extra costs.
Our neighbours decided to object the day before the builders were due to start despite agreeing to everything before hand....bastards!
I still get furious when I see them..they moved to other side of town shortly after the extension was finished and I have never spoken to them again....
Even the surveyors/architects and building inspectors were shocked by our neighbours petty complaints.
Good luck I hope you enjoy your new extension , try and ignore the neghbours..very hard I know but they may move with any luck.

Hi
Please can someone clarify the Party Wall Act!!
I have had permission to build a single storey extension. My neighbours have tried to block my plans at every stage without success, and are making everything very stressful. They have now instructed a surveyor who wants £2-3000 as they say are build come under the PWA....Our house is detached, however our build will come within 3 metres of their exsisting extension... although i have found their plans on the councils website and our foundations will NOT go below theirs ( both will be 1 metre depth) .. does this still come under the PWA if the foundations are the same?
Very very stressed!!!!!!!!!

Really easy to understand guide to the party wall act here: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/35796/party_wall_guide-new-p35.pdf
this should clarify your position.
If you are affected - they cannot stop you going ahead but unfortunately they can complicate the process and make it more expensive.

What qualifies as excavation under the party wall act, i.e. do we need a party wall notice?

The neighbouring semi claim they have no foundations on their house and that we need a party wall notice for any digging near their house: (1) digging fence post holes for a wooden fence on our land but within 3 meters of the neighbours house, (2) removing old patio (dig down about a foot (25cm) and replacing with new

The old fence is being moved on their request as it slightly encroached on their boundary but they don't want us to do any digging to secure the new posts.

I'd assume it's all sorted or the OP moved as she posted 6 years ago @systemlakeland.