scaffold over hanging neighbours help please.

[ohnoyou]

We have full planning permission for our extension despite 2 objections from our neighbour. So we've started and the scaffolding has gone up and a small area of it 6ft on the corner is overhanging the middle of their garage/shed roof. If it makes any difference it's an old garage/shed used to store gardening equipment rather than a car.
So neighbours were over last night complaining and saying their not happy for work to continue. We've given them copies of our site insurance, which would cover if anything was to damage their property, but I think they will be on the phone to the council today. Does anyone have any experience of this? Or anyone with any suggestions of what we could/should do? One last thing, they have no children or pets and they are out at work whilst the building is going on and the scaffolding poles are on our property. Thanks.

Ignore them they've nothing better to do. say "sorry but we don't see why you feel the need be so difficult about this". Carry on with the works and see what happens. If they threaten you with legal action, let them.. Any solicitor looking at that would IMO warn them against a civil prosecution. They're covered insurance wise, there won't be a disruption and if the poles are in your garden they have to have a very good reason to oppose, safety, security, breach of privacy only something very substantial would be grounds enough to go forward with a case. Or else a judge will just dismiss it and they'll be sat with the bill of proceedings. Their solic' will tell them that. Anyway you'll know all that by having had objections to you PP....DP and I had almost exactly the same problem with the old farts next door. We just got on and by the time they were through looking into it - the work was done. Needless to say they never spoke to us again, thankfully. Best of luck wish I could afford to extend again. x

We had to put scaffolding over our neighbours shed.

We told them before hand, photographed the boundary and gave them copies so everything could be put back properly

The builders re-felted the shed afterwards

I bought them flowers and said thank you for their patience at the end.

Money well spent. We are still in contact now 14 years later, although they moved to America. They were may best ever neighbours.

Did you ask them first?

I second you piglet. It does make a big difference if they were asked or warned. Having recently had our neighbours erect scaffolding that was actually partially in our garden without being asked, I can sympathise with your neighbours. I didn't have an actual issue with the scaffolding being there per se and once I had an apology I was fine with the works continuing. Mind you that was actual poles etc on my patio and over my fence and they have form for doing things previously that affect my property without asking permission. Not sure I'd have cared enough to complain if it was just an overhang.

I'm assuming that there is netting up to stop objects being dropped from height onto their property?

This is just an overhang though. They sound like they're being very unreasonable to me.

It doesn't really matter what they keep in their shed, whether they have pets or anything else about their personal situation. That's their business, not yours.

Assuming you knew in advance about the scaffolding overhanging, you should have warned them. All you can do now is apologise.

Have you asked the builders if it is possible to erect the scaffolding differently, so it is not overhanging the shed?

Thanks for the replies. Yes it is just an overhang and we're having the work project managed. Our PM contacted all the neighbours prior to the work commencing.
When these neighbours did their roof 2 years ago their scaffolding went over the shared drive. They didn't tell us it was going up and my husband had to park on the road for 3 weeks, we didn't say anything they needed the work done so be it, but I wish I'd taken photos.

Hard to say what to do really. They have already objected twice and you've gone ahead, so they are obviously not feeling particularly enamoured with you! What were their objections?

As others have said, the fact that are not using their garage to store a car is irrelevant (a lot of us don't), as is the fact that they are out during the day.

I think all you can do is apologise profusely and see if the builders can reconfigure things. You may just have to accept that the damage is done though, and just hope to god the builders don't make even the smallest scratch on their property.

Our neighbours on the other side (not the nice ones we were nice to) put scaffolding up which overhung the fence for 6 months, without asking. They have done everything else in the same way and act entitiled. They are arses and we will not tell them we are about to take the tree down that will open them up to overlooking from the HA flats behind us. We would have discussed it with the other neighbours. But it is not on the boundary and none of their business. I have tried with these neighbours, but they are just not very neighbourly. If they are like that, you just have to play everything by the book. Fortunately, we do not have much else shared. They have improved slightly over the years and have actually told us and asked about changing the fence, so I suppose it pays off (gradually!)

The new ones on the nice side were a bit shocked when one of the men working on the fascias put their ladder over the fence to do something from their side and shouted at him. They were out when he first did it. We apologised and said we would have told them if we had known. Diplomatic relations restored, and they have continued to improve since, as a result.