Anyone know anything about right to light law?

[MrTumblesCrackWhore]

We are planning on doing an extension on our mid terrace 1930s house - pretty much everyone else on the street has done the same too. However, our next door neighbour has this weird conservatory/extension dating back to probably the 80s prior to when they moved in, and has this strange frosted glass window which overlooks our property. We have a grape vine which, for the majority of the year, blocks the full light into her conservatory. She is a tricky character and has kicked up a fuss about the things we've done to our house before ( loft conversion and front driveway ) . We've informed her about our plans for our extension and we've been very upfront about it compromising the window she has overlooking our property. Our architect says the window should never have been built like this and that she has no right to light as it's not a habitable room but I'm worried that it will cause issues for us progressing with the work. Can anyone shed any light ( pardon the crap pun) on this?

I thought right to light was a myth misconception, and not enshrined in law?

I had one. The planner said that nobody has a right to light from a neighbour's property.

Start growing big trees.

Brilliant - thanks.

If you are extending under permitted development I believe you can just go ahead. If you need pp then a neighbour can object on the grounds of loss of amenity which may or may not be upheld. It is more than just having the amount of light coming into part of their home affected by your extension though.

Where we live no one can extend and have windows on the elevation(s) directly overlooking their neighbours' existing windows and must take steps to screen off balconies where they overlook ndns' gardens. Balconies are quite a common addition due to the design of the houses and odd garden access as a result.