Advice needed regarding neighbors extension

[Summer901]

Hi

I need some advice on what to do and who to speak to regarding an issue with a neighbor who is building an extension and has removed the shared fence without notifying me.

I live in a semi detached house and my adjoining neighbor has had his application for a rear extension approved by planning permission.

On the plans there is a set in off from the boundary line where our houses/gardens are adjoining. The building work has started and the foundation of the extension wall has been laid down however they have removed the fence between our houses where the wall is being built. Also the new wall is being built right up to the boundary line when the plans show that it shouldn't be.

I have spoken with planning permission and they said there should be a 1 brick length distance from the boundary line to the new extension wall. She then went on to say that they are allowed to build up to the boundary line however when I questioned her why is there a set in on the approved plans she said she would come out to inspect it when she has time and if the extension is a few inches on the neighbors side then she would not dispute it. I got the impression that she was not bothered that the work is not being done according to the plans.

Could someone please advise where the boundary line starts from ? is this from the middle of the fence or the full width of the fence or in this case the full space of where the fence has been removed?

Does anyone know if they are allowed to remove the fence without notifying me before removing it?
I don't even know if they will be putting the fence back in after the work completes because they will have to come on to my property to put it back in. It a part wooden and part concrete fence.

What chance do I have to dispute the fence issue under the Party Wall act? Who do I speak to, to get advice on the whether I have a case?

Any advice would be great as this is all new to me and I cannot seem to find any straight forward answers online.

Best advice - get yourself legal advice. Sooner rather than later

Have you legal cover on your insurance ? Give them a ring

I would get legal advice. Who owns the fence?

It sounds as though they should have served a party wall notice. I agree you should contact your insurers as a starting part.

Have a look at the garden law website. You will find answers there and there is a very helpful forum.

Look on your deeds (download from land registry website if you haven't got them, and you can also download theirs) to see who is responsible for maintaining the boundary. Do you know who paid for the fence? If you ( or previous owners) did then it's criminal damage and the police may show up to warn them of this , depending where you are and if they are quiet when you call.

It sounds like they should have served a party wall notice. However, if they haven't the only way you can stop the building work is to get an injunction against them.
Or speak to them about your concerns.

Try that first. Also if you have any legal insurance call the helpline (the number will be in your policy).

I have been there and got the t shirt (and the anti depressants ) and it's a difficult situation. We had legal cover but they wriggled out of actually doing anything as they said the loss (our loss) was not proportionate to the cost of legal representation to fight it. So the neighbour walked all over us and destroyed our garden and there was nothing we could do ultimately.

You only have to serve a party wall notice (in this scenario) if the foundations for the extension are going deeper than your existing foundations. If the builder / structural engineer was confident that they wouldn't be, then the neighbour didn't need to serve the notice. However, in most cases, a notice is served because you don't know how deep the existing foundations are until you start work!

It depends how well you get on (or otherwise!) with your neighbour. I would put it in writing that you haven't received a notice and anticipate that you should have. Ask for their comments. I'd add that you expect the works, once they're authorised to commence, to comply with the drawings. I'd also set out that you're willing to cooperate with their works but you require notice of (a) anything to do with the fence (removal, replacement etc) and (b) noone should enter your property without your permission.

Thank you everyone for the advice, much appreciated.

I don't mind the new neighbours doing the extension as long as they stick to what is on the drawings. Someone from planning permission will be coming out to check the distance from the boundary so I will see what her verdict is but I have a feeling she will turn a blind eye to the issue I raised. Is there anyway I can find out who the inspector is that will be assigned to overlook the work?

As for the issue with the wall I will try to get in touch with the owner and raise my concerns. As long as they place the fence back in its original position without any damages I have no issues but the way they have gone about it is frustrating.

I think that the previous owners of my house did put up the fence originally but I only have a summary version of the land registry which doesn't go into detail of the boundary. I will probably need to download a full detailed version.

Thank you again for your help :)

I would ring building control as they are responsible for checking the building works. A brick is about 200mm & it is not right that they are building that distance closer to your house when they do not have planning to do so. You were not given the chance to object to an extension up to the boundary & now it will mean their roof edge & guttering will overhang on your land. I know our local planning department look at loss of light with the 45 degree rule so an extension closer to your home may affect light in habitable rooms. Definitely ring building control. Good luck.

I had similar with our old neighbour building her extension up to and inclining our boundary. We were very good friends. Wed just had ababy (no excuse) but were so shattered and pre-occupied, and stupidly gullible we trusted everything she said. Drawings are useless in anyone else but a trained architect or survey- in trying to imagine the 3d reality- from these very basic plans on paper.

She took advantage, lied to us, provided appalling drawings and basically it was a year of hell. I also found council and their planners really didn't want to get involved with boundary issues, they literally wrung their hands of it and were useless. Luckily we have since moved but all I can advice: get legal advice. Take advantage of the surveyor your neighbor has to pay for. Get everything official and as well explained to you so you know your rights, and can imagine the finished result based on their plans- and decide now if you will be happy with it. Ensure they rebuild fence/build side of their extension in a way you are happy with.

And take photos & document everything. Hopefully you have photos of the boundary before it was removed.