Neighbours Wanting Access

[Vicky1110]

Our neighbours (the side of their house is the back of our garden, and their garden runs along side our driveway) are looking to put an extension on the end of their house and are requesting access to our garden and drive to do this. This would mean removing part of our fencing will the work is going on - which would be quite a while apparently. I have attached a paint sketch of the lay out - we have no gate/fence on our drive to the road, but the garden is separated from the drive by a fence - this is the fence they would want to remove to carry out the work.

My problem is we have two young children (2 and 3 yrs) who use the garden daily to play in and this would obviously make it unsafe as it would mean the garden perimeter would not be secure whilst the work is being carried out. i.e. there would be easy access to the road from our garden/drive, and to the area the work is being carried out in. Would I be justified in denying access/permission on these grounds or would they have to ensure that our garden is secure from the works/road whilst the fence is down and they are carrying out work??

I don't really know much about this or where I stand in regards to it all. Please help.

No. Just that. They shouldn't need access to your land as it is convenient for them and their builders to be able to.

I would also be very worried in case of another lockdown and everything is left in limbo.

If it's a two storey extension do they have planning permission? Will your privacy be affected if they can see into your garden when it is built.

OP say no. I have two young children and no way would I agree to this. They will wreck your drive/garden, the build will overrun and they will treat your garden like their own.

It's not clear... Is this a back garden with their only access through their own house (or your garden?
Yonks ago our mid terrace neighbours wanted to do a loft conversion. We were end terrace with wide access along our free side. Our gardens were separated by a 6 foot wall with a deep patio. We allowed them access for two whole days (all they actually asked for) so they could get the long roof timbers into their back garden, plus as much other Building materials as possible. Otherwise they would have needed to use a crane to get the timbers over as they were too long to go through the house..
After that, all access for the builders was through their house.

I would offer one off access for a couple of days for building materials, after that the fence is replaced and they use their own existing access. This will most probably mean they have to use their entire back garden for storage but the alternative is you having a delivery through a hole in your fence several times a week for months on end.
When they are building along the boundary I would say they can temporarily annex a 3 foot strip at thr end of your garden which must be properly fenced off for the duration in a safe manner. I don't know how you legally ensure they reinstate your garden afterwards.
They CAN build totally from their own side but this will result in the wall being poorly finished on your side which will look awful.

I've just finished an extension and I would not want somone else's mess with no benefit to myself. I didn't like my own mess!

If the building works go ahead, you need to familiarise yourself with the plans as agreed with the council. If there is any suggestion that they are extending beyond what is agreed you need to contact planning department as soon as possible

One thing to consider, we did quite a lot of building recently and the endless lorries and cranes bringing pallets of heavy building materials ...the equipment and lorries churned up quite a bit of our drive and part of our garden completely. I know it sounds silly as it was our build but I wasn't quite prepared for the delivery side and the damage that in its own caused.

I might be wrong but if they have no other external access they can build it from the inside? Which would mean them having to access through your neighbour’s house which I guess they want to avoid. But why should they try and shove disruption onto you when it’s their extension?

People do major extensions on mid terrace houses all the time with no external access.

Remember that they will be working during the week, (if your kids aren't in childcare) it will mean you can't use your garden then even if they put up a fence in the evenings and weekends. Also need a written agreement about damage etc. I wouldn't say no outright but I would state all the potential issues and see what they say, builders are used to this and may have reassuring solutions

Remember that they will be working during the week, (if your kids aren't in childcare) it will mean you can't use your garden then even if they put up a fence in the evenings and weekends. Also need a written agreement about damage etc. I wouldn't say no outright but I would state all the potential issues and see what they say, builders are used to this and may have reassuring solutions

Builders make a TERRIBLE mess. Always. I have dealt with builders enough times to know that building work is a major upheaval.

Personally I would say no.

Thank you all for your comments, you've given us a lot to think about. Due to the current circumstances and the possibility that we may have a lockdown or restrictions imposed again due to covid-19 I am hesitant.

In regards to a party wall agreement, I don't know if it would be a party wall or come under the act? They building they are planning would mean that wall would be wholly on their property but come right up to the boundary line, but our side of that boundary line is just our garden/drive (our house is at the other end of our garden - so our garden is the land between our house and their property) and so I don't know if that would come under the party wall act?? I do understand though that if it does then we have to grant them access to build that wall of the extension and that wall only.

If it’s within 3 or 6m of boundary depending on depth of Foundations then yes it’s covered.

hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-improving/party-wall-agreement/

So much easier to just say NO. If you agree, it will cause no end of issues, worry and research for you and you will be the one putting up with all the builders mess, materials etc. If the builders have access they will take the p*ss and you'll be having to police them and making sure all is put right at the end, plus the loss of amenity - it's not your build and it will end up feeling like that. We allowed access along our back garden to a neighbour when we were young and foolish, never again, when there were issues at the end after many along the way we couldn't raise a complaint as we had decided to sell due to the stress and breakdown of relations with the neighbour, cost a lot of money to repair garden, build new fences etc and having to keep children cooped up all the time.

If you do say yes (and why would you) get legal advice and a contract drawn up at the neighbour's cost. My mother lives on a small new build private development (freehold house but managed, roads, lighting etc)and it is in the management document that she has to allow reasonbale access for building and maintenance works. If you don't have a restriction then just say no. Let them sort it out themselves. I suspect you neighbour may not want her house getting mucky.

Say no.

I think you would need a party wall agreement but I’m NOT an expert, so contact your local council and ask for the planning department and go from there.
Yes, they can build it entirely from their own side without need for any access to your side. It’s just easier to do it from your side and less expensive - DO NOT be told otherwise.
Give them an inch and they will trash your place and walk all over you.

The party wall agreement is not to do with access rights (as I understand it anyway) its to do with them being liable for any damage they cause as a result of building on, or close to, the boundary or a party wall. Hava a look at the user guide on the gov.uk website.

I had the tidiest builder ever but just them walking over the same bits over and over made it muddy. Our garden was totally trashed from all the building materials, so pallets of bricks, pallets of blocks, giant bags of sand, cement, cement mixer, scaffold etc.

For you I would worry that they will say your drive way is a great access point. They will want to bring materials through that way and maybe crane stuff over from there. We removed a fence panel and also craned stuff over into our back garden but it is our fence, no neighbour.

Our very straightforward build took 7 weeks for all the outside work until knock-through.