Neighbour refusing to allow us to erect scaffolding to repair leaking roof

[Dynamix]

We have an old and leaking roof on our cottage that needs to
be repaired as part of home maintenance. The roofer has told us that in order to replace the roof we would need scaffolding on the neighbours side of the boundary. This would be there for 1-2 weeks tops. Our extremely unpleasant neighbour has point blank refused saying it will happen ‘over my dead body’ expletive expletive, despite us asking very courteously. This is obviously extremely distressing as we are left with a situation where our work cannot go ahead and we are left with a leaking roof doing damage to our property.

I’m appealing to the Mumsnet hive mind on what steps to take next. I think as it’s essential maintenance he ultimately can’t refuse, but there’s a lot of conflicting advice out there and we have no money for lawyers etc, as we can just about manage the cost of the repairs. Any ideas on the best way to get this resolved, bearing in mind that knowing this man I think it’s highly unlikely he will change his mind.

I'm not sure what that is but will definitely look into it. I would pretty much rather anything than having to deal with this neighbour such is his manner.

I’d go and ask several more scaffolders until you get one who can do the job without going next door.
We had a similar issue, except the scaffolding poles outside our boundary would be placed on the very narrow lane beside our house. We just told them we didn’t want the responsibly of scaffolding on a public road, and they did manage to find a way to do it.
It’s really not worth getting embroiled with a nasty neighbour, just find a scaffolder who can do the job!

Scaffolders remove the scaffold they need to take to another job, completely at their own convenience, and generally not to whenever they promise.

We had to have our patio relayed after our scaffold was removed, and there were loads of screws, nails, bits of wood all over the garden for months.

If you wanted to put scaffold in my garden, then at your expense there would be a legal agreement that you would take responsibility for every bit of damage and mess caused.

That's interesting and I'm going to call them first thing tomorrow. Dealing with this neighbour is best avoided if at all possible I agree. The roofer suggested a scaffolder so we've only had him out and if he can't do it then we should look around. As a complete scaffolding layman, I'm not sure if the scaffolder can't / doesn't want to do it or if it's actually physically impossible.

Okay, that's interesting and good to know. I think I'm going to find someone who can do it without having to deal with the neighbour (unless physically impossible!) This thread has helped clarify that he will be a nightmare to deal with and it's best avoided at all costs.

You can’t use planning departments for free legal advice. This is not a planning issue.

A solicitors letter isnt worth the paper it’s written on…they can ignore it and use it in the bottom of a cats litter tray!

I came home to scaffold from next door along my side path the other day, she didn't even ask, she didn't even come round once it was done, she came round the day after it was due to be taken down and apologised for the delay, my head said you were rude enough to do it without our permission so bit late for apologies now but, she's a little old lady so I smiled and told her not to worry at all.

But there will be a way of scaffolding it without going on to your neighbours property, the issue will be finding a scaffolding company who can be bothered with the extra effort that will take!

Poor you it must be horrible living next to someone so awful! I’d want to move. I hope you can resolve it.

Gosh- all these people just erecting scaffold with no conversation / permission. It is shocking. It's a shame that when you do try to do the right thing that some neighbours are aggressive and thoroughly unreasonable. I genuinely think some people really enjoy the power trip. We've lived here over 10 years and never caused this gentleman any inconvenience whatsoever.

We had roof done last year scaffolding was sort of cantilevered over our extension

why can’t it go in your garden

i wouldn’t push for it to go on his patio

patios can have dubious foundations that might struggle with the weight of scaffolding cause it to move also the feet leave rust marks

I'm not entirely sure but I will be thoroughly looking into it tomorrow.

My neighbour wanted to do building work with scalfolding on my garden . We insisted on a legal agreement that it only lasted a limited time and that damage was put right.

glad we did as there was a huge mess at the end . Everything was put right though. It was a real nuisance. Don’t really blame your neighbour for not being keen .

I wouldn't allow scaffolding in my back garden for a neighbour unless I absolutely had, I.e. if it was court ordered. I work from home in the room directly next to my back garden. Unless they were incredibly quiet during working hours. Which seems extremely unlikely.

From a brief look at the laws and rules surrounding scaffolding, you can only do it with their agreement. If they don't agree and you go ahead, you'll be trespassing. You would need to get a court order which (from my brief learning and your information) would likely be granted. The costs issue seems a little more complicated. It seems to depend on whether it could be done another way and what inconvenience it causes to the neighbour.

As another poster has said - there will be a way to configure the scaffolding without it going on your neighbours land.
My experience with scaffolding is that although the builders may organise it ,the scaffolding firm are in charge of it . And they very , very often leave it in place for weeks or months after the building work is completed. I think they do this because they don't have storage for all the scaffolding and it's cheaper for them to "store" it at sometimes house.

I’d refuse scaffolding too. Scaffolders don’t pay to store their stuff, they just leave it at the property until they get the next job and will only dismantle and remove what they need. The job will take a couple weeks, but the scaffolding could be there for months.

Thanks to everyone for your insights. It's definitely back to the drawing board with scaffolders and insisting it doesn't go on this man's land. I think I took them saying it would have to be that way at face value, so I need to get a bit more pushy with the scaffolders to sort this out for us. Im not sure I could take any more of listening to the neighbour anyway.

I think you sound incredibly naive here. Putting professional infront of a title doesn’t give the person any more authority (it just means they get paid - not many amateur scaffolders about!

building jobs frequently drag on - they rarely start when they are supposed to - materials get delayed, workers get called back to other jobs, the weather turns, building inspectors get delayed.

I have just finished a renovation project - my builder had his own scaffolding brocade he said he was fed up dealing with scaffolding companies and the angry customers who had scaffolding lying in their gardens for weeks or even months.

I would allow a neighbour to put scaffolding up - but I would hate every minute. I have heard so many horror stories. His patio would likely be damaged, building would be accessing his garden without notice, and the scaffolding would inevitably be left longer than he was originally told.

Just a thought. Are you planning on moving in the near future? If you're planning on selling up at some point, I would be trying to appease him with the generous cash solution rather than engaging in any complaints to the council or legal advice. I'm no expert, but wouldn't you have to declare the ongoing or potential future dispute?

It is nothing to do with the work, though, it is the scaffolders, and if they have nowhere to move their scaffolding to, then yes, it is very much in their interests to leave it in situ for years.

You can get it cantilevered like another poster said, so it doesn't sit on his property (it looks a bit like a platform with a triangle underneath holding it up if that makes any sense?)

Scaffolders can come up with very imaginative solutions. We had agreement from our neighbour because our scaffolders had said they needed to put a pole in his garden and on his roof, but in the end they didn't need either.

Try a roped access company who can fix the roof without any scaffolding. I just used one to have my gutter cleaned and they fixed slates while they were up there.

Nah just give the problem back to the builder. If he or is preferred scaffolder can't come up with a plan b, then get another roofing contractor to quote with the conditions you now know about.

If it's cantilevered will it not still overhang the nasty neighbours land?