Any idea what this could be?

[AuntieMarys]

The neighbours have been busy while we were away...shed/ pergola/ summerhouse?
We will obviously ask them later but am interested in what the overall height will be as its so close to our boundary

I've asked for my earlier post to be removed - having seen the photo on my laptop rather than my tiny phone screen, I can see it is not what I thought and my advice was incorrect!

It is still an eyesore, and seems to be blocking light and very close to OPs house. I still think it is worth reporting it to the Planning team to make sure that it is permitted development.

If you can’t get anywhere on the planning route (and as you are planning to sell, be very cautious about creating a neighbour dispute that you’d need to declare) then I reckon your best bet is trellis panels attached to your fence and a very fast growing climber on them. Or you can also attach tall posts to your existing fence posts and string rope between them, which you then grow climbers along.

Honestly, I have to agree with this. It's not the neighbours' job to create a scenic backdrop for other people. It's their garden and they have every right to enjoy it.

If you start a dispute over something like this and start issuing complaints , I would 100% consider you to be the "problem neighbour" in this scenario. As others have said, just raise your fence and planting if you don't like looking at it.

Tricky OP- as others have said, if you're looking to sell I wouldn't go down the reporting to PP route, as that could come back and bite you on the bum down the line.

I would just do my best to hide it- some good suggestions here- and get on with it. I don't actually think it's that much of an eyesore, so maybe buyers wouldn't either!

I also agree. She can indeed report, it’s for four inches, they simply take four inches off the legs and put it back up; she’s then got to declare a neighbour dispute and it will look the exact same from her dining room , just four inches lower. Which will make no difference. At all.

or they simply make the roof pitched, they can do up to 4 metres if they do, and then she’s properly fucked.

I wonder what they are going to use it for. Looks like the sort of thing people would use as a workshop.

Could be anything. Workshop or maybe a storage shed for stuff - a lot of people need them these days because houses are small. Maybe they have a business and need it for stock. Who knows.

I am thinking of putting up something like that. But will be a bit less prominent as the fences are 6 ft high, it will sit lower down and there are bushes and stuff in addition to block off peoples view.

People do stuff with their properties. You buy the land not the view. If you are unhappy the best solution is to screen in some way as that is something you actually have control over.

Let's face it, from the point they concreted the entire garden over they were never intending to use it as a nature haven.

Height for a garden building without planning is 2.5 m, so at 8'6" approx is about that.

You can bet it will be built to 2.49m to be bang on the limit.

Then there is nothing you can do.

'You buy the land not the view' Not necessarily.

Properties with a nice view or a pleasing outlook command higher prices than those where the outlook is unattractive.

You don't own the view though.

The low waney lap fence and the ability to see right into your neighbour's garden is the problem, not the structure in it.

Of course not, but a new unsightly development or eyesore right beside your property is probably going to have a negative impact on its value, or at least put some buyers off.

Plant a Russian Vine and encourage it to spread its tendrils over the new shed?

Evil...😂

Obviously the water drains down to the front and the water butt sits at the side, or one on each end .

It's one of those things that looks awful to you, as you have lived with an open view and so this now jars, but to someone viewing the house for the first time, it won't even register. We had similar when we sold our house - in the period between accepting an offer and exchange, the neighbour at the bottom of our garden built a huge, house-width 'mega dormer' under permitted development (on what had been an attractive slate roof) and we were horrified and so upset - it looked awful, and we felt very overlooked, having previously had a lovely outlook and total privacy in the garden. So we invited our buyers back with trepidation, prepared to drop the price by £10K if we needed to, but they didn't bat an eyelid, because they just took it for what it was.

So don't do anything that will risk having to declare a dispute! The structure won't reduce the desirability of your house (but obviously the steps to mitigate with planting/trellis are a good idea anyway).