Neighbours want a really high fence/wall on a terrace

[Pigtailsandall]

Hello all, hoping for a bit of advice. We have new neighbours on the southside at a row of Victorian terraces. Our long and narrow gardens face west. The terrace is old, and it is unclear who the fence between the properties belongs to, although we mended parts of it (and fully paid for it) last summer before the new owners moved in. The new owners have applied for lots of bits of planning permission, including an extension some front garden work, as well as noting that they want to raise the brick wall in the garden to 2 metres. It currently stands just under 120cm. Our problem is that the lower ground floor is sunk so it's half underground (and the ground floor is elevated) and the tiny bit of light that comes through in the afternoon to that west-facing corner of the lower ground might be blocked by the high wall. I've tried talking to the neighbours about it nicely but they are very insulated and borderline morose, so it's been a challenge. I don't actually have huge objections to the wall being higher, but I would like to understand (and I would like them to get someone to explore this) how much the higher wall will affect light coming in.

If the council has given planning permission to a higher fence, is there anything we can do? I would have thought they would need to seek some approval from us if our house is negatively impacted.

If it’s your wall, they’d have to build a whole new wall on their side and couldn’t touch your existing wall so maybe check your deeds.

I have a date g, so for that reason alone I'd want at least a 6ft (1.8m) fence / wall in my garden as she'd jumped over 1.2m easily so I'm kind of with your neighbour on this. I made my fence higher using pallets so that there are gaps in the wood and it lets light through though.

You don't have a right to a view, but you do have a right to light, so if the wall will block light to your property, I suggest you register your objection with the Council on these grounds.

Reading the ops original post it seems that she doesn’t want to lose the little bit of sunlight they get at a certain time of day. So a new wall means they will lose that. What they wont be losing is daylight. Im not sure anyone has a right to direct sunlight ? The window will still have daylight coming through it all day. Plenty of people have no sunlight in windows if they are north facing. ( including me ).

If it’s a habitable room, there may also be an argument for a daylight / sunlight loss. OP should contact a qualified surveyor specialising in this area who will conduct a full analysis of the loss (including the loss of sunlight quoted)

I’m not 100% clear if this brick wall is in a front or rear garden? Because where I live if it’s the front and the wall faces on to a public highway or footpath, the height limit for new walls or changes to existing walls is a maximum of 1 meter heights. Regardless the right to lights here given it’s a Victorian terrace, supersedes the wall issues. The neighbours have made it clear where they stand so if it were me, I’d make an objection based on this alone.

I imagine in your original deeds there is most likely a height restriction on the wall. My front wall is supposed to be a certain height with railings (the railings are long gone - probably a war effort). Worth checking.

not once have i ever heard of a right to sunlight.

however the op goes about it , surveyors are not cheap and there is no guarantee that anything will be done about it.

Even if it could be stopped. A hedge or tall planters can be put there. Or maybe grow something even bigger and taller than the 2 meter fence ?

if the neighbours want their privacy then one way or another they can achieve it.

I'd be far more concerned about the possible structural damage them removing the chimney on their side could have left you with ....

Im sorry but i doubt theres anything you can do to stop the wall being built higher, the legal height they can build it too is 2 metres, they do not need permission to do this.
ive had this twice in my years of moving around, first time lived in a semi det property, next door neighbour applied for an extension off their lounge which was north facing (so not a lot of light at anytime) we objected quoting loss of light , they still got planning which ended up in us needing lights on all the time.
Recently where i live now similar happened.
Both properties were over 20 years old so had had the light all that time.

The Right to Light is separate from the Planning legislation.
Whilst planning applications may consider if there is a loss of light, there are no the same considerations as under the Right to Light laws. Planning permission may still be granted irrespective of the Right to Light Laws.
If something does not need PP, as seems to be the case in this situation, planning will not be involved anyway.

Ask them if you can paint your side of their new wall white. The reflected light might actually improve the level of light in the basement.

The chimney stack removal would need building regs and a party wall agreement- the fence is a non issue (and personally would hate a low wall/fence).
If they did not get an agreement (which you would have requested a survey on your side first to see condition before and after, plus the award would have stipulated that they pay fir any damage like your rug). You can see if they got regs through your council's planning portal, though it is surprising that they didn't considering the have applied for permission to do other work.

Surely finding out who owns the wall is the most important. It might be shared or it might not be.
Even if the OP owns it and the neighbour builds their own wall or fence on their side of the wall it would still be better than having the height of the existing wall increased.

Wow, that’s potentially dangerous - I looked into removing a chimney breast recently & all the advice I found made clear that in semi-detached / terraced properties that share a chimney stack, the removal of a chimney breast in either neighbouring property could destabilise your chimney stack.

I’d get a structural engineer out asap to check it’s still sound (wouldn’t want a chimney stack crashing through the house in a storm.. https://labcfrontdoor.co.uk/projects/chimneys-and-flues/what-are-the-issues-around-removing-a-chimney-stack-or-chimney-breast)

Thank you for all the comments! l didn't check the thread for ages and was surprised by the number of comments. I'll try to answer some.

Our basement window faces south-west. The wall, currently 1,2m, has a trellis on top of the wall with a vine, about 3/4 of the way, making the back end of the garden private. It's only low the first about 3 metres by the building wall, and that's where the light comes into the basement. In summer, the sun is so high that it won't be an issue, but in the winter it'll be much lower.

The houses were built in 1880. There's nothing in the deeds about who owns the wall. Before early 2010's, the same families had owned the houses since the 60's. So there's not really a record. The bricks were falling off a section of the wall, so we replaced them and reinforced the wall in 2023.

The gardens are long and narrow and I doubt they will want to erect a new wall on their side.

As for the inside wall and chimney breast, yes, we do need to get a surveyor. We have recently dealt with sn unrelated leak so are a bit strapped for finances. I am also trying to get next door to pay for it (as they caused it), but they are completely ignoring us to the point that the husband pretended to not recognise me on the street when I said hello.