Charging for access to rebuild.

[Ladyof2025]

How much should I charge for access to my patio-garden?

I own a townhouse with a small patio garden (about 4 metres by 5 metres) which abuts the two-storey blank side-wall of another building which is about to be converted from offices into several small dwellings which the developer will sell at (obviously) a profit.

It will be impossble for them to carry out the work without access to my patio-garden and so I am expecting them any minute to approach me for permission.

Back-story (which you can skip.) About 15 yrs ago the previous owners asked my permission to access my patio to remove and replace the mortar on the side-wall. They said it would take 3 days, and I would benefit visually from the freshly white-painted wall that looms very large in my patio and is visible from all my rear facing rooms. Plus they gave me £100 as compensation for three days loss of privacy. My patio is enclosed on all four sides so it is very private and usually silent.

The work took three weeks not three days. It was summer and we lost all use of the entire patio, our only outside space, as the workmen brought all their tools and stuff. I was working from home, and from 7am till 4pm six days a week I was forced to put up with a horrendous amount of noise, not only from power hammers but from the workmen shouting, laughing loudly, bantering (with profuse, obscene swear-words) stubbing out their cigarettes on my (then-new) patio slabs. They also had a radio on loudly all day, blasting out pop music which I hate, punctuated with the inane chatter of presenters. On top of this because we are not overlooked we have no net curtains and everytime I went into the lounge or kitchen a workman could see me from just a few metres away. It freaked me out, like I was being watched.

I complained to the site manager but although he promised to tell the lads to "keep it down", nothing changed. By noon every day my nerves were totally frazzled. On top of this, no effort was made to keep my patio clean. It was covered in rubble and dust, which flew about and covered all the back windows with a film of grime. When they left they made a half-hearted attempt at sweeping up the mess, but all of the £100 "compensation" they paid me went on hiring someone to pressure-wash the patio and clean all the windows!

(End of back story.)

This time there are four of us in the house, all working from home. Ours is a very quiet house as everyone is of mature age and all day we are either concentrating on writing, or conducting Zoom or client calls.

I just told a friend what is about to happen and he said that this time I should ask for a large sum in compensation. I asked how much and he said £1,000 a day would not be unreasonable, given the lack of privacy, the noise, the mess, the loss of use of the patio garden and the disruption to our daily lives and professions. A high sum should also encourage them to get the work done more quickly. He said I can pretty much ask whatever I want, as they cannot do the work without access to my patio, and as the developers are set to make at least £100,000 (friend guesses) it's a drop in the ocean for them.

What do you think? Is £1,000 a day too much, too little, or about right?

Personally I wouldn’t allow it, particularly coming into spring and summer as if it goes on a long time which it inevitably will, or they need to put scaffolding up, you’ll miss weeks of nice weather in your garden. If you did want to allow it then ask what you like, they don’t have to accept.

You can ask for any amount that you want. They have the choice to pay it or not.
It might be easier cheaper to install things via cranes etc.

Personally given your circumstances I would be saying no to access.

It is relevant, because if you suggest something outrageous, and they can find another way, then they will.

Also, without any idea of their plan, £1,000 a day is difficult to comment on. If they need access for a day on a date that suits you, vs continuous access for 20 days or whatever, the cost to them may materially eat into their profit.

I am sure you know better than anyone else on here what will be needed OP.
To answer your question yes its fair and also they pay legal fees for a cast iron contract

According to the poll, 49% think it about right but 33% say too much.

I forgot to say, I am going to have to put up with a massive amount of noise and mess and dust from the site anyway, because the building is in my back yard! So I might as well make some money out of it, especially as a dear friend of mine is in desperate need of some cash, and I could help her out.

If there is no detail to the extent of the works required, plus a friends opinion of what the developers margin will be and so far no contact from the developer then it is still very speculative to suggest £1k is reasonable. If you posed that scenario to a novice developer with poor project planning foresight then they might accept it. I would have already scenario planned “the ransome” for access budget in mind vs options as hiring specialist lifting equipment/ knocking through to make own access from existing building/going back to planning to adjust plans which didn’t need 3rd party access to complete.
Even if the works only lasted a couple of weeks I would be looking at anyone of those alternatives before agreeing to £1k a day!

Thanks for confirming re the demolition, it’s difficult to say re the amount without seeing plans or more info but as you say that is outing. Personally I’d flat deny the access if it is requested, for me no amount of money would justify the potential of damage to your property - and sanity!

Whether £1000 a day is reasonable will depend on why they need access, how long for, and what resources they have on site. You’d be amazed at what can be achieved without access using cranes or cages inside a striped building.

You also need to consider that they’ll be paying legal fees on top of the daily cost and possible admin. They’ll be worried about any future disputes related to the agreement, especially in regards to stoppages outside of their control (weather, material delays, pandemics). Will they only pay you on days when they actually use access, or on all days within a period, what if someone drops a glove into your garden and comes round to collect it; will they pay £1000 for doing so? These are all things beyond the day-cost that’ll put them off this sort of high risk agreement.

I’ve only know one person who has been in a similar situation, the developer needed access as they we building up to the boundary, and they also had to dig on their land to put services and drainage in, the work went on for a good few months. They didn’t get paid for the inconvenience, but the developer gave them a new driveway, landscaping and fences, then cleaned their windows and repainted their render.

Therefore ‘£1000 a day’ is unreasonable and unrealistic. But a better structured settlement with rules in place to minimise disruption is not unreasonable.

It depends if access is needed for 12 days or 12 months.

I'd say there's a good chance you'll just see ladders at the end of your garden one day and (fake) expressions of surprise that nobody has already 'said it to you'.

I'd phone up and have a chat with the planning officer at the local council. They are the ones who have (presumably) granted planning permission for the works, and they have also (presumably) considered access to the property when granting that permission. Maybe get them to come round and give their assessment.

In my view, £20k compensation up front for the inconvenience caused, plus £1k compensation a day (including weekends) for every day of the build would not be unreasonable, because this could take months. The £20k to be paid before work starts and the daily figure to be paid at the end of each week. If they don't pay the weekly £7k, you prevent access until it is paid. And get it drawn up watertight by a solicitor. These renovations and conversions can take a very long time. There's a big old manor house that's being converted into flats in a village near here, and we are at two years & counting.

I'd initially say absolutely no access at all!
IF you want to be amicable, I'd say £2,000! The patio might be unusable plus the inconvenience of the noise along! I agree with others though, they will have thought of access long before this!

We recently had similar on a flat we have which has a roof terrace. They converted the neighboring property it to an office block, and also added additional floors. We couldn't use the roof terrace in the day when they were doing any building works. The noise and dust was 1 thing, but multiple times, items fell onto our roof! Hammers, a giant, metal hook, scaffolding poles etc which damaged things on the roof terrace- smashed a large plant pot, broke a chair and broke floor tiles. Screws, fag ends, bits of rubbish also dropped on the roof terrace daily. The developers were supposed to clear it and repair- they bagged up the rubbish and left it there! To clarify, they technically weren't even on our side of the boundary or on our property but next to us!

Gosh, I am so sorry to hear what you went through. It's a lesson for me, too. Even if I refuse them access, and get no compensation, all those things could also happen to me, anyway. Thanks for sharing.

Conveyancer here - you need to check the Title Register of your property. It would be unusual for there to not be rights reserved for a neighbouring property to access your property for works/repairs if needed. If the neighbouring property has reserved rights then no, access cannot be denied.

I don't think they'd pay £1k a day, but I can't fault you for trying!

I have the title deeds and it makes no mention of the building in question. But it does mention that I have access through an unadopted alleyway (once used for coal deliveries and refuse collection) and I bet they will be blocking that alleyway for the duration as well.

Actually you would be surprised.

They often assume neighbours will be amenable.

I could start with that, and when they come back with something lower, meet them halfway?

Some on here think it's too little!

Honestly, OP, I think you need to first - see if they actually do ask, as they may have figured out an alternative and second - wait for them to give you a plan as to what it would entail.

I think the idea of charging by the day, or £x for the time within the plan and £y for each day longer, is a fair one to incentivise them to get on with it, but no one can really answer the £1k per day.

I assume that you have an amount in mind below which it genuinely is not worth it - you probably wouldn't go for £50 a day or whatever after your experience last time - but having more certainty over the timescale may be the most valuable to you.

Make sure that the developer is aware of your right of access in case they try to permanently block it.
I don't think you are being unreasonable with £1000 a day at all @Ladyof2025
We had 6 houses built at the end of our fairly small garden in 2020. At least we got 3 weeks respite during lockdown. The roofers were the worst, especially when they started shouting across the rooftops about how much of a handout they were getting from the govt. even though they were back at work

thanks everyone

Apologies if you’ve finished with this thread or if someone has said this earlier… but if I were contacted for an issue of this nature, I would:

1. let them know I was open to negotiate but ask if they could outline their contingency plan if you weren’t able to reach an agreement
2. ask for an initial guideline on length of works
3. ask them to confirm they will cover the costs of a lawyer for you (i.e NOT their legal representatives, someone specifically of your choosing) to engage with their own re drafting up a legal document, and that they would also be covering costs of said legal representative should a dispute arise

If they weren’t willing to shell up for legal cover for you I’d end the conversation there and then, it’s a flat out no. If they agree, negotiate as you see fit! I think the idea about a rate for X number of weeks, then increasing by Y% if it runs over. I’d also ask for:

• it to be written in that they will cover all costs relating to any damage done to your property as a result of the work,
• agreed hours of the work and access
• an agreement on a penalty if the builders breach hours of work etc

good luck - please do update if they do make contact!

Don’t forget to charge for crane oversail too if they encompassing on the space above your garden with their crane.

Will the roof terrace be overlooking your garden?

There might be a sliding scale of charges for situations such as this OP, but it may be wise to find out definitively, if you can, whether the company concerting the building will need the access you speak of. There may be some plan you don’t know about that will avoid any encroachment on your property.