Neighbours need to put scaffolding in my garden

[Strawberry06]

Hi

My neighbours (semi detached) are building a two story extension and have asked if its ok for the builders to put scaffolding in my garden in order to access the roof.

This has all come at really bad timing as me and my husband have recently separated and he has moved away so I've not had the headspace to deal with it at the moment so haven't given them an answer and now they are really pressuring me.

I don't really want scaffolding in my garden for a number of reasons. They have assured me there will be no damage and that it will be there max 2 weeks but I don't see how they can guarantee. Also, there's a chance I may have to put the house on the market so I don't want it there for that reason.

What are my rights on this? They have said that not putting the scaffolding would seriously impact them and they wont be able to finish the build. Are they right? I don't see why it should encroach on my land!

You ‘ I will agree subject to a written confirmation of time frame as a set number of days and a penalty rate to be paid daily for continued scaffolding in my garden. I simply can’t handle having to chase it up while navigating my divorce so need the penalty to sit accruing with you as motivation. If you can’t agree with this then it’s a no from me for scaffolding and please stop hassling me. I’m sorry also about the timing but just as your first priority is understandably not my life and mental health, my first priority most certainly is right now. ‘

It's a 2 storey extension - no way will it be 2 weeks.

Say No

I will have this small section of scaffolding removed as soon as is feasible, at the earliest opportunity

He can't force the company to remove the scaffolding, and he's already changed from two weeks to asap

I'd say no, unless he commits to a contract with a fee for the scaffold.

£1 a day for two weeks, £100 a day thereafter for one month, £500 a day after that. If removed at two weeks a £14 removal bonus will be paid by you (so basically free but the contract starts the day the scaffold does).

We had a similar contract 18 months ago and the scaffold company ended up paying us 3k to avoid small claims and lots of bad publicity after one week became four bloody months.

neighbour near me had a new roof work done in couple of days scaffiolding left up for 5 weeks, i had a small roof repair was pleading for 5 weeks for them to remove it, 2 weeks is a joke, no is a word

In response to his WhatsApp - sorry the answer is no. The cost of your work is not my responsibility and any additional expense in this regard should be covered by your contingency calculations I should imagine.

I would reply and say while you appreciate their personal circumstances, they’re not the only people who have personal issues going on. I’d also query why they didn’t seek permission prior to commencing the work. Also highlight your concern about the removal of it when it’s “feasible”, highlighting that you were initially told 2 weeks so the goalposts have changed. Tell them you’d like assurance in writing that it will be no longer than 2 weeks.

I very much doubt it will be just 2 weeks

How would I enforce this? I can’t force them to pay me they could just refuse surely?!

You'd have to take them to the small claim court, but you represent yourself and the costs are quite low.

Come on..you are putting all this stress you say you feel on yourself. It’s a bit of scaffolding that will really help them out with their build. I didn’t even consider saying no when our neighbours asked recently. If you did say no and one day really need to ask your neighbours a favour - you can obviously expect them to refuse. Don’t be selfish on this .

Seeing your latest post they mention repair to a leaking roof

Essential repairs are one of the situations where you do have to agree - so decision made

Say yes, then let it go. It’s the stress of making the decision that was causing your anxiety and this is now out of your hands. At least you have in writing that they will cover any damage

Sooner you say yes, sooner it can be done and over

Sorry it’s such bad timing with the separation. Prioritise sorting this out - you are far more important than a few weeks of scaffolding 💐

I was so grateful to my neighbours who enabled me to have scaffolding in their side return when repairs were done. Later, I returned the favour to neighbours on the other side. It was good to have excellent relations with the neighbours, and I think this helped when I came to sell. Neighbours were nice to prospective buyers wandering up and down, and I could say 'the neighbours are great' which is worth alot

Ask them for a deposit of £1000.00 into your bank account to cover any damage or delay.

Put in the terms about the £100 a day penalty after the 2 weeks.

No deposit no scaffold.

Personally I would just say yes.

I would 100% say no. All you need to to do is read all the other times it has come up on here where scaffolding is left up for a year !
there’s no way I’d put myself out like this - particularly in summer when you want to enjoy your garden

and as you say you might be selling yourself. The word ‘no’ doesn’t create any sort of ‘dispute with neighbours’.

I would say no, because you are planning to sell your house.

I think you are causing yourself so much additional stress and understandably as having a tough time elsewhere. But why not just say yes, why stop your neighbours work (unless past examples of horrid behaviour), the message seems genuine to me and in a time of stress do you really need the added worry of having a pissed off neighbour. I am genuinely surprised by the responses on here, in real life everyone I know would agree to something like this, as it is what neighbours do. Yes the scaffolding may be up a bit longer but if you did have to put it on the market in the next month it would clearly be a neighbours scaffolding, and that can be good, work already done (so no noise for new buyer) and people investing in their houses. I would have said yes and just got on with my day.

I would say no. They absolutely should have got your permission before they went ahead an employed the builders, they are massively cheeky by not doing so, and their cavalier and entitled attitude at this stage suggests that they won’t give an f when (not if) the scaffolding is up for more than 2 weeks or it causes damage to your garden. You might also have to deal with damage to your property as a result of the scaffolding. .

With everything that you’re going through at the moment, the last thing you need is a court case to try and get money back for an extension to the scaffolding timeframe, or for damages to your property or garden.

Have they actually walked you through where the poles would land in your garden? That would be my first request, because what they’re calling minimal intrusion might not be.

I think they are being massively unfair telling you about their financial straits. It’s not your fault they don’t have enough of a contingency pot to cover the leak repair. It’s emotional blackmail. Plus there is no way it’ll be just two weeks. We have a passage between our house and next door and when they were doing loft extension they wanted to buffer scaffold poles against the side of our house. We said no - we’d have felt every vibration and our buildings insurer also said no - which is just as well because their four months became almost a year with unexpected delays.

I would be inclined to use your divorce as a get-out. In the spirit of them over sharing about their money issues, I’d tell them your divorce is getting messy and your STBEX is saying you can’t say yes to scaffold as house might need to go on market asap.

Does the builder own the scaffolding? If not they can't guarantee it because it's up to a different company to take down the scaffolding.

You are right, in the case of essential repairs, neighbours must give access for work to be carried out. The fact NDN isn’t enforcing that and going ahead regardless makes me think they must be lying about leak to push her into agreeing. Massive red flag.

I think based on their message they can f* right off.
That message is quite entitled, he/she is transferring their stress directly onto you.

I live in a victoriana terrace and my neighbour had their roof done last year...I refused to allow the staff on my land as I had recently had my patio replaced and the roofer refused to provide his insurance to prove he was covered of my side was damaged.

There is absolutely another way, they have told you that in the text. They just don't want that option as it will cost more. That is their issue and they should have spoken to you sooner.

I would just explain that it is not convenient at this time due to personal issues and leave it at that.

We renovated a barn, one of the end walls was on the boundary of the neighbours land, when we needed scaffolding we couldn’t contact them as they were away. The scaffolders managed, it was just trickier and took a bit longer, its very unlikely you saying no will make anything impossible. Oh and despite written promises in the actual contract the scaffolding was up for seven weeks longer than the guaranteed removal date on our contract.

I would say yes, subject to a written contract to provide that any damage will be made good within a reasonable time, and a penalty clause requiring the neighbour's to pay £100 per day that the scaffolding is left up after a specific date. You've asked how this is enforced.if they don't pay; you claim in the small claims track of the County Court.

Just to add, you can find template agreements online.