Neighbours extension

My nextdoor neighbours had an extension on the back of their house to make thier back bedroom bigger. Nobody told us so I got intouch with the council and a man came round and said the neighbours should have told us but they granted them permission. The workmen spray painted the extension and our garden furniture. When my husband complained the lady next door said oh you have to expect some mess. Anyway the workman cleaned our furniture and we are polite to
our neighbours but not friends but im not bothered about that. People just think of themselves im afraid.

Quite honestly, I'm surprised this was ever given planning permission!
Using your property without permission is surely trespass and the fact that they haven't repaired any damage and are dictating what you can grow in your own plot of land is not on.
Also wonder if this extension is true to the measurements in the planning permission.
You need legal advice and it might also be an idea to contact your local council too

Have the regs changed to allow the wall to be on the perimeter like that? When we had an extension built we had to be inside a tad to allow for the foundations. The builder concreted the strip of ground in the hope of stopping weeds etc.

There should have been a Party Wall Agreement in place before the build started.

www.gov.uk/party-walls-building-works

If they illegally put fence posts on your land and trespass to do so, you have a legal right to remove them , you would have to return the posts to them , or take them to small claims to have them legally required to pay for the removal

It might be worth checking out your home insurance. I have a helpline number with mine for legal advice...they were very,very good on the one occasion I needed to use them.
While they may have been granted permission ie planning, this won't include free access to your property etc.

Totally agree with Esspee.

A couple of links which might help:

www.gov.uk/party-walls-building-works

www.wilsonbrowne.co.uk/news/personal/can-i-access-my-neighbours-land-to-carry-out-building-works-to-my-home/#:~:text=Generally%20speaking%2C%20unless%20under%20specific,without%20their%20permission%20is%20trespassing.&text=If%20your%20works%20are%20such,land%20even%20without%20their%20consent.

As others have said - a lot of solicitors will do a free half hour consultation, and a letter from them to your neighbours won't cost much. And do check your house insurance to see if you have legal cover going forward (if you don't, it might be a good idea to add it when you renew)

The moment the workmen turn up to do the work, you need to ensure that they do not place posts in your garden. If you make enough fuss, reputable workmen will not want to get involved in a dispute between neighbours. Alternatively, give notice via a solicitor that you will take legal action if they place fencing or posts in your garden but you will allow them reasonable access in your garden once they have paid for/put right the damage already caused. Sometimes you need a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. Also, make sure you have legal protection on your household insurance just in case.

If you take ‘Which’ magazine you can ring them for advice. They were great for us when a builder took our money and did a bunk.

Firstly, I think you need to check the extension has been built according to the planning permission that was granted, so many people overstep the regulations which leads to situations exactly like yours or worse. You could consider asking the building inspector from the council to come and take a look, I certainly think that things are not quite right.

Get a written quote for replacement of the damaged slabs, plant posts etc and present this to the builder and a copy to your neighbour advising each of them that the other has a copy. The very least they should do is replace your broken slabs like for like, a bodged repair with cement is not acceptable.

Also, can you lock your property whilst you're out at work to prevent any workmen accessing when you are not at home? Alternatively, you could consider putting leave in and being at home when they next come to do any work and watch everything they do.

Poor you. I really empathise as I have been depressed by neighbours' behaviour too.
If you bought your house did you know that they were going to build this extension? It should have been on the Property Information Form you got from the sellers.
If not then you may have a case against the previous owners and/or solicitors.

As Esspee says. You have let this get too far already.

Assume you have taken before and after pictures. Act fast now.

Also you should be able to view what was applied for on your council's website, simply by inserting their address in the Planning section and check it against what is actually there. Unless of course it was within "permitted" limits.

Follow Monica's advice. Sorry you have had so much hassle.

Planning permission doesn’t involve any judgement over legal ownership or rights and obligations. For example, I might get permission to build an extension on your property even though I don’t own it (building speculators sometimes do this). Ownership is not a concern of the council. They cannot build on your land or insert fence posts on your land (as opposed to on boundary line) without your consent and/or buying the strip they’re taking over.

Tell me if I've got it wrong, but my understanding of it from your photo is that your neighbour intends to erect a fence on the side wall of their new extension (the left wall in the photo). That would mean that the fence posts would actually be on your side of the boundary. They can't do that, and certainly not without your permission. Any fence posts must be on their side of the boundary.

If a fence is put there weeds will inevitably grow up between the fence and their wall and it will be impossible to get at them to remove them. Your neighbours will be totally unconcerned about it as it will be on your property and they can't see it anyway! They will only be aware of a problem when their side wall becomes damp from the build up of moisture in the plants. We had exactly the same situation in our last house. We took down the two fence panels our neighbour put up and returned them to her together with the twelve-foot weeds and a dead rat which had got stuck between the wall and the fence!

As others have said consult the CAB or a solicitor and provide photos, measurements, exact position of the boundary line and details of damage already caused to your property. Everyone wants to get along well with their neighbours, but I think you need to make your position and feelings clear from the start.

So they have effectively attached their building to yours? I wouldn’t be happy either, legal advice for sure,

You may have legal advice as part of your house insurance.

Refuse them access to your property...surely you can do this...and tell them they haven't finished the previous job properly and to YOUR satisfaction...and until they make right what they damaged you won't be giving them access...if they go in your garden then you can phone the police...am I being naive or is this possible?

Definitely get legal advice, & take lots of photos
I’m also wondering if you can get advice from your council as the planning was granted from them?
But they aren’t allowed access without your permission or put anything permanent on your ground, and must pay or repair to your satisfaction
Sounds horrendous I’d be fuming, Do get it sorted and your peace back …

I feel for you Hels001! We had a terrible time with neighbours on both sides (we are mid-terraced) building extensions using the same builder, one after the other!

Both had to arrange for a Party Wall Agreement. This agreement is drawn up by a surveyor who checks your house before work commences, at the neighbours cost. As I understood it, it was to protect both parties in the event of a problem following excavation near our foundations. It may not apply in your case, but I thought it worth a mention. Maybe they were told about it but chose not to do it - I don't know if the council checks that there is an agreement in place. There is a lot of information about it online, but I don't know if it can be done retrospectively.

The other thing that may be worth a note is that if they have built up to your boundary, their gutter is probably 'trespassing', which I don't think is allowed, so it may be something you could use to get them to behave.

Do get some legal advice if you can. Good luck.

Also as it’s understandably getting you down, do you have a friend or family member who can bat for you, and take some the pressure off you …

In your position I would issue a "letter before action" specifying compensation for the damages and standard daily charges for the use of your land.

Your next step would be a small claims court. If your neighbours fail to pay up its only about £70 to transfer to the high court and get the sheriffs.

My vile neighbours have on three occasions allowed workpeople onto my property without notice or permission to do work on their gutters. On the last occasion the "workmen" were attempting to make recycled fencing panels fit the existing concrete posts. They used an industrial grinder on MY side of the fence which was directing clouds of concrete dust towards my house. No protective clothing, warning notices etc. They left quickly when I threatened to call the police.

After that I issued my NDN with a strongly worded Cease and Desist threatening legal action for any further incursion onto my property. In my message I made it clear that I would not unreasonably refuse permission if the work on their property was absolutely essential and could not be carried out without using my land. However I specified standard charges for use of my property and for my work in liaising with and supervising workpleople on my land, plus the right to impose indemnity charges for damage.

The letter ended by stating that in the event these instructions were not followed legal action would follow.

If it affects you at all you should have had a letter advising you of the proposed build, and inviting you to submit objections, if any. We've lived in a terraced house for forty years and have had hundreds of these letters. One of our near neighbours has regularly objected, but the builds went ahead any way. This year my DH insisted on objecting to a projected loft extension planned for this Summer which will enable anyone in it to see directly into our bathroom and a bedroom. Waste of time. As long as what is being erected isn't going to be higher than the highest surrounding building, it will happen.