I am dreading the house at the bottom of our drive being demolished.

Thinking back now to one particular neighbour family that decided to steal a bit of my garden. I strongly suspect they were after even more of my garden than the darn Land Registry took off my title plan and put on theirs! Part of the reason for my suspicions is that I caught them in the act waiting until my back was turned to walk all around my garden measuring it out!!!!!!!!

The time they chose for it was early in the morning before they anticipated I would have got up for the day. Only thing was I am quite an early riser - so I saw and heard Mr Thief parading around my garden doing just that.

It was shortly after that that I put up security cameras - as his reaction was to first lie and say he hadnt done so. Followed by telling a different lie and admitting he had done that - but it was supposed to be for my welfare according to him (ie to check I was alright). Funnily enough my doorbell was definitely working and could have been rung okay if that had been the truth.

I'd be willing to bet he was after about 3 times as much of my garden as he managed to persuade the Land Registry to let him steal.

Some parts of the country pretty much have people behaving themselves re the neighbours property - but other parts there's loads of it going on or attempting to go on.

So - yep....I've seen in my own case bad neighbours waiting until they thought the coast was clear to get up to stuff.

What does "sorting an never doorstep" mean?

Did council send you a letter informing you of the work to be done? You have been given some excellent advice by kind gransnetters.which you should consider taking.

Right chatted to the demolition foreman with no problems, seemed a nice chap and very approachable. They seem to be dismantling first and when I asked it will take about 3 weeks. Had another meeting with the building contractor, architect, and owner. Thought sending us a list of contacts numbers counted as consultation. We disabused them of that notion. At first they denied what was in the planning application but we had read it and corrected them. Stood our ground and eventually they have agreed communication is key and they need to keep us informed not ignore us. I will still report to the Council the work they have done which is not in accordance with planning consent, which hopefully will be another check although they refer to it as past history.

We are going to have to keep our beady eye on them to make sure they don’t get sneaky and take naughty short cuts. I don’t particularly trust them. I did find out they are hoping to have the building up with the roof on within a 12 month so after that it will be indoor work and they should have room to park on site.

Yes lots of helpful advice. Good old GransNet. I also appreciate some have been through far worse than this and they have my deepest sympathy. Off the bed again with my book and small glass of Baileys.

That's not surprising that they are "minimising" right from the get-go.

1. Since when did providing a list of contacts numbers count as consultation? It doesnt.
2. Denying what was in the planning application.

Do indeed keep an eye on them. There seems to be such a tendency these days for people to think in terms of retrospective planning permission and the like. So many think it's better to "ask for forgiveness" after the event - ie "apologise" and hope to get away with things.

Take photos and measurements where applicable. Lying about measurements and how things normally are is a frequent one.

Have you got Title Plans and Register entries for nearby - ie as well as your own?

The Land Registry isn't up to much in some respects - I guess you've got your property Registered etc and made sure you are on that free scheme the Land Registry run whereby they send you an email every 6 months to confirm that nothing is happening on your "account". Even if you are registered with that scheme of theirs be aware it doesn't constitute much in the way of protection. I'm registered with that scheme - but the first I knew that adjacent neighbours were planning on stealing a bit of my garden if they could was I got notification from the Land Registry saying "There is activity on your account" and giving the name of those doing the "activity". That turned out to be their own solicitors. Those neighbours had asked the LR if they could have a bit of my garden taken off my title plan and put on theirs instead!!!! Once the fighting about it that then ensued (culminating in them managing to steal a bit from me - which I estimate is about a third of what they were trying to grab) I then found a further layer of "protection" I could put in place with the LR (can't recall the details of it now) and it's something along the lines of me proving I am me before any of my property can be disposed of from memory (sorry for being vague on the details).

It's a potential danger point I'd say if the neighbouring property concerned doesn't yet have a modern-day title plan and it will acquire that title plan in the process in being bought by new owners. That was when I experienced that land theft.

So - out there today - and take those photos and measurements. One of the reasons I had pretty detailed photos taken (by a professional photographer) was in case they vandalised some trees of mine - as I knew they wanted to reduce them in size as much as they thought they could get away with. At least with those photos taken I managed to keep their mitts off my trees - as I was well aware they were trying to think of lying and telling people "Oh they were that (much tinier) size to start with". With the photos I had proof of what size they were to start with.

By the way - keep a diary of events too - who said and did what and when.

BTW - A very useful "lesson for life" I got given a lecture on one time by a friend of mine was to always bear in mind never to expect the "opposition" to act the way I would.

So first of all I think like myself - ie what the moral code of conduct would be that I would follow personally. Then mentally put myself in the shoes of the "opposition". I listened to that friend and after that always first thought what they should do/what I would do in their position. Then I thought "If I were a nasty 8888*** in their position and only thought of my own interests - what would I do next?".

Boy was that ever a useful conversation - as, after that, I always first thought my own way and then mentally swivelled and thought "Assuming they are totally nasty and totally focused on themselves - what will they think next? what will they do next?". I got it right Every Single Time then and saw them coming a mile off....as they always took the "nasty person option" - but I'd already put every barrier I could think of in place and made my plans for minimising their actions effect on me in advance....

So "think like them" - as well as "think like yourselves".

Talk to the council planning department and see what limits were put on the build. They should have agreed to considerate contractor terms. You could try to talk to the builders. Ask for a meeting with site manager. Be reasonable and get them on your side. A harmonious relationship can work wonders.

All I can say is good luck Avalon25 and I hope it doesn’t take too long. I have to admit I would be keeping my eyes open for a new house,personally. A year is a fair while in the scheme of things and I was wondering why it will take so long. We had a house demolished a few years back , and then rebuilt. About 6 months in total. It was a 4 bedroom house down at the beach and there are not many tradesman down there otherwise it would have been even quicker.

Thank you Cariad for your helpful advice. So sorry for all the trouble you have had. I do not trust the building contractors one bit and suspect an ulterior motive in their wanting to knock down a wall on the boundary which was not in the original planning consent. I wrote to the planning case officer last week but she wasn’t very helpful possibly because she is away this week. I am going to write to the chief planning officer and copy in their environmental officer and the tree officer.

If that wall going wasnt in the original planning consent = they shouldnt have touched it! It just goes to show that their attitude is to ignore the rules if they can.

Just as well to write those letters.

My take to them wanting to knock down a wall they've not previously mentioned is they might be looking to expand onto land they don't own that is just beyond the wall.

Don't forget to take measurements all round of where that wall is and photos - just in case it mysteriously vanishes.

Cariad, they have stood the feet of their scaffolding on said wall, which they said was unsafe and needed demolishing. We have photo and told them it has to come off. Maybe that was why they wanted to issue a party wall notice but that was only a couple of days ago and doesn’t meet the statutory regulatory times.

Yep...good that you've taken that photo. Most odd they want their scaffolding on the wall - and it's probably not a genuine "want" for this - but just to give them an excuse to do what they want to do anyway by the sound of it - ie the wall mysteriously vanishing.

Like the way you know it "doesnt meet the statutory regulatory times" - sounds like you're keeping well on top of it.

Do you know who actually owns that wall (as it sure doesn't sound like they do)?