height of neighbours extension

B

bunty

Guest
Our neighbours, who we thought we got on well with, gave us a week's notice that they were doing an extension on the attached side of our semi-d and would not let us see the plans. It is a one storey extension and I presume it meets the under 40 sqm rule. The new wall is about 6 inches inside the old boundary fence. Unfortunately it is 3.2 metres high and is overshadowing our patio area and kitchen/dining room as it is on the south side of us. I don't want to sound unneighbourly but I feel as if they have taken from our light to add to theirs and not considered the impact on us at all. We will now be sitting in a darker patio and kitchen/diningroom area overshadowed by this wall.I would not mind so much if it was not on our southern side. I suppose we were surprised at the actual height of the wall given its proximity to our back door. Is there anything we can do except feel annoyed? Is there a maximum height for such a wall so close to a boundary? I suppose they will need access to our garden to plaster the wall but at the moment I don't feel very well disposed towards then given the way we have been disregarded. Sorry for ranting on. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
They may not need access to your garden as you can get a finished brick which does not need plastering.

Ruam
 
If you don't let them plaster the wall it will only make your patio area look uglier...nothing to be gained there...their behaviour sounds strange to me...nothing to be gained by escalating things.
 
To start with, why not try your local County Council. Then you could try an Architect ? What part of the country are you in ? Had something similar where neighbours cut down trees in an area of conservation and they now look into part of our downstairs and bedrooms at one side. Lodged official complaint but from the location where I live, its who you know not what you know if you know what i mean.
 
If I were you , I would go on Mon. to your local planning office and tell your story. Yes , they may very well be within the 40 sqm rule but you have an entitlement to light. Explain your case, also check your local authority's website; under the planning section there should be helpful information.
Remember these neighbours wouldn't even show you the plans. That does not sound great. Only you can protect your interests......so get your info and if they are in the wrong , find out before they start.
 
It is a tough one, I had am extension built and few years back, I did go into neighbour and explained what I was doing.It was higher than she expected but I explained it would not be worth doing unless I could go that high. She agreed but at a cost that I have to cut her front grass when I cut my own.Is it possible for you to also build an extension at the same time.Is it in your plans for the future. Also be careful that they have no over hang onto your property. If you ever went to build an extension in the future they might stop you from doing so,so maybe you should get something in writing stating that you can build in the future if you want to. I did hear a story before when one party built an extension and the other was ok with it and when they went to do the same the other party who had already built their extension tried to block them doing the extension stating it might effect their foundation. So be careful be very careful.
 
if they plan on building only 6 inches off the actual boundary then how are the diigging foundations??? they cannot dig or pour foundations over the boundary line without your permission and this may be a issue to halt the work.
dodos point about overhangs into your property is also valid, so is the point about plastering, AND MAINTAINING, this new wall.

plus, any extension above ground floor level needs to be 2.0 m away from a boundary... you can argue that this 3.2 m high wall is above ground level (even if it is only single storey) therefore the extension is not exempt.
 
Thanks for the replies. The neighbours actually went ahead with the extension sooner than they had told us and the wall is now in situ and bloody ugly it is too. I contacted the planning department and seemingly we have no entitlement to light and if they did not need planning there is nothing we can do. We still think it might be worth contacting a solicitor or architect, though. I'm not sure if they even intend to plaster the wall, given that they have now placed some old bits of panel fencing in the few inches between our fence and their wall. If they don't, can we do it ourselves, I wonder? Like I say, I thought we got on well with these people!
 
it is worth your while at this stage contacting th eplanning enforcement section of the council to let them know that you consider the extension not to be exempt.
the planning enforcement wil then contact the neighbours and request them to show how the extension is exempt. if they cannot then the need a planning application which you can deal with further down the line. if it is exempt then, well, fair enough.

just remember though, these neighbours have not been fair with you in how they are acting. i would let them know what you are planning on doing and also how disappointed you are with their lack of cooperation with you.
 
Sydthebeat - that is like asking the bloke that has a Gun, does he need a bullet to shoot you. From what the OP states they have been very good to him to get their own way. Bunty -get an Architect on the your case.
 
mercman said:
Sydthebeat - that is like asking the bloke that has a Gun, does he need a bullet to shoot you. From what the OP states they have been very good to him to get their own way. Bunty -get an Architect on the your case.
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i dont read that from any of the ops posts??

i agree with your suggestion to get an architect to look at it, but at what cost to the op?
planning enforcement is the way to go... my reading of this doesnt show the op owing the neighbours anything.
 
Yep - but by acting nice and fair has now beat them. The Enforcement part of the Councils leave an awful lot to be desired without professional intervention. I have used the Enformcement section of the Councilboth in Dublin and in Galway and putting it bluntly they are a waste of time unless an Architect becomes involved. In Dublin, it just took months and months until an Atrchitect became involved and the matters got sorted very quickly. In Galway, it is a case of not what you know but WHO you know. A joke and a farce. What is the Point of making Rules and Planning Condirions, but to be broken by those who set them in the first place.
 
sydthebeat said:
if they plan on building only 6 inches off the actual boundary then how are the diigging foundations??? they cannot dig or pour foundations over the boundary line without your permission and this may be a issue to halt the work.
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Further to this, you really need to look at what sort of foundation they put in to support this wall if the existing bondary has been retained. A wall 3m high with a small footprint of a foundation on either side, or one side of the foundation smaller than the other would concern me.
 
Thanks so much for the replies. Have been in touch with planning again this morning. The lady from enforcement yesterday was very reluctant to get involved. It was a case of " if you can prove it is not exempt, then we'll come out and have a look", so that would mean I have to pay an architect first if I could get one. I phoned again today and am waiting for a reply. I live in hope!
 
I can't help on this issue but just want to sympathise - access to light and sunshine at the back of my house are my number one priority - I think its horrific that this can be threatened by a neighbours extension.
Good luck.
 
We put a sunroom onto our house a couple of years back and our engineer told us that we had to keep our new wall at least 1m away from any boundary wall. I will check it up again and if I find anything I will post it.
 
This link http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Planning/FileDownLoad,1586,en.pdf to a leaflet from environ.ie gives information about domestic extensions.

I had a quick glance through it and nothing that might help you jumped out at me, but it may be worth your while having a look anyhow.

Pudzer, I had thought that as well regarding keeping walls 1m away from the boundary, but I can't see it in the leaflet, all I can see is that "any windows proposed at ground floor level as part of an extension should not be less than 1 metre from the boundary they face".
 
pudzer said:
We put a sunroom onto our house a couple of years back and our engineer told us that we had to keep our new wall at least 1m away from any boundary wall. I will check it up again and if I find anything I will post it.
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Pudzer, if you find this and post up, please do. This info is gold dust and you could find yourself with a nice bottle of wine in the post
 
I got planning permission last year for a 2-storey extension and it is within 300 cm of the boundary wall. The gable wall is brick and has no windows. My foundation is a raft foundation.

Marion
 
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