Neighbours building party wall against my permission

[Bronte]

Hi! Just had a call from my solicitor re he wants to send draft papers to barrister in case of proceedings, i.e. injunction - I don't want him raking things up either - isn't this a bit excessive. .

This doesn't make sense. It is you who is instructing the solicitor, so he has to do what you want?

You are now going to not only the expense of a solicitor, but a barrister too. Have you asked how much all this is going to cost you? For a house you will no longer be living in.

Has your solicitor not advised you of your rights. As far as I know your neighbours have a right to build a party wall so it is pointless to fight that. A quick trip down your local planning office would elicit that information I would have thought.

If they are allowed to build the wall isn't it better to get along with the builder, get him onside. By not allowing him access on your side he might go out of his way to make it ugly on our side and if you help him and mention you are worried about the gutters he will be far more amenable to doing the job right.

Is it not an advantage to you to have the wall as tenant's would probably prefer it to be separate from those most neighbours and these in particular don't sound very pleasant. And the wall is not going to cost you anything.

 

[ajapale]

Am I correct that these two houses are part of a terrace? When you say "party wall" is this just a boundary wall or is it part of a larger structure? How is the boundary defined at present? How does the wall proposed by you neighbour impact on your gutters?

On a broader note video record as much as you can.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the wall your neighbour and his contractor have a duty of care toward you and your children and must not create by their actions a health and safety hazard. Building sites are dangerous places especially for young children. I would be concerned about the presence of unguarded blocks, cement, concrete,building materials, equipment, scaffolding and excavations in close proximity to your property.

Check that any builder is complying with the relevant H&S legislation with respect to himself and his workers. If you have any doubts you can report the contractor the hsa (in confidence).

Finally you should consult your solicitor again and get him to explain the situation again to you. I have a feeling that there may be some mis communication going on here.

 

[elainem]

Neighbours building wall without permission

Hi! AMH, yes, you probably agreed to do it that way and your neighbours were working with you, this is not the case here, it is either their way or no way.

I had a party wall surveyor over this morning and he said that it is not possible to build the wall where they are thinking of as it will damage my drains, guttering and I won't be able to access where you need to turn off the water outside. He is recommending that they only build the wall up so far, and not the rest of the way.

 

[IsleOfMan]

Are you talking about the downpipe or the gutters? I would imagine that the builder could start the wall a foot or so from the main wall of your house leaving your downpipe and drain free?

 

[elainem]

Neighbours building wall without permission

Hi! Isle of Man, they would have to build the wall two and a half feet from my gutters as the damp course is stick out also. What they want is to close up any access for children to their property - the only children who live next to them are mine, and they never go into their garden as they have received so many warnings from me about it, as the neighbours have previously just been plain insulting and quite weird really.


In relation to the suggestion of friendly chat - I did that and thoought everything was ok, and they said they had decided not to build the wall. It was a very friendly, amicable chat. Three days later they had builders in my garden costing the wall and deciding on plans. So I don't think they can really be trusted. Pluas they have sent letters back to my solicitor saying they don't even live at that address, though they are on the tiltle at the Land Registry.

I have no objection to the wall as long as they don't encroach on my property, tear down my gutters, concrete over my drain and breach my damp course - I would have thought that was quite a reasonable expectation on my part.

 

[Bronte]

What they want is to close up any access for children to their property - the only children who live next to them are mine, and they never go into their garden as they have received so many warnings from me about it, as the neighbours have previously just been plain insulting and quite weird really.


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I don't get this, you are warning your terrible neighbours not to go into their garden, maybe that's why they are building a wall and maybe it has nothing to do with the children.

Why where there is history of bad blood would neighbours deliberate build a wall in such a manner as to raise the tensions even more, maybe the wall is a good idea? Would you not prefer a wall yourself ?

 

[elainem]

Neighbours building wall without permission

Bronte, people are not getting it - I don't mind the wall at all, but as the party wall surveyor has said, they will damage my guttering, cover over my drain, block access to being able to turn off my water if I need to by building the wall.

There was no bad blood on my part, but when your children have to listen to someone saying that single mothers have loads of men - when they don't even understand what this means - or have to listen to your neighbour go on about single mothers and drugs - you don't want your children to associate with them.

These neighbours have fallen out with all the other people in the cul de sac who have children, as they have accused their children of going in to their garden, climbing their trees etc. Because the neighbours attitude has been so bad to us, and because of their attitude to the other children, I have warned them never to into our neighbours garden, not even to fectch a ball. There's nothing wrong with this from my part, I'm proecting my children and myself from unwanted hassle.

The party wall surveyor has already said it is not possible to buid the wall up without damaging my property. I'm just waiting, I suppose, for them to build the wall when I am not around as I am often away for weekend.

I also don't want my property devalued in any way by their actions. If they encroach on my prperty, they will devalue it or make it difficult to sell down the line.

We keep very different hours, so even without the wall we rarely meet, which suits me fine.

 

[sam h]

Bronte - I may be wrong, but I think Elaine was saying she has warned her children not to go onto the neighbours property.

Not sure what the answer is especially as they will not even accept registered letters. Do you know who their soliciotr is, could you address the letter to him/her to ask them to advise your neighbour if the works affect your property at all you will be seeking to have the damage put right & will seek all costs involved?

Horrible situation not to be able to get on with neighbours - hope it works out for you

 

[Woodie]

Hi! Isle of Man, they would have to build the wall two and a half feet from my gutters as the damp course is stick out also. What they want is to close up any access for children to their property - the only children who live next to them are mine, and they never go into their garden as they have received so many warnings from me about it, as the neighbours have previously just been plain insulting and quite weird really.


In relation to the suggestion of friendly chat - I did that and thoought everything was ok, and they said they had decided not to build the wall. It was a very friendly, amicable chat. Three days later they had builders in my garden costing the wall and deciding on plans. So I don't think they can really be trusted. Pluas they have sent letters back to my solicitor saying they don't even live at that address, though they are on the tiltle at the Land Registry.

I have no objection to the wall as long as they don't encroach on my property, tear down my gutters, concrete over my drain and breach my damp course - I would have thought that was quite a reasonable expectation on my part.

OK, so you are sort of on speaking terms. People often change their mind and in the case of this wall the neighbours are still within their rights. So time to chill out. Try to speak with them again and say something "I see you are going ahead with the wall after all, which is no problem as long as my property is not encroached on." Let them build and if they do damage then sue them and the builder or put the injunction on them to cease. At the moment you are speculating yourself to distraction and chasing shadows. Maybe they are getting kicks from seeing you in hoops, sending back letters, saying one thing and doing another....folk are strange as I said before and you don;t know what issue they have in their lives that motivates it. Maybe they have a grudge about something rather petty which you can't even remember or don't know about (remember your angelic kids might have been a bit devilish at some time unawares to you).

However, just like you can't charge someone with something unless they have done it, you can stop them building a wall because you believe they will do something they have not done. "He looks like a villain Your Honour will not cut it". At the end of the day if they proceed and in the process do damage they and their builder will have to suffer the consequences. Until then it is simply speculation and stress on your part.

 

[Leo]

Bronte, people are not getting it - I don't mind the wall at all, but as the party wall surveyor has said, they will damage my guttering, cover over my drain, block access to being able to turn off my water if I need to by building the wall.

The wall can only be up to 2m in height if to the side of the property without planning permission (1.2m to the front), so it should not reach your guttering.

 

[elainem]

Neighbourrs building wall without permission

Thanks for all replies. The problem is not really that the wall might reach the guttering, but that the gutters and the drain will have to be placed correctly somwhere else - accordinng to the architect/party wall surveyor, somewhere on their side, and they need to agree where the drain will and where the gutters will come down. The gutters in question carry the rainwater not just from my house, but also from three other mid-terraced properties beside me, though the gutter is attached close to my front door.

The architect/party wall surveyor is going to forward his recomnmendations to my solicitor, who will forward it to them. It shows where the party line is and where the drain and gutter would be best placed. His letter also stipulates that the builders must have professional indemnity insurance, as if an accident happened while they were accessing the work from my side, I could be sued - very importatnt stuff!

The builders that the neighbours were going to use were not builders, but plumbers who do odd jobs on the side. One of them is a partner of another neighbour. I always thought that they were a bit del boyish after the pillar that they built in the cul de sac fell down after a couple of dasy - so I doubt they would have indemnity insurance.

Anyway I'm happy for the wall to be built aslong as it is done right, and that my surveyor, and their enginee, if they have one, can decide on where things are to be placed.