My Neighbour's Home Improvements: Can I Object?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 14/09/2026 at 8:00 pm

@Eve Under permitted development rules, walls and fences at the front of a property (next to a highway) shouldn't exceed 1 metre in height without planning permission, not 1 foot, so it's worth double checking the measurement. If it genuinely is over 1 metre, you can report it to your local council's planning enforcement team and they'll investigate. They can require the neighbours to apply retrospectively or take it down. Worth having a quiet word first though, as it often saves a lot of bad feeling.

Eve 14/09/2026 at 7:23 pm

My neighbours have put a wall and fencing up at the front of their property which exceeds 1ft, is there anything I can do?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 08/08/2026 at 8:00 pm

@Barney Any new windows on that elevation will need planning permission because the wall is on the boundary, and privacy/overlooking is a valid ground for objection. Submit your comments to the council's planning department once the application is registered, setting out exactly how the windows would look into your garden and habitable rooms. The council can require obscure glazing and non-opening lower panes, or refuse outright if the impact is serious. Get your objection in within the 21 day consultation window.

Barney 08/08/2026 at 7:24 pm

My neighbours back wall to his house sits directly on the boundary between our properties. He wishes to install upstairs windows that overlook our garden, thus taking away the privacy we currently enjoy . Is he entitled to do this ?

macachoo 16/05/2022 at 10:46 am

my neighbour has started to build a porch plus extension on the front of the council home he rents, we are part of a terrace house and my neighbour has in his in fernet wisdom crossed the house boundary and has gone over to our property with the roof of the porch and then fixed it to the front of our house, i have contacted the local council and his housing officer who have done nothing about it, id like to know where i stand, its not the first problem we have had with the neighbours building he just replies I've got a mate at the council who sorts it out for me. This is beginning to seem the case as he does what he wants when he wants

Brandon1035 19/04/2022 at 6:10 pm

My neighbor who is in a council house has just had a lift put in there lounge which backs onto my lounge wall when they use this life the noise is so loud as the walls are thin in my house and also into my sons bedroom
Is there anything I can do as it’s driving me mad

Ross 03/03/2022 at 9:22 am

I am replacing my damaged fence between myself and my neighbour. My fence sits on top of a low wall with the wooden posts being bolted to short stumpy conctrete ones. The concrete posts are my neighbours side. My neighbour claims that the wall is his as are the concrete posts but the fence is mine. He is threatening to cut the concrete posts therefore ruining the integrity of my fence unless I allow him to build a wooden structure using my new fence posts as the uprights. He has cut the concrete posts already on the lower part of the garden forcing me to put concrete posts my side. Unfortunately I can't do this where he wants to put his structure as it woukd mean digging up my patio. Any advice woukd be greatly received.

Sami 25/06/2021 at 7:05 pm

Hi just need advise on what to do about neighbour who lives in complete dump semi detached house every time i do something to sort my house out he seem to get jealous i recently got a small extention i did tell them about it after the builder had started work he seemed fine with it but now it is complete all i ever hear is him moaning about my extention it was done within permitted development at the time i was unaware of the party wall but as soon i heard about it i went and mentioned it to him he was still ok with it in the end i didnt need the party wall as he has a conservatory on the boundary line but i needed on for the foundation but was too late for that i live with anxiety now that he has a problem and cant even enjoy my new extention please any advise is there anything he could do now that it is complete thank you

Scottie 07/06/2021 at 6:44 pm

Re plastic sheeting. We have been in touch with Planning and forwarded photos of plastic sheeting. They have advised that we are 47th in the queue and he will be receiving a letter and we will object but he can then apply for planning permission and the sheeting will remain in place even although he is actually breaking the law. Crazy or what. Very upsetting as we are looking at this eyesore from every window in our property and it is detracting from the look of my beautiful garden. Will keep you posted but don’t hold your breath

Unhappy 18/05/2021 at 8:22 am

We’ve been in our terraced 25 years and 18months ago had a pitched roof put on the existing extension which must be 35yrs plus old. Our next door neighbor has had an extension added to their property. They have had a pitched roof put on, that sits across an existing flat roof extension. They have extended to our extension and have removed tiles on our roof to “blend” their roof in. They have removed our fascia and cladding. All this has been done without our permission. When we asked the builder what was going on he said that our extension runs over into their property by 88mm. I said that their pebbledash runs over onto ours by 88mm. At the end of the day both the extension and pebbledash where already in situ before we moved in. We’ve just put a new roof on. The builder said that doing it the way he has makes it easier for him. Our extension has never impacted on their property and we asked permission to access their garden so the builder could put the cladding and fascia up. I need to know where we can go with this. It’s an eyesore. We haven’t spoke to our neighbors for over 18 years.

Ginge 16/05/2021 at 7:00 pm

I'm an 80 year old disabled widow who has neighbour to fide of my garden with long garden. He is in the process of building huge workshop/family room out of tons of what i think is cedar wood. I haven't received any planning plans so does that mean he is exempt? The building is very close to my fence and my living room. I'm sure he thinks i'm old and are not bothered. I've lived here for 50 years and never had any trouble before.

DOLLY 15/04/2021 at 1:32 pm

next door to us there is a grade two listed building which is currently divided into flats. the landlord changed two years ago and since then the back garden that was, has now been turned into a builders yard, he brings in rubbish from other sites that he owns, and he has added all sorts of ad hock wooden buildings to the rear of the property. He now seems to have turned one of the sheds which abuts our dividing garden wall into some sort of wood workshop and has had a chop saw going all day for several weeks now. We are unable to sit in our garden because the noise is relentless. The building works on the property started two years ago when he first took over, we were understanding because we knew it was an old property and the flats needed attention , two years down the line we are at our wits end. We have tried to discuss these issues with him to no avail. We are also in a conservation area, but we cannot seem to get our local planning department to help, we are unable to speak to anyone due to covid and staff working from home. For all the work he has carried out he has never once sought any planning permission.

Crazy 11/04/2021 at 8:34 pm

Can my neighbour build a bedroom above my kitchen which also comes on to my land

Dormer 02/04/2021 at 7:14 am

We already have a dormer on our bungalow and plan to extend it at the rear. Plans already drawn and builder appointed. The existing dormer butt's up to the roof line of the party wall and the extension will do so at the rear. Is a party wall agreement required for the works? Thank you..

Anonymous 31/03/2021 at 7:40 am

Has there been any advice to Scottie. I also have a neighbour who has plastic sheeting above his fence, but about 6-8 feet. Is this allowed, or are there rules in which I can have him take it down?

Scottie 25/03/2021 at 2:27 pm

Neigh has a 6ft6 fence. We took down some diseased trees and he has put up a plastic sheet about 4ft in height above his fence attached to seven stain,ess steel poles. Is this legal and does he need planning permission, He states that he does not want to see our house but has not planted any trees in his garden.

A 24/03/2021 at 11:53 am

I'd like to move the wall (owned by me) attached to my neighbour's leasehold property. Will I need to get permission from my neighbour or the leaseholder to make this change? The wall joining on their house will need to move. The wall itself will remain on my property

Poo 02/02/2021 at 8:51 am

Hi people building a summer house / bar / games room in garden , do they need permission

T 31/01/2021 at 1:22 pm

My neighbour has gone ahead and proceeded to do a lot room. He has not ask us for a party wall agreement he it doing the work himself. Unfortunately his not a neighbour whom you can talk to to discuss anything. We can her the rubble coming down the cavity walls. He has also installed steel beans . I have contacted the council whom has told me they can’t do anything. He has also add to sky to the front roof and did want to add a further two to the rear which we stop as the roof needed attention. Our property this the end property which is attached to his . We don’t know what to do and he stay carry on with the work. We not seen any paper work or if it done to fire regulations etc .
Awaiting you reply

Titch01 26/01/2021 at 1:26 pm

I am seeking advice regarding my neighbours proposed extension. I have just received a letter from surveyors confirming the proposed extension, it states that foundations will be excavated and that the Party Wall Act applies to me. Since my neighbour moved in (7 months ago) it’s just been constant banging which I accept as he’s just moved in, however, his constant noise (also no soundproofing on his front room floorboards in a semi detached house) and now this is more than I can bear right now especially being in lockdown. My question is, can I legally make my neighbour put off the extension for a few months as his noise is really impacting my mental health. Another issue is that he is the freeholder where as I am only a local authority council tenant so I am not sure whether I have any rights at all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Shu 22/01/2021 at 6:14 am

Hi I wanted to know the in my garden after my fance how many inches should be a gap to building a extensionI me and my neighbour

gm3087 30/11/2020 at 8:14 pm

So I share a roof ridge line with my neighbour. Our semis are
chalet bungalows separated on each side of the roof pitch. So I
own one side of the roof pitch and neighbours own the other side
roof pitch meaning the ridge line is shared between us both.
So my neighbour, rented property, has today taken of their tiles and
the joint ridge line, without notifying me. It has been left bare
no cover over the ridge line. They are having their roof replaced
so have new felt all up their pitch side.
Can I complain about this? Should they have notified me of removal
of a joint ridge line? Does this come under the party wall agreement?

deanobeano 25/11/2020 at 9:38 am

I own a flat with a drying room that has an wooden louvre panel that forms the end external wall. The panel itself covers both my room and a similar room belonging to next door. My neighbours are looking to turn their drying room into a small office. This will require removing their side of the lourve panel. They have suggested that they would be willing to place plastic cladding over the combined areas but I'm worried that the work will compromise any work I might want to do on my drying room and I would need to unpick the work they're having done now. I don't want to stop next door from making these improvements but how do I ensure I'm no worse off now of in the future if I want to make alterations or the structure leaks?

Bodyworks 25/10/2020 at 8:14 am

My neighbour has informed us he would like to build a permanent spray paint shop for old cars he does up. He is now on his second car and we thought that that would be it but now he wants to do more. He has a converted shed at the moment and the noise is the problem. We can sit in our garden and it’s like being in a dentist waiting room plus the noise of the sprayer. Do we have any rights?

Mags 20/10/2020 at 5:59 pm

Am I allowed to put up a pop up gazebo over a hot tub in my garden on the patio

Ria 12/10/2020 at 3:29 am

My neighbor has done house extension and extended the roof in our area. All rain water is coming in our area.

Chico 14/08/2020 at 11:39 am

I am building a rear extension I am in an end terraced house, my neighbour is objecting because of light which he is losing for two hours in the morning fro 8am till 10am and then he has full sunight, thus is causing me great distress and I am still waiting on the plans Been given the all clear they have only been given in retrospect, please give me any information possible.

Pepigirl 17/07/2020 at 11:36 pm

Hi I no long bought and moved on toba semi detached house. Now once I got over a few problems. I realised that there was vibrating going through my house constantly. Ask my neighbour if she could stop putting her washing machine ans dryer on till after 10pm at night and not right on 7am but she still doing it as she got family to wash for. I put sound proofing walls in its not done much. I realised they put a tile floor down straight on to a concrete which they didn't admit but it explains why am feeling all her appliances on and the foot fall and the rest on the house since they created a speaker. They put a glass out and said no vibration for us. I gave at that point feel like I was talking to a wall. Can I get any advise it driving me up the pole.

Sal 11/07/2020 at 6:16 pm

I am in a semi detached house built in the 1940’s. The other house of the semi has being renovated in a completely hideous out of keeping with all the other houses around with a massive roof extension, bright red roof tiles, pillars on a double front door, white plastic gutterings and lit up like a christmas tree with floodlights everywhere all night, gardens concreted over - it’s tasteless and awful. Already found that a valuer has devalued our house because of it. What can we do?

cashy 10/07/2020 at 11:12 am

I live in semi det Victorian cottage - neighbour has now built conservatory on boundary 1.7m from my kitchen window and 0.6m from my patio door access to garden and emergency exit doors. Built from the rear wall it extends 8m and is about 2cms under 3m high. Light is now blocked to kitchen and living room with previous views of sky and trees gone as 0.75 plastic fascia blocks them out. Never had any formal sight of plans etc just told that they were building it.
Right of Light comes into mind? 2m brick wall then 6m of windows along the side but now fence 1.67m been erected to give privacy. Very trapped in feeling and what happens if they sell and new owner removes fence? advice please
Thanks Cashy

Daz2020 21/06/2020 at 4:48 pm

Neighbours using loft space as a bedroom.
( not done to safety code , no firedoors etc)
Wall between both ours and their loft spaces is single brick .
Is this legal ?
If a fie was to break out in that room is our house at more risk ?

Andy 21/06/2020 at 10:33 am

My daughter lives in a council house but the neighbour joined on next door has a chimney which part has fallen off during the early hours, I am concerned for my family worrying if anymore falls off and my daughter or grandchildren are out in the garden, I’m worried for there safety . Who is it she contacts if the owner of the house next door does not do anything about it.

Mary 20/06/2020 at 10:32 am

We live in a terraced house in a rank of six. These houses were built in the fifties and according to builders that did some minor work in my kitchen, they were built using good quality materials, including Bath stone. Four of the houses have had people that have lived here for 30 years and more and neighbours at my end of the rank are very good. There is no road at the front nor at the back of these houses and we are fortunate to have large back gardens. The end three houses have become almost a nature reserve as it backs onto a field and we get wildlife and birds in our gardens on a regular basis, particularly since building on green belt has been allowed.
A new neighbour has recently bought a property on the other end of the rank and the first thing they did was have an extension built on the back; it is the only extension and it is large reaching to the second floor windows. I was unaware of this until building works were started as the notice of this was placed on a lamppost outside their property on part of the path I never walk by. All the neighbours had to tolerate building works some of which carried on during COVID-19 lock down and vibrations travel through all the houses when certain works are carried out.
I am away a lot at the moment so when I saw the extension and people standing on the steps looking over at me in my garden, I realised the elevation is really high. I have talked to a city planning officer who has replaced the planner that allowed this extension; apparently decisions are made case by case and they 'should be in keeping with the surrounding properties'. This extension is certainly not in keeping and it will be rendered and not look like local stone. Immediate neighbouring properties were not taken into consideration by the planners.
Now I have heard they want to add a veranda; this is not on the plans and will certainly overlook everyones' garden in the rank and destroy privacy. Am I able to prevent this? Having read some of the horror stories of what people are being subjected to in the previous posts, my situation pales in comparison. Often the person having the extension done won't enjoy all the noise and disruption which can go on for months. It seems like everyone has the right to extend their properties and in many cases at the expense of surrounding properties and those who live in them. Fortunately I have good neighbours, long may they remain!

Sprinter 18/06/2020 at 9:57 am

My neighbour is building an extension which he’s been working on for about 8-10 months. It’s a terraced house. However, he didn’t serve me notice about the work he was doing to the party wall to me or the neighbour the other side of him. Has he done anything wrong as I thought this was law and that I had to agree with the work being done before he could start?

amp 14/06/2020 at 3:11 pm

Neighbour is building an outbuilding to replace a dilapidated shed which is huge and now dwarfs ours and neighbouring gardens. It appears they have local council permitted development rights but have failed to inform us or any of the neighbours despite walking us through extensively there other plans for loft and rear extensions. Everyone feels hoodwinked and now not sure what rights we have....this is further complicated by the fact that I rent my property out so am reliant upon the tenants advising me of any letters sent to us about the works...need advice as to what my options are

Am 14/06/2020 at 2:53 am

Live in detached house. My neighbour decided to build a wall at front where plot of lawn was shared without a boundary wall built. The wall is built on our side of land, going by house deeds. They also removed a small boundary line we’d put in place which was a 1 layer of bricks making the boundary. We’d initially agreed to the wall when neighbours informed of their initial wall plan. The wall however, was a lot bigger than they made out and consists of pillars too. Could we have a case of getting them to remove this as I want to build a wall of my own within my land?

Nash 06/06/2020 at 12:47 pm

My neighbour has a semi detached property next to my detached property. He wants to build a side extension which will cover all the infill space between two properties (2,5mt x 2,mt x 8 mt.) leaving no gap inbetween two properties, I will lose status of my property and it will become a semi detached . Is this legal under Permitted Development.

Saify 31/05/2020 at 9:19 am

Hi everyone
I need an advice on my neighbour’s conservatory. He was to build the conservatory on the fence, and want to have a window on it through which we will lose our privacy. He is adamant that there are no issues planning permission wise. Thanks

Nick Name 29/05/2020 at 7:03 pm

My neighbour is halfway through building an outbuilding. The ground is higher than ours and this new building is directly against our fence. Currently I can see treetops out of my window which will now be obscured. I’m also worried it will make our garden look worse as our house is currently on the market. I have brought this up and asked how high the building will be, he said just over the fence but I think it will be much higher. Not sure what to do next?

Caz 28/05/2020 at 5:46 am

Hi my family home is a semi detached house and the neighbours next door have a wall between our home and theirs we have a entrance between both houses which when it was a council house they put fencing up at mine to separate both sides but they are extending their garden down to the same length of mine because we are semi detached can they drill into my garden wall at front to make it all one

Becka 25/05/2020 at 1:54 pm

Hi
We are looking to tear down an existing inadequate kitchen bathroom extension and start again. Weirdly the old extension is on next doors house and over their boundaries as agreed years ago? Can we get planning permission to build the new extension where this one has been or will we be laughed out of the planning permission office if we ask to build our extension on the neighbours home?

Becka 25/05/2020 at 1:53 pm

Hi
We are looking to tear down an existing inadequate kitchen bathroom extension and start again. Weirdly the old extension is on next doors house and over their boundaries as agreed years ago? Can we get planning permission to build the new extension where this one has been or will we be laughed out of the planning permission office if we ask to build our extension on the neighbours hone?

Jay 19/05/2020 at 11:31 am

My neighbours built a conservatory that now means from the front of my house I am looking straight into and through their new conservatory due to the giant windows they put in. Its a bit like living in a cramped caravan park now and devalued my home, is there anything you can do if it cannot be resolved amicably? It does not encroach on my land nor is it within 3 meters what it does is take any feeling of privacy from my home. Thanks a mill

Bon 29/04/2020 at 12:31 pm

I live In terraced house.. my neighbour has been drilling last few days.. I noticed he’s drilled into what is the side of my house so he could put up a fabric gazebo.. (So the side of my house is the wall to his yard) But he’s done it at the height of his bedrm window. Just wanted to ask is he allowed to drill into that wall? I was panicking thinking could be damage the wall?

L 14/04/2020 at 6:28 pm

Hi. I live in an end terraced house and my neighbour has put in planning permission to extend to our house. They have confirmed the roof will be connecting to our property and sitting just under our eves. Therefore making our property look like a mid terraced house. Can they do this or can I object? Also will this devalue our house?

Cookie 09/12/2019 at 6:20 pm

My neighbor has just built a granny flat looking right into my patio doors into my living room and looking into my 10 year old daughter bedroom. This was one of my main reasons why I brought this property because it was very private. I am gutted is there anything I can do ?

Mike 25/11/2019 at 8:59 pm

Hi my neighbor has had a rear extension built which I have no problem with but since then we have excessive rainwater coming from under our fence he says it has nothing to with him, i know it has rained a lot recently but I have lived here for over forty years never had anything like this before any suggestions

text 11/11/2019 at 11:11 pm

Why do the response suggest civil action, why is it that residents who
have not done anything have to seek civil action because they are effected
by others? Why is this?

tex 11/11/2019 at 11:06 pm

Sorry it is not correct in the responses as the neighbour to one side of my home who is on higher ground built a outbuilding with internal drainage which is just three paving slabs from the boundary so about 4 foot from the boundary and this outbuilding is 4 m high to the roof ridge, the roof is apex which the roof slants down towards the 4 paving from the boundary and this outbuilding is brick built with double ie inner blocks and is a aprox 5 to 6 m long all done under Lawful development. So my place has had water because the LA sent a photo of where the owner had paved vast area of hard paving with sand and cement under but where it come toward the boundary had dropped area of the paving so near to boundary knowing that the neighbour is lower alongside. The the owner erected shelters with the roof backing into the boundary by cutting out section into the boundary hedge where he has a wooden fence the otherside so the roof of that shelter then slopes towards this way into the hedge.

Also there is not just one outbuilding but many others.

Also that neighbour has at the back in his new upper rear extension a bank of velux windows and a glass roof terrance and glass patio upper doors. This owner was given favourable planning permission the reason was that a old rear single storey extension was to be removed. But hey, it was never removed just built through with the new rear double storey extension which was classed then as a 1 1/2. So then it was said it was not attached to the main dwelling because it was said to be a bbq building. But then the next applied to have the link to the main house so then to have another building and then another building.

Here in this area the neighbour extensions are so vast built out at the back; past the front of the original dwelling; ie one of the neighbour extension is so high and built all the way down the side then out past the front of the original dwelling some aprox 4m and also this extension goes extended also out past the back of the original dwelling; but that is not all. There is then another large upper roof extension over what was a old single storey approx 5m extension, the roof dormers added at the front.

Yasir 14/10/2019 at 7:36 am

My neighbour has put his extension roof slope in my garden when it rain fast all the water comes in my garden can he do that .

Dodger 03/09/2019 at 5:48 pm

My neighbours have built a Pd extension which over shadows my garden and conservatory. Council have said there is nothing I can do. Just need some advice really as to what I can do.

Trish 03/09/2019 at 5:45 pm

My neighbour has built an e tension that over shows my garden and my conservatory. They didn't advise me that they were doing this. As it was PD.The council have said there is nothing I can do.
Is there any thing I can do about this.
Thanks

Babs 27/08/2019 at 7:42 am

Our side of the house passageway between our garden and the front of the house lies between neighbor’s garage wall and our house wall. We both have detached houses. The original passage gate in the front is already using her garage wall for main fixing post, which was built by the main builder from 1978.
We want to construct a UPC canopy above this 20 feet passageway where our 3 garbage bins are placed. This canopy will need to use her exterior garage wall for top fixing, about 4 in numbers.
Can our neighbor object the building of this canopy? Cost of this canopy will be about £1,000 and it will be built by a professional builder.

Bill 02/08/2019 at 9:54 am

My neighbour in a semi detached house reconfigured his house (somehow this passed council building regulations!) and moved his kitchen to the front of the house. His kitchen is now next to our living room and he has placed his washing machine on the party wall between our houses. We now have to listen to his very noisy, room vibrating, washing machine on a two hour spin cycle. It is like it's in the room with us. Council are no help as say it's a party wall civil issue. Neighbour is horrible so probably did this on purpose.

millsybaby 22/06/2019 at 9:31 am

Hi

I was wondering if there is anyone hat could help me out with my question. We have a semi detached house which the previous owners had extended with a loft extension. We have just had a baby and could do with extra space downstairs and would like to have an extension on the back of our house. The extension would be 4m out if we could get planning permission or 3m out if not which I believe does not need planning permission. The only problem is we have spoken to our neighbour next door, (who has had a double extension on the side of his house) and have told him what we would like to do to be neighbourly. He’s said he wants to see the plans and thinks it will be a problem due to light! (We have sun more at the bottom of the gardens not really where the extension would be anyway). I would like to know where we stand with this, I know he could not agree to going 4m out but if we don’t need planning for 3m could we go ahead even if he tries to stop us and say that his light/view is affected? If anyone could help that would be great. Thanks

Lea 22/06/2019 at 2:21 am

Hi
My neighbour owns a large piece of land at the side of my property and a smaller piece to the rear overlooking our back garden.
Along the boundary line is a 2ft high fence with a variety of trees on my neighbours side forming a natural barrier.
At the back of the property we have added 4ft trellis to the top of the fencing to deter our whippet from jumping the fence as the property is on a main road. We now know that they are not prone to leaping heights as is the whippet trait.

The neighbour felled one of his fir trees on the boundary line today and advised us that he was employing a gardener to tell the rest of the trees on the boundary line. He then advised he was intending on removing all fencing panel along our boundary line at the side and back and replacing them with a 6 foot high solid fence.

This would make our small back garden very oppressive.
It may impact light to our side window in a new extension we have just had built
It would cancel any view we would have whilst using our back garden
It would cancel any view from the French doors and patio area outside of the new extension

The neighbour lives 40 minutes away. When asked the reasoning for the height of the fence he replied, because I can

He then said it was for security as he didn't want anyone coming over our side of the property over a 2ft fence onto his land however I pointed out that access could easily be gained via his metal fence on the main road right next to our own front gate.

The concern I have is that we have spent £60000 on a new extension and we are currently revamping the back garden and then will go into lay a new drive and revamp front garden with a seating area where we can see across the fields. The fence will take this away from us

My husband is a retired firefighter and a vulnerable adult who suffers with PTSD symptoms anxiety and depression. He has become agoraphobic so the house and the garden is his safe haven but he will feel suffocated with very high fencing around the boundary because the rear garden is small.

Is there anything we can do? The deeds are silent to the boundary affected. They show we are responsible for the left side and front boundary if we were stood at the front of our property looking out to the road.

Regards
Lea

Sadlee 18/06/2019 at 7:53 pm

Terraced house with covered alley way between the two houses. Neighbour extended hse so to the left of me is blank wall until on sat installed on wall 3 air con units one of the fans near my bedroom window .I told them they were unsightly and poss noisey when turned he has refused to move them to the back of his hse or to lower them down the wall contacted building regs and they have passed to planning . I dont know what to do next or if I have any rights . They are unsightly and intrusive will it affect the value of my home . We have never complained about anything in the past to our neighbours

Floss 31/05/2019 at 6:44 am

We have a shared drive between six people using it for their garages, now on one side an outside toilet has been built making the drive look awful it is not in keeping with the brick built house but is covered in cladding, after having my house valued was horrified to find out that it devalued my house because of the appearance of it ! Can I do any thing ?

deea 12/02/2019 at 4:19 am

hii
our neighbours and previous owners both have done extension along party wall by mutual agreement. they have felt roof on their extension, ours is a glass conservatory. We moved in about 2 yrs ago. our conservatory roof is now leaking and the leak turns to waterfall during heavy rains. we need to replace the roof, we r planning to get fiberglass roof with skylights. for this we need to build a wall along party wall - along our neighbours extension to rest beams om which the new roof will pitch. building control have given their approval but our neighbour is objecting big time. his main issue is we shouldnt touch his roof. to do so, we have to build our side of wall seperatly. about half a foot inside our boundary line whilst our neighbours extension sits bang on party wall. i m soo annoyed i have to loose almost a foot along the length of our existing conservatory just to please our neighbours. i m not too keen to do that. what r my legal rights and other options

Mohammed 01/02/2019 at 4:04 pm

My neighbour has been converting her basement for residential purposes. I understand no planning permission is required.

The problem is that the work has been going on for over five years - on and off. It starts without warning from early morning to evening. The hammering, drilling and sound and vibration and smell aside there is the dust and filth and mice and cockroaches this forces into our house.

Then, all of a sudden, the work stops for weeks and months. It starts all of a sudden and this length of work is affecting our health. Can we do anything?

boo 20/08/2018 at 7:25 pm

Hello, our neighbours have a bungalow and without saying anything to us under ? permitted development as no planning application have built an aprox 45/50 foot extension for their 40 year old son, girlfriend, kids and dog with seems like hidden front door which has been ,ade to look like shed behind security gate separate front door, separate kitchen and separate bathroom. They are noisy, inconsiderate and selfish and now we cant use our garden due to noise etc. Now we have been made to feel like we don't want to live here and has caused us untold stress and thinking of moving. What can we do and is this right? Have called planning enforcement at council and they say under PD could be! Initially they had 6 foor extension which we thought with the noise they were pulling down and rebuilding but had lots coverage with trees etc. They are very sneaky and when approached woman had cheek to say she didnt know what was going on! Before you know it son and family installed in there! dont know where we stand as council don't inspire hope!

Worried 14/07/2018 at 6:48 pm

My neighbour is doing a loft conversion that doesn't require planning permission, as it is within the restrictions on extra size and not being above chimney height. However, it will most definitely block the light to my bathroom and spare bedroom, and means i won't get sun on the bottom of the little garden I have. I also already get a lot of noise through the walls and floors (3 young children), and am really concerned about added noise from floors above/at the side of my bedroom. However, as it isn't going through a formal planning application, I don't know how I can put my objections forward (other than just a conversation - which they will clearly not do anything about, as they have already told me the extension won't affect me at all and is 'no big deal'). Is there any way I can raise objections to a third party? They have also brought the papers round for me to sign under the party wall act, and were very abrupt when I asked to see plans - although have since shared them. I am thinking of asking for a survey to come round before signing the party wall . Advice welcome. I am really worried about it.

Good Neighbour 14/07/2018 at 11:36 am

Our neighbour came in this morning to tell us they are having a roof extension. The roof is going to add another storey to their townhouse of three floors in a row of 6 1965's townhouses. They are going to be the only one having this roof extension and also having their house ground floor extended by 2.5 metres in a 9.1 metres garden. This is going to affect us a lot as we'll lose our light in our garden. All the gardens in this row of townhouses are south facing. The whole work in the house will affect us as they are going to have internal staircase put in to the roof extension, made their garage which is at the front of their house into another bedroom. The extended ground floor two bedrooms will be made into a massive kitchen and dining room. They already have five bedrooms with a family of four (two adult and two young kids). Both my partner and I work mostly at home. These neighbours are planning to move out for 6 months and we will be here to endure all the disturbance. Part of our garden will be ruined as the extension will be on the party walls. How can we object to this? Please help us.

Clumsy 05/07/2018 at 3:25 pm

My neighbour applied last year for planning permission to build a double former on his home which is adjacent to mine he gained permission from the council but do they have to do anything else regarding our property As we have heard nothing else about the build since permission was granted until this morning when he spoke to my husband and said work would start today is there anything else he should have done before this

ProblemNeighbours Editor 04/07/2018 at 12:26 pm

This is something you will need to resolve via the civil courts/legal system really if you can't manage to come to an agreement with your neighbour. If you think the extension needed planning permission - give your planning department a call and report it.

littlelegs 03/07/2018 at 12:28 pm

Our neighbour replaced her extension with a slightly higher 1.This extension now sits above our felt line on our bricked utility building.Since her son carried this new work out on her extension our roof has leaked and now has got to a point where our roof needs replacing.Here lies the problem due to her extension sitting above our felt edge our roofer cannot gain access to all the old felt and to carry out the replacement roof.Also it appears she has fastened her roof support beam along our fascia board which our roof joist runs along.We've asked our neighbour to remove her roof support brackets off our fascia and to also take a panel off her roof so we can get to our own roof but she is now avoiding contact with us.Her son previously told us he had cut some of our felt to he could fit his mothers extension roof.We do not want him to do the same to our planned new roof incase this is what is causing the leaking.Her extension has had no planning permission.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 29/06/2018 at 2:50 pm

We don't really know the answer to this as we can't picture the extension from your description. Talk to them abojut it and ask what will happen to your air brick as a starter.

Summer 27/06/2018 at 9:11 pm

Hi ,please can you help I live in a link detached property with my neighbours bathroom joining on to one of my bedrooms,they have started to brick up both ends of ther diveway intending to make underneath there bathroom in to a room actually adjoining the new room to the wall witch is on the other said of my livening room do they need planning permission to do this.we have an air brick witch currently Leeds on to ther drive.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 20/06/2018 at 2:53 pm

Once the planning permission has been granted it's difficult to get anything done about it but talk to the planning officer and ask. You don't actually have any right to a view and it's not often a reason for a planning refusal.

Hamsy 16/06/2018 at 8:55 pm

My Neighbour is a councillor and he has been granted permission of more than a 40% percent extension on his property stating there will be 3 disabled people living there. The extension has blocked a view of trees and open filed I had for 30 years is there anythi g I can do. I did o next to the planning but they wrote to five houses and the other neighbours did not understand the paperwork.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 14/05/2018 at 2:19 pm

Talk to the council first of all...they may be able to take action against their tenant as she her actions may have been in contravention of a tenancy agreement. They may be able to rectify the problem and re-charge the tenant. If not, you may need to think about taking legal action in the civil courts.

Kirby 14/05/2018 at 12:33 pm

Hi my neighbour rents her property from the council and mine is owned by me. Yesterday while I was at work she drilled into my flat roof securing a large canopy that goes all the way across to her outhouse. I’m afraid this may in time pull the metal (that she has drilled into) and part of my roof off if it gets windy.
Help!!! What action can I take ?
Thanks

ProblemNeighbours Editor 08/05/2018 at 11:13 am

If it's only 6 ft high, it's likely there isn't much you can do about this as the general planning rule for rear fence height is 2m. As for outbuildings planning rules state that they are permitted as long as their maximum height is 2.5 metres in the case of a buildings, enclosures or containers within two metres of a boundary of the curtilage of the dwellinghouse. It's also worth checking with your planning permission to see whether there are any locally imposed rules about keeping chickens in your area.

Haitch 05/05/2018 at 5:04 pm

My neighbour built a chicken coop out of 6ft trellis panels right against our boundary - we didn’t have any objection at the time as it was trellis so light could pass through. They’ve now added a corrugated bitumen roof which it turns out, blocks the sunlight into our garden from late afternoon into the evening - exactly when we’d be using it during the summer. They didn’t ask if we objected, nor did they check whether it would be to our detriment. I approached them quite reasonably & said we weren’t happy & she was pretty obnoxious in response. What can we do if they won’t talk civilly to us - Is there any further action we can take? The roof has been on less than a week - we mentioned the problem as soon as we saw it. Any advice gratefully received!

Kate 27/04/2018 at 10:44 am

We are about to start a loft conversion on our terraced top floor flat. Our neighbour who adjoins our party wall has objected to us walking on her roof as she has just had the roof re-tiled. We have explained that the builders will need to in order to build up the party wall and have explained (in writing also) that the builders insurance will cover any damage that happens as a result of them walking on the roof. However, she is still saying we cannot walk on her roof at all.

Can you advise if we legally need her consent to walk on her roof? Or if she has to allow us to as it is essential to the works? as long as we repair any damage?

Thank you

Was 22/04/2018 at 1:05 pm

We live in a link detached for which we are joined by a bedroom/bathroom to next door.
This is a drive that we intend to build under the bathroom & bedroom.
This will be joined onto next doors wall.

Julie 14/04/2018 at 2:28 pm

My neighbour has just informed me that he intends to take the adjoining hedge down between our properties and build a conservatory..my fear is I will lose all light to my lounge and outside patio area and will be looking at a brick wall as my view. What can I do?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 10/04/2018 at 11:39 am

Does he have an alternative? Are you referring to a gas pipe or drain pipe? Sorry it's not clear. As for the velux, talk to your local planning department, they will tell you if there is anything that can be done.

Nick 09/04/2018 at 11:35 am

Hi, I m mid terrace and my neighbour wants to put a velux window in his single storey extension at the back. Betwen his extension and my house i have a terrace and also the velux window will face my back bedroom window.
He also has his gas meter on his wall but on my terrace and he wants to run the pipe up the wall which is not nice for me to see on my terrace. He has no easement for the gas meter there. Can i stop him build that window and run the pipe up the wall?
Many thanks
Nick

Flossy 07/04/2018 at 1:02 am

My neighbour has erected a fence on our boundary wall without planning permission or without informing us. The fence has been built over his downspout drain which is now blocked. It can’t be unblocked as the fence is on top of drain cover. Consequently the water is now running onto my property and down side of my house. It’s turning my bricks all green. I’m terrified I’ll get damp. I’ve asked neighbours to un block it but they have refused. I’ve contacted council who say legally they can’t get involved. However the council have asked my neighbour to apply for retrospective planning permission for said fence. My question is if I object to this stating the fence is causing possible dampness to my property as a consequence of fence being built on top of downspout drain do I have any chance of any success.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 04/04/2018 at 3:37 pm

Sorry there is not enough information here, please give more detail about the proximity of your neighbour, where their waste/sewer pipe is etc

Mang 04/04/2018 at 2:23 am

My neighbour constructing toilet near kitchen can I take objection

Mange 04/04/2018 at 2:21 am

My neighbour is erecting toilet near our kitchen in our village. Can I take objection?

Flossy 27/03/2018 at 6:19 pm

grid - 20-Mar-18 @ 1:10 PM
My neighbour has erected a fence on our boundary wall without planning permission or without informing us. The fence has been built over his downspout drain which is now blocked. It can’t be unblocked as the fence is on top of drain cover. Consequently the water is now running onto my property and down side of my house. It’s turning my bricks all green. I’m terrified I’ll get damp. I’ve asked neighbours to un block it but they have refused. I’ve contacted council who say legally they can’t get involved. However the council have asked my neighbour to apply for retrospective planning permission for said fence. My question is if I object to this stating the fence is causing possible dampness to my property as a consequence of fence being built on top of downspout drain do I have any chance of any success.
Flossy - 7-Mar-18 @ 12:15 PM

ProblemNeighbours Editor 23/03/2018 at 11:33 am

What has the council has you to object/support to? Has a planning application been submitted?

Sigrid 20/03/2018 at 1:10 pm

I live in rural area, in Cornwall. One side of my house is the road , the other is my garden and neighbours fields. Neighbours house is about 50 yards from my house at the side of the one of the fields they own, they are owners of 4 fields. Now on the field at the side of my garden they have started to use agricultural land for car parking area, they have started to remove the soil and also started to add the hardcore, noise is overwhelming. Cars , about 50 , in total are parked on the fields already, they are scrap cars. Our neighbour has few fields at the side of his house where he could keep all these cars, but he has gone for the field which does not interfere with the view from his house. We know, that he is only concealing it as a car park for a few months, and then he will start building houses in there. I have received a letter from council about objection/support , but I don't know what to write to council. My neighbour did some groundwork on his field without any permissions, obviously now he has told council (about the cars, but not his true intentions of a housing estate) When they where removing the soil my whole house was vibrating , it was unbearable, plus they never warned us of what was happening.

Flossy 07/03/2018 at 12:15 pm

My neighbour has erected a fence on our boundary wall without planning permission or without informing us.
The fence has been built over his downspout drain which is now blocked. It can’t be unblocked as the fence is on top of drain cover.
Consequently the water is now running onto my property and down side of my house. It’s turning my bricks all green. I’m terrified I’ll get damp. I’ve asked neighbours to un block it but they have refused. I’ve contacted council who say legally they can’t get involved. However the council have asked my neighbour to apply for retrospective planning permission for said fence.
My question is if I object to this stating the fence is causing possible dampness to my property as a consequence of fence being built on top of downspout drain do I have any chance of any success.

Andrea 23/02/2018 at 10:05 pm

My neighbour has done a loft conversion without the need for planning permission, the changes made are not what we were told and he has built the side of house up and the back roof is now flat, original roof was 3 sided all apex, this alteration has made my stairway dark all day now and my patio area has lost all late adternoon/eve sun, what are our rights, we raised concerns with council yet nothing has happened yet but roof now finished

smiley 07/02/2018 at 9:47 pm

My neighbours have just dropped in a party wall notice. I noticed a crack appeared in the wall after he was doing some drilling a few weeks ago, which had thought about raising with them, but after my past experience I decided it would be easier to fill when redecorating than cope with a discussion with them. When they moved in originally they employed builders who put scaffolding on my extension roof without asking.. the first thing I knew was the noise of above from my kitchen. Their builder shouted at me for stopping the workmen, two of them with jackhammers from working with most of the weight and vibration directed onto my roof. The neighbours also tried shouting at me and denying they had damaged the roof. It took months to get them to pay for a roofer to repair damaged tiles and render under the tiles. I am concerned that if anything goes wrong with this new build, they will be have as badly. I don't need the stress, I don't want to have to talk to them, as I know they be likely to be unreasonable. I am also going be seriously disrupted by building work noise, as I work from home. What can I do?

Dropski 03/02/2018 at 2:54 pm

Our neighbours have erected scaffolding to build a doorma loft extension however they also erected an extra bit of scaffolding 1 week later that is attached to the main scaffolding but overhangs our property over the back door and blocks our sons bedroom window. This causes me great concern because
1. They are using it to gain access to our roof and are using our roof as an platform for their builders to walk and work from.
2. Debri is falling down and we can’t go out in case we are hit.
2. Our gutter is being filled with debri.
3. We have no way of knowing if they damaged our roof.

We told them to get off the roof and remove the scaffolding on our property but they said no.

Can I do anything ?

If we can will it be too late after the scaffolding is taken down.

They also carry out building work past 10pm at night and they know we have a very young child at home

Kirstie Elliott 17/01/2018 at 7:30 am

We Already have a doormat in the roof which extends full width to the party wall,
Our next door neighbour would like to also put a dormer in the roof and attach to our Existing dormer and remove all hanging tiles fascia flashing guttering et cetera from the adjoining side. Are they allowed to do this?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 08/01/2018 at 11:19 am

Privacy can some times lead to an application being refused, but often the planning committee might agree to impose conditions to alleviate the issue instead. There are various reasons for refusing an application but if you want to object, you need to come up with several valid reasons; do some research (look at your local design statement, development plan etc) and use reasons relevant rather than making it personal. Some ideas are:
Development is not in keeping with the local design statement/local area
Is on green belt land (check this etc) / contravenes council policies to protect wildlife, environment etc
Lack of necessary transport infractructure (access to and from development)br>
Removes vital "green space" from your town
Safety issues
Destroys woodland/protected trees
etc

LL 05/01/2018 at 10:09 am

Hi, our house has a fair bit of open space around the back garden, and a housing company are now about to build on one of the fields to the side. I have requested a plan of the proposed site which they kindly supplied. It shows two houses are to be built with their back gardens backing onto the side of our garden. This means that our once totally secluded and private rear garden is now going to be 100% in view of the two new properties. They haven't broke ground yet on the field, so my question is do I have any rights to ask them to alter their plans so my privacy is not affected? Thank you.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 03/01/2018 at 12:28 pm

In theory this might mean yours would become a terrace. De-valuation of a neighbouring property is not necessarily a reason to refuse planning permission, so be sure to include other reasons, such as not in keeping with the rest of the properties in the road, additional parking/traffic reasons etc, when you raise your objection.

Jane 30/12/2017 at 5:24 pm

I live a semi-detached house, my neighbour has built a side extension which his son lives in and has just put in for planning to change this to a self contained dwelling..separating the garden.My question Is, does this mean mine will be classed as a terrace and how will this affect the value of my property. Can I oppose the application if the value of my property will be affected?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 04/12/2017 at 11:14 am

There isn't much you can do really except try and get the work completed as quickly as possible. Hopefully you aren't doing any of this work in the evening/night time or really early in the morning? It's unlikely that any legal action would be successful in the case of noise from temporary building work.

Suze 03/12/2017 at 6:53 am

I am having a loft conversion done my neighbour who rents his property next door is complaining about the noise. His landlord has threatened me with solicitors because the neighbour is saying he will not pay landlord rent while work is going ahead and that I will need to pay him the rent..!! the neighbour has a disabled child which I have been considerate to give some quieter time in the day when the child needs to sleep but my neighbour is trying to dictate when my builder starts work I am losing 2and a half hours a day because of this, we have signed permission from both neighbours one either side for party wall and neighbour on other side has no complaints what can I do ?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 27/11/2017 at 2:33 pm

Speak to your local planning officers about this, they may be able to take action if he has breached any rules.

Chuckymeg 25/11/2017 at 12:04 pm

My neibour has had a concervatory built ,says he doesent need building regs because its built on original base as previous one ,but new concervatory is a lot bigger is this so ,also its so big i am no longer able to get in between to clean my concervatory side windows .

juggling jenny 23/11/2017 at 8:10 pm

my new neighbour who abuts our border has constructed a huge outbuilding/garden room. It is about 30sq mtrs, and covers half of his garden. He is a builder by trade and has built using Permitted Development Rights. Hence he has carefully built 2 mtrs from ours and other neighbours borders, allowing him to build up to 4 mtrs high. Problem is: our land is at least a metre lower than his. Plus, he has imported in soil to build up his true garden ground level and disguise the true height of the concrete foundations that sit above his land normal level. The PDR rules measure the height of the structure to ground level. From all of our rear window perspectives, the construction appears more than ten foot over our normal 6ft fence height. this might be within DPR rules but certainly not within the spirit of it! It feels like a 2 storey house has been built at the bottom of our garden. What can we do?

Henderson 04/11/2017 at 12:09 pm

I live I a semi-detached house, my neighbour has built a side extension which his son lives in and has just put in for planning to change this to a self contained dwelling. My question Is, does this mean mine will be classed as a terrace and how will this affect the value of my property?

Adam 25/10/2017 at 11:29 pm

Hi
I live on the ground floor of a house converted into 4 flats. The flat above me want to extend there Loft by dormer extension on the back side and on the front roof lights. My flat is the only 1 of the 4 flats which is 2 bed and the rest of the 3 flats are 1 bed. With this extension they are extending their flat space and this will increase the occupancy of the flat above. As more people will live in the property it will impact the common hallway, start case. I have received a letter from the council for this planning permission. I am not sure if I have the right to object and on what grounds.
Can anyone advice.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 03/08/2017 at 10:34 am

You should contact your planning department to check, but yes usually a loft conversion (within a certain size) with a rear dormer window, will fall within permitted development.

Cazzy 31/07/2017 at 6:57 pm

I live in house backing on to my neighhour who is putting up a loft conversion dorme type. I am annoyed as the window of the dormer will overlook directly my kitchen and bathroom and garden and part of the kitchen . There isn't anything I can do I don't think ? These laws permission no permission for dormers is ridiculous ??

Beanyjeany 07/06/2017 at 7:34 pm

We live in a detached property. Our neighbours house is at right angles to ours, at the bottom of our garden. They are having a dormer loft conversion, the windows of which are overlooking our garden. I have been to the local council today, and apparently they do not need planning permission, but do need building regs, which they have, the only stipulations are that the windows are glazed with obscuring/frosted glass, and that the openers are a minimum of 1.7m from the floor of the conversion. I am guttted! It will increase the value of their property, but ours will be reduced.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 17/02/2017 at 12:23 pm

Of course you can. As long as it's not after 11pm at night or really early in the morning, your neighbours should not have cause to complete (although from the sounds of things, they'll probably do so anyway).

Mary 16/02/2017 at 10:35 am

I live in a Victorian semi - my immediate neighbours have taken a huge dislike to me and I can only assume it's because I take care of my house, had the outside painted, cleaned up the garden etc, since moving in 4 years ago. I am a widow, my son lives with me and is out at work all day so the house is a very quiet one. Despite this these neighbours continually harass and threaten me saying I have done something to my house to make it deliberately noisy. My question is do I have to tell them that I am getting a carpenter in to put new skirtings boards and cornice up in the one bedroom that is without its original features - it isn't carpeted and I want to get that done so that I can sell up and move away. I know they will give me and any workmen they see here such a hard time. They literally scream abuse at me - I just need to know my rights.

PERPETUA 06/02/2017 at 9:41 pm

Hello. We have a one bedroom loft conversion in a semi-detached house. However our neighbour has been given permission by the council to build a 2 bedroom and office (thus 3 rooms) loft conversion which will be much bigger than our and will therefore block out most of our sunlight as the conversion will cover the entire length of the whole back part of the house. Question:

Q1) Is there any point of law to dispute regarding sunlight?
Q2) Under the Party Wall Act, he has not given us any agreement. I understand that he has to at least 2 months before work commences. But scaffolding is already up! Could we imposed for planned works to stop until he gives us the agreement and we read it? Also how long do we have to read it before signing and returning it?
Q3) If the agreement involves a surveyor can we appoint our own independent surveyor, or is one imposed on us from his building company.
Q4) These houses were originally designed as 3 bedroom houses, but his will become an 8 bedroom house putting pressure on street parking. Is there any point to go on from here?

Grateful for advice.

Perpetua

Warren 29/12/2016 at 7:01 pm

I moved into my house a few months ago and just recently one of the neighbours has removed their garden wall exposing their house to mine and now they look right into my garden and conservatory, is there anything I can do about this?

Addy 27/12/2016 at 12:13 am

I live in a detached bungalow. My new neighbours applied for planning permission for a front porch, a side extension and permitted developement for an extension at the rear of 8 meters. He then informed me that he is also doing a dormer without planning permission. He has gone ahead with all of these extensions the latter one is enormous although it is 35 cubic feet, it is overshadowing my property and completely taken away my privacy in my garden. My bedroom, bathroom and kitchen can now be looked into from the side windows. The building is approx 3 meters from the boundary and 4 meters from my windows. I contacted the council and the total roof space combined is 75 cubic feet, permitted developement is 50 cubic feet. The council have written to him and asked him to remove the dormers. He obviously does not want to do this and to be honest I would not expect him too. I just want him to put obscure glass in the windows of which I have issues with. He is not prepared to do this he has insisted that the window overlooking my garden will remain clear glass and that he will be altering the extension at the side of my property to stop him having to apply for full planning for the dormer. By it being a permitted developement means that I cannot object to the window which is my aim. Can he alter the property that is already built and make alterations to accommodate a permitted development once planning has been granted without going back to planning? The dormer has 8 windows and 3 roof lights. I am not being unreasonable by wanting my privacy to which I should be entitled to under the human rights act article 8. He has flouted the permitted development rights but I am being blamed for raising an objection to the windows which he states that the enforcement team would not have come round if I had not raised the issue. I must add that he has not built the extensions in accordance to the plans which were originally submitted.

jack 03/12/2016 at 4:45 pm

I have been trying to get a surveyor or professional to give a statement or report of the problems I have experience with the neighbour mass of buildings and it seems there is no plan or where the surface water is to be taken to. So in fact my place as I am lower in ground level is being used for this person in direction his water to run down to the edge, or corners knowing that it will come this way. The problem I have had although I have had surveyor and very professional people, they come here and see and take photos the see evidence and yet I asked have information but then I don't hear anything more. The last told me they were in it for the long haul, but that was 5 months ago and still nothing. Can anyone suggest what I can do to get this report or statement of truth?

Thank you
Jack

ProblemNeighbours Editor 23/11/2016 at 10:01 am

Privately owned flats within buildings are usually owned "leasehold". Assuming you own the leasehold of the flat, you own the "demised premised" which means everything within the walls of the flat, including floorboards, internals of walls/ceilings etc It doesn't usually include the external walls or structure. The mains structure and the land are owned by the freeholder, who is often responsible for the maintenance and repair of the building. You should therefore contact the freeholder for advice on the issue with your neighbour's structure.

Jen 22/11/2016 at 10:29 am

I live in a 1st floor flat of a converted house my neighbour in the ground floor flat underneath me is having his conservatory replaced, the roof of the old one was only 10 inches underneath my windowsill, so quite clearly was in my floor space.
The new one is in the process of going up is the pitch of the roof of this one going to again be in my floor space and I can open my window and touch the roof?
Legally how high can the roof be? I have tried searching and all it tells me is about when people are putting up a conservatory on their home when they own the whole house. Help please

ProblemNeighbours Editor 17/11/2016 at 2:21 pm

Unless there are local planning laws preventing this (the construction of the driveway and/or parking commercial vehicles), unfortunately there isn't much you can do about this.

Nicola 16/11/2016 at 6:50 pm

Hi. We own a semi-detached property in a row of 6 in a rural setting. The adjoining property has recently been rented out to a builder who proceeded last weekend to rip up the front garden to form a new driveway which to our horror is now housing a giant mercedes sprint van. It is visible from our bedroom, sitting room and obscures the view from our garden (was green fields and neighbours gardens before). Is there anything we can do? We plan to attempt to politely ask them to move it, but, we know that the landlord let the builder move in on the premise that he put in a new bathroom for them (for nothing) if they let him do the drive so he had somewhere to put his van. Help?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 14/11/2016 at 11:15 am

You may need to get a court order or solicitor's letter if the neighbour/builder will not voluntarily agree to this. You insurance company might be able to help too, especially if water is coming in and potentially damaging your property.

Tony 12/11/2016 at 11:33 am

My neighbours having a loft conversion; day 1 the scaffolders parked on my drive completely blocking it and preventing my wife from parking. When I got home I asked them to move the truck - it ended with them threatening my son and the Police were called.
We now have water pouring through OUR roof as they have taken the roof tiles off - now reason as to why as the building works don't go anywhere near this area.

Can I stop this work until such time as we meet up, sort out standards and ideally see if any repairs need doing to our house?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 09/11/2016 at 10:23 am

We can't give individual advice on things like this as we don't have access to your full details, plot size etc. You need to consult a planning officer, who will be able to advise you whether or not to submit a planning application.

kmz125 08/11/2016 at 4:54 am

I own a semidetached bungalow, we got permission to build 6m rear extension and after extension we left with 3m rear area from the our rear boundary fence (we got very large side garden approx 22*14=308 sq meter). Now after looking into Permitted Development rules my builder suggested that we are fully entitle to build a garden room with maximum height of 2.5m and it will be within about 27-30 sq meter. which will be like a long room by leaving a walkway to separate it from our main house by approx 0.8m. Now he suggested we can cover that 800cm by using glass roofs again height will be remain as 2.5m plus its excess will remain from outside can take off the wall and it will increase more space. It will be no excess from inside the house. Can someone advise if it is right as I do not wanted to go through planning permission thing, wanted to keep it maximum height of 2.5 m plus make sure it should not be more than 30sq meter. Many thanks

ProblemNeighbours Editor 24/10/2016 at 12:42 pm

Yes it's likely that this kind of development will need permission. Your local planning officer will be able to tell you this before you go ahead so you can factor in the additional expense of the application if needed.

Daz 22/10/2016 at 3:27 pm

I have a 4 bed detached house with a detached double garage on a corner plot fairly large garden. I would like to convert the garage in to a granny annex with a small extension to the back of it for kitchen/shower room or add a small conservatory for living room for my parents. Is this possible would I require planning permission?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 20/10/2016 at 1:58 pm

Check with your local planning department to see whether the buider is complying with their planning permission. We assume you either (a) knew about the potential new house when you bought yours or (b) were consulted about it as a neighbour when planning permission was sought.

kelly wraith 19/10/2016 at 1:15 am

Can I build a house in my front garden
My front garden faces a main road??

Leth 18/10/2016 at 5:58 pm

We are a new home owner for almost two months. Our builder is building a house next to ours, our problem is the window is facing exactly to our window (same size ) and also very close to us about 10-12ft. Do I have the right to complain cause we don't have a privacy anymore every time I open the blinds?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 06/10/2016 at 2:44 pm

5 metres sounds like a reasonable distance? If, as you say the extension roof is in your garden space, then this is trespass and you can ask them to remove it. If not, then talk to them about the solar panels (they sometimes require planning permission) and see whether they will really dazzle you, it's not a comlpaint we've come across before.

Anne 05/10/2016 at 9:47 am

I live in a detached bungalow, my nearest neighbour, our side passages adjoin and bathroom Windows face each other, have had an extension which is fine but it has brought their roof further into my garden space. I have no problem with this but now they are measuring up to put solar panels on the roof facing me. My back door is on the side facing their roof which is approx 5metres away? Apart from looking awful can I complain? I am going to be constantly dazzled I fear. Anne

LoveMyNeighbours Editor 22/09/2016 at 12:49 pm

@jbx - this strikes me as a very snobbish attitude. Are you suggested all retired people should live together, families elswhere and I supposed single or young couples would fall into another category? I am a pensioner and live next door to a converted bungalow, I love having a family next door, they are very kind and the children pop round with things they've made at school for me. That's what communities should be about.

jbx 20/09/2016 at 4:35 pm

We are in a nice quiet semi detached bungalow, the area has mostly single older folk or couples living there. The gentleman next door died in January and his family were going to sell his home, bearing in mind that bungalows are much sought after, so the Estate Agents tell us. However, it has been the family's decision to let the grandaughter and her family have the property. They have two small children, and did own a house. They wanted to have their children go to a better school than they would have normally gone to had they stayed where they were. Under the current permitted development laws for planning, there has not been a requirement to have planning permission, nor for us neighbours either side to see any plans. The neighbour who is semi-detached with this property has had noise of banging and drilling, evenings and weekends, etc until she has been quite ill. We are the other side and can confirm this. However, we went away for 4 weeks in August and came back to the most incongruous and overbearing loft extension ! They are on higher ground than us by about a metre, also set back about the same amount, so the resulting extension is very overpowering, it has two bedrooms and there is a bathroom at the front plus the staircase. We have no money to move away, we came here to have a quiet life where there was no likelihood of someone moving in and building on, they are only two bedroomed bungalows. We face houses where families live, and everyone agrees that the houses are going for less than the bungalows. We also have some new builds less than a mile away, which would have been perfect for such a family, there is help to buy also. All the neighbours are horrified by this extention, but we all are aware that we have no say, due to the planning laws. When will the Government and local Councils stop this trashing of perfectly good properties ? Why on earth purchase a bungalow if you want a house ? It is not as if there aren't any houses in the area for sale, either pre-owned or new build, which would be within their price range. Apparently they would have liked their children to go to the local primary school, but have not been able to get the eldest one in, and the baby also has to go to the alternative school in the nursery. I might add that the new build houses are right next to the school they have had to go to. We as a community are so upset, please will the Government look again at it's Planning Policies, regarding semi detached bungalows and loft conversions, it is blighting many peoples lives and retirements !

Sissy 16/09/2016 at 6:30 pm

After moving into our house we found that our bedroom sits above a kitchen in the adjoining semi detached cottage. It wasn't declared as a floating freehold in the legal documentation and only became apparent when we moved in. Up until recently it has been rented but our future neighbour plans to redevelop the cottage by extending it. In order to extend the back of the cottage he would need to build part way up the shared roof. With the changes in law reducing the restrictions on party wall development etc, would I be able to object to any development which impacts upon the roof on the basis of having a window there and also the potential instability to our own part of the roof. If extended the lower part of the house would then also run parallel to my own extension affecting a party wall issue. The original structure is largely timber framed and therefore the issues for us are noise and impact upon the structure and maintenance of our property if they extend as I anticipate. Any advice would be much appreciated.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 12/09/2016 at 10:41 am

You can refuse, if you do so the neighbour may consider taking it to the courts, where a decision will be made depending on whether the work is considered "essential" maintenance.

Boss 09/09/2016 at 5:30 pm

Can you erect a pvc conservatory in the middle of a garden.

Joan 09/09/2016 at 1:40 pm

Hi, Our neighbours started extension work a year ago. It did not require planning permission but they showed us the plans and asked us to sign a party wall agreement, which we did because we felt that we had no choice. However, we were concerned from the outset that they were proposing to build right up to the boundary, leaving no room for the overhanging roof and guttering and so we added a clause to address our concern. As part of the job, the neighbours, who had built on their drive, paved the front of their house. They removed a fence and replaced it with a brick wall, one brick deep. They took up part of drive, and because there was a manhole on their drive they needed to avoid. they built the wall so that it is partly on our drive (I would say 4 inches). As anticipated, their builder has now confirmed that there will be an overhang onto our property, even using the new wall as a measure. (We have other issues with these neighbours. As soon as we had signed the party wall consent, they waited until we went away for the weekend then built a tree house that overlooks our garden (the platform is higher than the fence, but we are two foot lower than them so it looks far higher). I complained and told them totally unacceptable, but did not take action as they promises that they would build a fence. They have not done so. The fence separating our properties is totally delapidated but they will not repair and they cannot afford to, new car, new extension, new luxury kitchen, holiday abroad.) We are not keen to get involved in a dispute but all trust has now gone. They need access to our property to finish the extension. Are we within our rights to refuse this?

Topher 17/08/2016 at 3:12 pm

I live in a terraced cottage and intend of building a 3 x 3.6 m conservatory. Do I need a party wall agreement as the conservatory will not be attached to adjacent property? There is no wall or structure dividing the gardens, there are no walls dividing the six terraced houses.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 17/08/2016 at 1:42 pm

If are directly affected by this speak first to the planning department and ask why you were not consulted. Then make a complaint via your councillor.

PrivacyGone 16/08/2016 at 8:56 pm

I have a neighbor in the next street and our houses & gardens are back to back. They have started a huge loft conversion with a box dormer that now towers over my property and garden. We have lost our privacy and are totally overlooked.
Even though they submitted a planning application that was approved there was no neighbor consultation. I believe that it does not comply with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act and despite complaining the the council planning office, they are not interested.
Is there anyway we can stop the work on grounds that we no longer have any privacy in our home or garden? Its extremely distressing that we cannot open any of blinds and feel like prisoners in our own home.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 08/08/2016 at 10:43 am

Yes you should get your neighbours to put some pressure on as well. Give them a week to finish the work and tidy up and say you are happy to claim compensation through the courts for the inconvenience if they do not.

Bee 07/08/2016 at 6:58 am

We live in a staggered terrace and the render on our neighbours wall started falling off into our garden right outside our kitchen door. Due to being a danger we asked neighbours to repair it ASAP and had to stay out of the garden due to fear of render falling on me or my children. Repair required scaffolding over half our patio right outside our back door, which we duly gave permission for and understood through neighbourly agreement that the work would take just a couple of weeks.

It took from March to June just to erect scaffolding and now another 7 weeks on builders still not finished and want another two weeks. All this time we have had no access to the garden and with two small children in the middle of a city this has been an ongoing nightmare for us.

We want the builders out now. The garden is a building site and we want our summer holidays in the garden back. How can we get them out? Can we tell them to be out by the end of the week? We have been more than reasonable with time and access and can't trust that in another two weeks this will be finished...

I am at my wits end. We haven't had a garden for over 5 months now due to neighbour repairs! What can we do?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 01/08/2016 at 11:49 am

If the work is likely to affect your roof then yes they should have informed you via a party wall notice.

Cateb 31/07/2016 at 2:28 pm

I have come home from work to find my adjoining neighbour having scaffolding put up, they have never advised me of this.
We asked the scaffolder what it was for and he advised a new roof. We live in a semi-detached dorma bungalow with a shared chimney stack and adjoining roofs. Should I be concerned and should they of at least informed me of any work being done ?
Thanks

Confused2510 26/07/2016 at 9:05 pm

We live in a mid terraced and our next door neighbour wishes to put a conservatory on the front of the house, obscuring the beautiful views we bought our house for. The
Conservatory will be approximately 3.5m in length and 3m in width, right on our boundary. Will they need planning permission and is it likely to be granted given it is on the front of a property, although a good distance from the road? Thank you!
A very concerned and confused neighbour.

Jane 13/07/2016 at 1:36 pm

(UK based). My neighbour has built a shed and the roof overhangs our shared fence into our garden. Rain water pours off the roof and causes flooding at the side of our house. She has repeatedly been asked to make alterations and remove the overhang for 18 months which has now resulted in a dispute. She refuses to do so. We have now given her 1 month's notice that we will carry out the work ourselves unless she does it beforehand. I would appreciate any advice.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 04/07/2016 at 1:51 pm

Check with your local planning department first of all. They will be able to tell you whether permission was applied for and why you were not consulted. A two storey building would require planning permission so they'd have a record. Ask why you were not consulted.

Didi 01/07/2016 at 4:30 pm

My neighbours are building a two storey house at the bottom of their garden. I don't think they have planning permission, they haven't spoken to any of the other neighbours about this its a huge eyesore what can I do about this. Thank you.

Mary 27/06/2016 at 2:57 pm

My neighbour is having a loft conversion but our relationship already strained is becoming worse. Scaffolding up for six months party wall notice not served in time. After a few months I had to call the police I simply asked her father when the building was going to start. The neighbour fused out and told me not to speak to her father later that day my other neighbour came to my house threatening me outside my door. Can I take this to court as I have had elenough

ProblemNeighbours Editor 27/06/2016 at 11:38 am

The general rules for extension and permitted development are that materials have to be similar in appearance to the existing house. Is the existing house brick?

Morrieboy 24/06/2016 at 2:54 pm

My neighbour is doing a extension with a pebbled dash finish which I will have to look at can I ask for a brick finish

Louise 22/06/2016 at 5:37 pm

Hi my neighbour who is opposite has been landscaping his garden. He is raising the bottom of his garden to allow him to look over his 6ft fence at the side of his property to see the view as the houses are on a slop. But this now means when sitting in his garden he can see directly into my bedroom which for obvious reasons I'm uncomfortable about. Can I complain and who to?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 15/06/2016 at 12:32 pm

Decks do not need planning permission if they are no more than 30cm above the ground and together with other extensions, outbuildings etc, the decking or platforms cover no more than 50 per cent of the garden area. If your neighbour's deck is higher/larger than this you should speak to your local planning officer.

Marbles 13/06/2016 at 7:35 pm

How can I dispute a next door neighbor encroaching on my boundary/ party wall. They have gone ahead a built a large veranda with decking measuring 14 feet by 12 feet with potential to create noise over a hollow stage.i feel encroached on by this intrusion .
Thank you

ProblemNeighbours Editor 13/06/2016 at 2:23 pm

You might try checking with your local planning department to see if the garage has been erected in an acceptable location. Most areas have planning conditions which state nothing can be erected forward of the original building.

Brooke 10/06/2016 at 9:38 pm

Hello, I currently live in a grove as I have done all my life and one of my neighbours have had a second garage built in their front garden but the only problem is, you can only see this garage out my front window and my other neighbour has a red transit van parked at the top of the grove so the van an the garage is the view and it is horrible makes me feel trapped in a box. It's annoyed me because they don't even use the garages for the cars and it's just two people living in the house they have plenty of room to put the garage in a different part of the garden. Is there anything that can be done?

bjenki 09/06/2016 at 1:24 pm

I am a homeowner within a large social housing area and the homes either side of me are owned by the housing association.

They served party wall notifications, but after I rejected it (as there would be damage to my home in completing the work) they then claimed that a party wall notice was not required and pushed ahead with the work.

At the same time they gained planning permission from the local council. Neither the council or the housing association gained my permission or sent notice regarding the planning.

It now seems as if the council allowed the lha to have permission even though they don't own my home.

There was a huge deal of damage caused and I forced them to stop work. They came to a written agreement with me (following advice from this site) but then still refused to keep to the written plan.

I complained to the lha and they then have taken me for a ASBO stating that my complaints are affecting there housing management function. Charging me 1500 in costs for the privledge.

They still refuse to repair my house in a satisfactory way and I have now stated that whilst they are seeking a injunction that I can't communicate with them in any way that I will not allow them to tresspass on my land etc.

I am unemployed dur to a injury to my hand can not afford solicitors and there is no kegal aid available, i feel bullied and I am at a complete loss as to what to do and need any help anyone can give

ProblemNeighbours Editor 06/06/2016 at 10:43 am

You can try objecting via the planning department, but the right of light usually applies only to a window, rather than a garden. As it's only a single storey extension it may not have the impact you expect, but your planning officer should be able to advise you.

Tree 03/06/2016 at 4:38 pm

My neighbour has a very high tree which blocks light from bottom half of back garden for most of the afternoon. It's not been a big problem until now, apart from the mess with branches hanging and falling over our garden and fish pond, but it's been tolerated as we sit in sun at top of garden. I've just had word that they are building a single storey extension and if that happens we will have little or no sun at all in back garden, do I have any rights here to stop it?

Nic 31/05/2016 at 4:10 pm

My neighbour is putting a carport in the back garden, but to do so has to knock down a wall which is in their garden and mine. Is this ok or do they need to rebuild mine? The wall wouldn't withstand them just taking away the wall in theirs garden.. So my wall would have to go as well

Rodge 30/05/2016 at 11:17 pm

Hi.
Two things please. Please could you advise me on a balcony the neighbours have built which is a long balcony, brick structure and overlooks our garden, therefore we have no privacy. It's about 15 ft high and they just sit on it and watch what we are doing and also we have a flat roof which extends over their property by about 3ft and when they were doing their house up, they accessed our flat roof without our permission and installed a sky light which opens onto our flat roof. Not sure if they sit on our roof or not but I have heard walking on it.
They never asked our permission to access our roof and their builders dislodged 3 of our ridge tiles which we have had to have fixed at our expense. The Roofers have also compromised the asphelt/tar which covers the flat roof and it is now no longer weatherproof.
They do what they want without consulting us. They took down the back wall and we had to pay half of the cost to rebuild it. There was nothing wrong with the original one and they built it lower than the original one too which has taken away our privacy again.
Would be very grateful if you could tell me if they had the right to do these things or not please.
Thank you.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 25/05/2016 at 11:55 am

Are they actually carrying out any work that directly affects a party wall?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 25/05/2016 at 10:54 am

If the land that blocks the entrance to the property belongs to your neighbours you can register it in your name. If there is the right of easement then you should be able to continue to access your property. If this is blocked for any reason you will be able to take legal action then.

Arms 24/05/2016 at 6:20 pm

Our neighbour has built a loft without a third party agreement, now they have started a extention which I don't think they need planning permission however they have started with out the third party wall agreement signed, they have come so close to our fence that from there side you can see the post? Is this right? Help please

Pat 24/05/2016 at 11:15 am

The property that we are planning to purchase has a bit of land of neighbours blocking the entrance to the property.However,there is a right of way easement on part of the piece of land and in the other part there is a tree. will there be any problems in the future?Do we have to request For the piece of land be registered in our name to avoid future problems.please help.

Bin 05/05/2016 at 2:37 pm

I did speak to builders and they said it was in the middle , I said its not he looked again and said oh! Well Danny did that! so I'm getting no where with them
The gully I believe should be on their side it shouldn't be on our roof they have taken our tiles away to do this

ProblemNeighbours Editor 04/05/2016 at 12:50 pm

Have you spoken to the neighbours and the roofers? Is this definitely on your side? Do you have a shared downpipe that the "gully" meets? Does this have a detrimental effect on your roof/property? If it's amounted to criminal damage etc, and the roofers will not put it right, you will have to seek a remedy via alternative dispute resolution or the small claims court.

Bin 02/05/2016 at 11:09 am

Our neighbours have just had a new roof and the roofers that did it have put a gully down our side of our roof meaning they had removed our tiles to do so surley the gully should be on their side? We are not happy as the two roofs used to join together

ProblemNeighbours Editor 25/04/2016 at 2:31 pm

Get back in touch with the planning department. If the neighbour has clearly flouted the planning conditions, they will force a change.

Joey 24/04/2016 at 1:10 am

Neighbour has built next door has floor and almost to ceiling looking in our whole back yard part of our kitchen and two bedrooms we were told by council he had to put the windows 1.7 metres from the floor they haven't enforced it . Is this against privatcy law

midge 22/04/2016 at 9:51 pm

Hi can anyone help me my neighbour put up a shed in his front garden right infrount of my window it'd been up a year n wat a mess it's in big gaps all over wen he got asked wat he was doing he said decking so he lied all the rain water pours into my garden turn my garden into mush I loved sitting out their but now I can't he didn't have the decency to tell us wen he was putting it up I was in bed I'll recovering eith cancer n couldn't get rest cause of the noise but he didn't care I don't think it should be there n I don't think he got permission to put it their he just di'd it with no thought for anyone else my grass is that wet I slipped n hurt my shoulder I was so mad my next door neibours cause us hell all the time slab me off caus I'm unwell

Dave 16/03/2016 at 9:33 pm

I have a small business kennels. It's in its first year, and the land next to the kennel have put in plans to build 2 houses very close to the kennels..metres away. I'm worried that it will impact on my business so much, that I have to close, as no one will want to bring their pet to us with so much noise metres away from the boarding kennel. building work expected to last 6 months, and will be very noisy. It's my first year, and this could potentially ruin us. Is there anything I can say at the planning stage to express my concern? Please advise. Thank you

Kaza 14/03/2016 at 10:07 pm

Hi we have a shared drive our neighbour build a garage at the bottom of the shared drive without our permission can we build a fence on our part of the shared drive?

Hobbits 06/03/2016 at 10:05 pm

Hi. We are building a summerhouse in our garden within permitted development. A neighbour has complained saying we need planning permission. The council came around and said yes it's with permitted development but unsure of ground level so we have submitted all levels for proof. If the
Neighbour continues to complain will the council say we are not allowed to do it although it's within all guidelines

ProblemNeighbours Editor 06/01/2016 at 11:05 am

If you are finding this a nuisance you could try complaining to the council (environmental health or planning to start with). The building work should not be carried out in the early morning or late evening, especially if it is particularly noisy. Other than that, there is not a huge amount you can do unfortunately.

marsh03 05/01/2016 at 2:42 pm

We have some building works at the bottom of our garden. Now the builders have put up scaffolding on the garage and in the process of building the second floor, they then will be doing similar works on the house they are extending next to this garage. So potentially we have months of being overlooked by builders on scaffolding and roofs and can look into our dining room. We can't discuss this with the builder as they have been so horrid when we objected to their plans. Is their any rules about guarding our privacy and how long they can overlook up. They even stand up their just chatting:( not even working

ProblemNeighbours Editor 20/11/2015 at 10:36 am

Your local council planning department will have a record of this. Are you sure this was not the original design of the house? It might also help to examine your deeds, there might be plan of the original house etc.

Taylor 19/11/2015 at 9:11 pm

Hi,

My neighbor has built a shed/ laundry room, and the part of the wall it's not party wall, does he have any rights to do that. The wall it's not part of a party wall. And know he wants permission to add another shed on top of the one he already built using my side of the wall which, again it's not a party wall. Can you help please

Salam 19/11/2015 at 9:18 am

Hi can anyone help me I've lived in my property for 29 years and only just bought it last year there was a water leak down stairs front room and the ceiling came down damaging everything in the room also when I look up at the ceiling I can see my next door neighbours pipes and his bedroom in my property the party wall has been moved upstairs so am losing half of my bedroom is there any way I can find out if he got planning permission to move the party wall 30 years ago thanks

Caz 15/10/2015 at 6:37 am

My neighbours told us they were building a shed in their garden to hold tools, we went away and came back to a large brick built structure with double glazing, letterbox and house number on it, we believe they are going to use the property to rent out, the garden is not large and the 'shed' takes up over a third of the garden and is taller than my existing garage. I have a couple of questions, 1) is this allowed without planning permission 2) we have a shared drive which an prospective persons would need to use to gain access to this 'new dwelling' which I do not want, do I have the right to say that it is not to be used? As I do not want people walking up and down the drive especially at night!

ProblemNeighbours Editor 08/10/2015 at 1:40 pm

Contact your local building control office or an independent building surveyor for advice.

Sue 04/10/2015 at 4:24 pm

The local developer wants to build 750 houses in the field 10 metres away. My house is over 400 years old with no foundations. I am worried that our house will be put at risk from subsidence and flooding. How can I get help?

Sillysue 01/10/2015 at 1:31 am

Hi im a council tenant and last year I had all new fencing that I paid for put up as it was my side the neighbours on that side who own their house have now put up some corrugated plastic sheet and attached it to the outhouse at the back of the garden and on to my fence when I saw him put it up I asked is that atrached to my fence he said no but it clearly is and with all the rain we get its affecting my fence can I ask them to remove it and are they even allowed to just put what they want on my fence.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 11/09/2015 at 1:48 pm

If they cannot answer your questions about the outbuildings/wall etc, then your best option might to be ask the planning department to take a look. If they are as large as you say, there is a chance that permission will be required.

Emily 10/09/2015 at 3:36 pm

Our neighbours have done several things.
a) they chopped down a tree and in the process uprooted a large plant we've been growing which caused upset
b) they built a structure, which is kind of like a hut made of bricks, and hideous, of which we don't know the exact purpose, but it's higher than our fence and we weren't informed of it. It is like a mini house in their garden.
c) they are now building a very high wall next to our conservatory that is the same brick type as their house (so could be an extension?) and could potentially block light to our conservatory when finished.
We do not know how much further they may progress with this brick work, and they haven't informed us of any of it, it is causing a lot of distress to family members, I think the fact they refuse to inform us of what's happening makes it worse, we tried asking them directly but they don't speak good English, is there anything we can do?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 24/08/2015 at 11:34 am

Yes you can ask her to remove them and repair any damage. It's your property and a neighbour cannnot attach anything to it. If she refuses, you may have to seek a legal resolution.

Glyn 21/08/2015 at 12:22 pm

My Neighbour has drilled metal pegs into the gable end of my house to support vines she also has attached a wooden seat with a roof to the same area can I make her take them out as it's into the brickwork of my property. Any advice would be welcome

Rosie2011 13/08/2015 at 8:25 pm

My neighbours have an extension looking into my kitchen. How far away from the boundaries does it have to be

Newhomeowners 07/08/2015 at 2:01 pm

We live next door to a bakery that has a large groundfloor level window which looks directly into our garden . We asked the owners of the bakery (who lease it out) if we could put trellis across the window (on our land) to allow us more privacy and they said yes only requesting that it did not touch the window. We have now put the trellis up concreting the posts in only to be told two days later to take it down as the tenants of the bakery do not like it. The issues the tenants have is that they can't open the windows fully and it doesn't allow as much light through, do they have a right to open windows which hang over our land anyway? Do we have to take it down? Thank you

ProblemNeighbours Editor 07/08/2015 at 10:19 am

Are both properties still council owned? If so, your neighbour will not be able to build an extension. If the properties are now privately owned, it sounds as though the Party Wall Act is relevant. Please see our article on the party wall act for more information. Either way, your neighbour will still need your permission before he can do anything that damages/affects your shed or your property. You could always refuse, or ask them to come up with an alternative.

Chisky 06/08/2015 at 3:47 pm

Thi is an council house build in the fifty's. My garden brick shed is encroaching in my neighbours garden and vice verse. My neighbour want to build a kitchen extension and for doing so he has to knock down part of both sheds, leaving me with a long narrow shed. l feel very unhappy about it. What do you suggest l can do?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 29/07/2015 at 2:22 pm

@angela. Do her gutters overhang your property?

angela 28/07/2015 at 3:12 pm

hi, i am having problems with my neighbour who will not repair her gutters i have asked twice that when it rains the water is damaging our wall she wasnt too concerned and said she would speak to her partner but nothing came of it. i approached her again she said we cant afford it so simply just live with it. what can i do here?

joojink 27/07/2015 at 1:31 pm

Hi please can you help or direct me for where to get advice.
Do not have problem neighbours but they have recently had a new roof.
Went into the loft yesterday to check on things and have found that the people that installed the roof have tucked the felting into our loft space with approx. 2 inch nails going all along from front to back. have taken pictures.
Obviously very concerned that they did this but also could that it could cause problems to our roof???
we live in a mid terrace. a few years ago our neighbours on the other side had a new roof and there is no intrusion.
look forward to your advice
kind regards

H.peterson Editor 30/06/2015 at 6:21 am

@view123 a gazebo is similar to building a shed, summerhouse, carport etc.Building regulations were changed in Oct 2008 which provides households with permitted permission to build such structures without the need for planning application.If it it blocking your view of some trees unfortunately the council don't see this as a problem if they have kept the building within the height limits of up to 4m dual pitched roof or 3m for any other type of roof. The trees you can or could have seen are not part of your land therefore you cannot really stop someone from building something within their own boundaries. It just sounds unfortunate that your house is in such a position that it is blocking your view.If I were you I increase my wall level with some trellis within regulations or ask permission to go higher and then get some beautiful plants to grow along to try and remove the view of the gazebo. Hopefully this helps ??

View123 29/06/2015 at 9:54 pm

My neighbour is building a gazebo with red tiled roof. The structure is by my garden fence and obstructs my view of the trees beyond. Building work has been started by my neighbour without any discussion with me. When I requested them to keep the height of the structure to the level of boundary walk the neighbour refused saying he had invested money in the project, couldn't care as it was reg compliant.
What do I do? Need help urgently.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 30/06/2015 at 2:02 pm

@car. Out of courtesy the builders, or the neighbour might have helped with the cleaning but there's nothing really compelling them to do so. To be honest most people would simply clean their own...after all severe storms and dust can cause an equal amount of dirt.

Car 27/06/2015 at 10:31 am

My neighbours have just had their house repointed and the builder sanded all the old concrete out which has now covered our property. The window ledges are over an inch thick in dust, it's covering all our windows, doors, roof and walls. I asked them if he was coming back to clean up the mess but they said, it doesn't look like it, we'll have to get out there with a brush. They haven't, now it's rained it's even more of a mess. Whose responsibility is it to get the mess cleaned up?

Doogie 24/06/2015 at 5:20 pm

My neighbours have put in for planning permission to build a 2 storey extension the issue is they in doing so will be building over 20m of our drains and manhole covers. The deeds clearly state this is not permitted as a result of a restrictive covenant they however aren't bother about this. The council have said this is a private matter and I would have to take them to court which I am told is £30000 plus. We don't get on with them and know from previous experience he will just dig up the drains cutting off our kitchen and toilet surely the council shouldn't be allowed to give him permission to do what is an illegal act. We have written to them they just ignored the letter

Matt 23/06/2015 at 4:44 pm

My neighbour has had a wooden structure with a roof on it built that is blocking the light into my house what could I do if anything

ProblemNeighbours Editor 15/06/2015 at 11:49 am

@fedup. If it's persistent and very loud, it may be deemed a nuisance. If you and your other neighbours make a complaint, your environmental health office is duty bound to follow it up. If they find it does constitute a nuisance, they can serve an abatement notice.

fedup 09/06/2015 at 7:26 pm

We live in a row of small terraced houses and our neighbour is an eccentric who spends all day at home breaking apart salvaged wood he has found on the street (he used to wheel beds he'd found on the house into his house till I asked him to stop, in case of bed bug infestation!)

He has constructed a lean-to in his side return which he uses as a wood workshop, which means from our kitchen table (and indeed the whole house) we can hear sawing, hammering, banging intermittently throughout the day. Every day. I have lived here for 2 years.

We have gone from extremely friendly to just having had a shouting match over the fences. I work full time (from home, sigh) and have a toddler, so my stress tolerance is pretty low, but the neighbours on the other side have said they're fed up too. Is there anything we can do to stop this man banging and sawing each and every day? When he spent two months last summer building a greenhouse in his garden (hammering and power tools every day) I asked him repeatedly and politely when it would come to an end (almost finished, he'd say) but then I realised it never would.

What is my position here? It's not out of hours but constant and anti social, in my opinion.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 12/06/2015 at 12:31 pm

@gilly. Why not contact the planning department and advise them that he has continued to build without permission. They should pop round and investigate.

gilly 09/06/2015 at 8:42 am

My neighbour has started digging behind a something he is building. He asked for planning permission a while ago to build an outside toilet. He lives in a block of 4 maisonettes and is on the first floor. We got a letter telling us about this then got another to say it had been refused. I think he is still building it as he is digging up behind and I can see large brown pipe. This building is at the top of his garden not far from my back door. How can I check if he can do this. I don't really want the smell or to hear people using this. Thank you

ProblemNeighbours Editor 22/05/2015 at 10:50 am

@Polly. You will need to check the terms of the builder's policy. Your neighbour's might also be able to claim via their own home insurance (against your home insurance).

polly 19/05/2015 at 7:23 pm

The render on the front of my 1930s semi has blown in an area where it meets next door. Bits have fallen off and it looks unsightly. The adjoining neighbour regularly paints his render and from a distance it looks fine but my plasterer has told me that his has also blown so there's a chance when he knocks my render off it could damage his. He said I need to warn my neighbour but I know he will say I shouldn't therefore have the work done. Would adequate builder's insurance cover such an eventuality? Any help gratefully received. Thank you.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 22/05/2015 at 10:43 am

@Fran. Just because a neighbour objects is not always a reason for refusing permission. As you say, other neighbours have carried out similar works. Discuss the various options with your planning officer.

Fran 19/05/2015 at 5:42 pm

We have applied for permission from the local council under Permitted Development for a 3metre deep glass conservatory. We already have a 3metre deep rear brick-built extension, so this would make the total extension 6m, which would be permitted for our semi-detached house under the current regulations (and our neighbours on the other side have just built a 6m rear extension). However, our neighbour on the other side, who previously told us that she would agree to it, has changed her mind, on the grounds that it will block her light and make her house difficult to sell, and said she will object to it. We do not see how a glass conservatory will block her light, and we are of the opinion that by us having an extension should make her house easier to sell, as new purchasers always want to know that they have a chance of extending (her house is unextended). We originally applied for a brick built extension, but she objected to that on the ground of blocking her light (again after telling us that she would agree to it, although she was not happy about it), and so we compromised by requesting permission for a glass conservatory instead. Do we have any rights to appeal, or how can we go ahead. Our neighbours on the other side do not object

ProblemNeighbours Editor 13/05/2015 at 11:40 am

@Oli. You'd have to check the title deeds/land registry records to see the exact boundary position. Sometimes overhanging pipes etc can be considered trespass but it sounds quite petty. You need professional legal advice if you cannot sort this out amicably. You may want to try mediation first, your local council or the Citizen's Advice Bureau will be able to supply you with information relating to this.

oli 07/05/2015 at 3:36 pm

we moved into our new house 6 months ago and have unfortunately had a falling out with our neighbour about their huge dogs barking all night. Having complained to the council after rudely ignoring our polite requests about it, they have tried to exact some petty revenge by claiming that a toilet pipe that goes out of our top floor bathroom, around the side of our house and back on our side is infringing on their boundary at the point where the pipe goes round the corner of our house. At that point the pipe is directly above their side path / fence but attached to our wall. It has been there 11 years since the previous owners had the bathroom put in (without any planning complaints and with full council approval).

can anyone advise on if there is a case of infringing on their boundary?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 06/05/2015 at 2:18 pm

@Alex. It depends on the dimensions. You would be advised to contact your local planning department. Here are the general guidelines.

Alex 29/04/2015 at 10:38 pm

Hi,
I would like to know that if you require permission to build a concrete shed in your back garden?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 15/04/2015 at 12:53 pm

@Arnold. What a difficult situation for you. Really there's not much you can do apart from minimise the disruption as far as possible and hope that once your extension is built, things settle down a little.

Arnold 14/04/2015 at 12:46 pm

Hi...our neighbours have done several things over the years that have upset us, but we've just kept the peace. 1) loud air conditioning units (prior 2011) 2) levelled their garden without a mention to us, leaving us with a 10 foot high fence our side and their old fence in our garden, presumably working as a retainer (alright when behind our hedges, but we now want to remove our hedges). 3) built a large cabin at the end of the garden for a relative to live in 4) built up their driveway (again ok as behind our conifers but we now want to move them as they are affecting our foundations) when I looked recently I realise that all of these jobs needed planning permission and none was ever sought. After 20 years living in peace, we have sought planning permission for a couple of jobs. We want to extend down our side just over 1 metre. It's single story doesn't affect any light. We consulted fully with them, even shortening it to keep them happy (even though it's permitted development and the planners said it was fine and not an issue to anyone). Since then my neighbour is so upset with us. Played her music loudly all day, refused to let a lorry pull up outside, has insisted on a surveyor (costing us £1400 more). I'm insisting on still keeping the peace and don't want to cause trouble, but where do I go from here. In my eyes life's too short for animosity, but am I right feeling a bit wronged!!! Sorry had to get it off my chest :-)

ProblemNeighbours Editor 09/04/2015 at 1:49 pm

@woowoo. Check with your planning department in case there's something they can do. If not, can you raise the height of your rear fence at all?

woowoo 08/04/2015 at 4:05 pm

My neighbours have just built something at the bottom of their garden and it looks right into bedrooms of my house (as we are on a hill). Its much larger than they said it would be and it makes me feel uncomfortable and its quite ugly. They didnt need planning permission
What can we do about it?

goneinsane 30/03/2015 at 9:33 am

Personally, I just wish the need for planning permission returned to the way it was before. It has become a free for all with no consideration for anyone in the vicinity. Often several conversions going on at once with whirring power tools and all day crashing about, often on behalf of people who don't actually live in the street, just out for a quick buck. If you work from home like many now do, are ill or recovering from a serious illness, are trying to swot for exams etc. you have no chance of peace any more. I see that a few have begun to fall down lately as they were not designed to be constantly added to, I cant say I'm surprised.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 31/03/2015 at 2:23 pm

@GardenGnome. You will need to check with your local council (planning dept). There are rules about the proportions of outdoorbuildings in relation to the area of the garden/property.

GardenGnome 27/03/2015 at 11:55 pm

Do you think I can attach a small conservatory to my garden shed without getting mauled by my neighbours? The garden shed is already overlooked by neighbours on both sides, but a conservatory would be no bigger or higher, and about a metre from the boundary. The property is a freehold mid-terrace house with small back garden and shed. Many thanks for any tips.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 27/03/2015 at 10:46 am

@Bertie. YOu need to get your local environmental health office to investigate. If they consider the neighbours are causing significant noise/nuisance they can take action.

Bertie 24/03/2015 at 10:34 pm

Hi I have semi detached end of terrace house and a problem with noisy neighbours as 1) they have gutted their house & do DIY every weekend and holiday (which they've done every year since moving in 8 years ago)& will take at least 6months to finish apparently 2) their everyday noise (kids,talking, sneezing) is now coming through walls much more ESP upstairs in my bedroom (next to their kids room) which is hard to live and I'm concerned makes house less easy/valuable were i to sell 3) they leave the 2 boys (3&8) outside in garden unsupervised where they scream,shout,throw things against the fence so I can't use garden 4) have had builders since this time last year (inside and outside as rear porch extended & garden done) and still do! despite noise,inconvenience to me and neighbours on their other side they are hostile so talking isn't an option. I'm finding constant noise upsetting especially as Ive been at home caring for my partner with Cancer and I work from home & can see no end to their noise & hostility or solution. Even if I was to sell (which neither want to do not have money to do(,I'm concerned the increased noise levels coming through and would affect value of my property as well as the ongoing DIY/kids' noise. Any info re solutions,legislation would be much appreciated!! Thank you

ProblemNeighbours Editor 25/03/2015 at 10:42 am

@Ladygilly. It would depend on the size of the building, how it attaches to the house (eg. is it more of an extension than a conservatory etc) and how much of it is brick. Here is a list of the criteria for which extensions may not require planning permission, but you may also need to give your local planning office a call.

Ladygilly 22/03/2015 at 7:49 am

Hi, I currently have a UPVC conservatory, about 15 years old now. Do I need permission if I wanted to change it to a brick one? Also thinking of partitioning it to install a wc, would I need permission for these jobs? Thanks in advance for your response.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 24/03/2015 at 2:21 pm

@trishP. Depending on the size of the conservatory it may have fallen into the permitted development category so didn't need planning permission as you say. However, there is no harm in giving the planing department a call and asking them about it. Bear in mind you do not have an automatic 'right to light' in your garden and the light in your lounge would have to be significantly restricted to use that claim too.

Trishp 21/03/2015 at 11:28 am

My neighbours are planning a conservatory which will block out light into my garden & lounge. As conservatories don't require planning permission can I object in anyway? I have no other light into my lounge than via the patio doors & their conservatory will severely impact this.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 24/03/2015 at 11:27 am

@cyclingpistol. Yes, they are still neighbours regardless of any ownership fine details.

cyclingpistol 20/03/2015 at 6:02 pm

If our neighbours property is a leasehold can they still object to our extension?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 09/03/2015 at 2:34 pm

@andrea. If you cannot get their agreement you should either: (1) accept that you cannot build the extension (2) appoint an approved surveyor to mediate this situation...see section 12 of the attached guide .

andrea 05/03/2015 at 2:46 pm

Our architect advised us to ask for our neighbours "agreeing in principal" to our side return extension. We are terraced and hoped to build on the party wall. They have said no they do not agree for lots of reasons eg loss of light, upsetting the tenants. What's the next step?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 04/03/2015 at 10:58 am

@gardener. No he cannot object as long as your fence is not above permitted planning levels for your area.

gardener 28/02/2015 at 10:46 am

I have a very troublesome neighbour who has apart from intimidation also damaged part of my lawn with weed killer and sprayed the same over my shrubs etc. I have now decided to raise my back garden fences/trellises to the permitted height in my area.
Out of courtesy I sent a letter to my neighbour informing of the pending works, today I received a short note from him saying he objects to the raising of the fences/trellis saying it will restrict daylight into his kitchen, this perplexes me as for the past number of years he has only ever had his blind to that window open half way. Does he have any grounds to object?
His Bungalow was built around 15 years ago

ProblemNeighbours Editor 24/02/2015 at 11:27 am

@funtimes. It's a complex matter when extending where flats are concerned. There is nothing preventing you from objecting but your desire to extend yourself, may not be deemed sufficient grounds for refusing the permission. You will need to consult your deeds as to ownership of the land where the extension is being built. Does it belong to the ground floor flat owner? If so, if you want to build an extension too, will that be in their 'airspace'? Will you need permission/partywall agreement to construct yours? Or is the garden communal...is the neighbour's extension therefore intruding on the communal garden area? Lots of things to ask yourself (and your neighbours) before allowing this to go ahead.

funtimes 21/02/2015 at 7:35 pm

Hi all

I live in a flat on a first floor of a two storey house. The neighbour that lives on the ground floor is applying for a rear extension.
Can i object on the grounds that i want to extend as well , i told him i would like to do an extension if he is up for it but i clearly see he ignored me ?
The house has all the possibility to do double extension .
Please let me know , any advise will help.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 16/02/2015 at 10:35 am

@Linda. Does the work involve the party wall?

Linda 12/02/2015 at 6:54 pm

Neighbours are to carry out major extension and will be knocking down internal walls. Semi detached. Can I limit the hours worked each day

ProblemNeighbours Editor 04/02/2015 at 10:45 am

@Carieann. It depends on whether your log cabin requires any footings/foundations, you should check with a surveyor.

carieann 31/01/2015 at 3:30 pm

Is a log cabin classed as a building for purposes of an excavation notice

ProblemNeighbours Editor 03/02/2015 at 10:38 am

@Matt. Is the other side of the wall on a highway or pavement/footpath? If so, it may be that it was causing some kind of obstruction. You are repsonsible for ensuring your vegetation does not overhang the highway or pavement so as to obstruct pedestrians or vehicles. You must also ensure that no signs, road signs or drivers' sightlines are blocked. Perhaps this person thought they were doing you a favour?

matt 30/01/2015 at 12:20 am

My back boundary wall looks out on to a cul-de-sac. The top of the wall has clematis growing, a neighbour 2 houses away from the wall has cut the clematis away, what right has he to do this, the clematis is not encroaching on any property in the cul-de-sac, what action can I take to stop him doing this again

ProblemNeighbours Editor 30/01/2015 at 1:01 pm

@cannon. You can say no. The access to neighbouring land act applies to essential maintenance and repairs, so a new extension would not fall into that category. The fairer response would be to accept on the basis that your neighbour gives you a fixed time during which the work will be completed and will pay for the costs of reinstating your fence and repairing any other damage caused in the process.

cannon 28/01/2015 at 11:16 pm

my neighbour is having an extension done at the rear of the property. He wants access to my property for it to be rendered which will mean taking down the fence and being in my property while it is done. Do I have to comply or can I say "no"?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 27/01/2015 at 10:30 am

@Nancy. Check with your local planning office. Tell them what you've told us here and ask them to pop around to check it out for you if necessary. Chances are, you will not have to do anything about it, particularly if your neighbours are now satisfied that you have complied with their wishes.

Nancy 24/01/2015 at 12:14 am

We built a wooden shed in my rear garden after I carefully checked online for those shed regulations, our up flat neighbour said our shed roof is too close to their flat, then we change it very soon. They are quite happy now. We didn't know they already complaint (they probably think it is an enquiry as their limited English) to Council, and they pass me a letter from council stated we didn't apply for planning permission and have to demolish it within a certain period. Phoned Council for detailed guidance, council said exactly what I searched before. As my searching result: Wooden shed doesn't need Planing permission and the height is less than 2.5M, above 1M away from boundary, size less than 50% of garden. Our shed apply to these criteria. If our neighbour won't keep complain, is that mean our problem settled.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 20/01/2015 at 11:41 am

@hels. They will be consulted as residents, the landlord (the council) may be consulted too.

Hels 16/01/2015 at 6:47 pm

We own an end terrace house and wish to extend the back of it. Our neighbours are council tenants, can they object as they don't own the house?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 14/01/2015 at 12:33 pm

@gigi. Reporting them to council is really your only option if you actually want something done about this. They will enforce Building regs retrospectively. Planning permission may also have been required to enforce certain conditions which may have alleviated your problems.

Gigi 12/01/2015 at 3:08 pm

Hi,

My neighbours have recently converted their loft into a living space, without building regulations. We live in an elevated road which means the floor of her loft is half way up my bedroom.

They did it on the cheap and have not properly insulated and their bed head is half way up my wall, above my bed. I can hear them talking, turning over in bed, getting up, talking, radio, plugs being inserted etc.

I have mentioned it to them and it seems the only alternative I have is to move my bed (which I am not keen to do). I do not want to go to the council and cause bad relations but need to do something as i am now conscious of every little noise. It is like living in a flat and having people above you - not what I signed up for.

Your advice will be greatly received.

Best wishes

Gila

ProblemNeighbours Editor 09/01/2015 at 10:11 am

@persistent. You'd need to examine the terms of the leasehold (both yours and the neighbours) and try to negotiate something - we don't have sufficient detail to offer any useful advice. You may need to consult a specialist solicitor on this unfortunately. Your neighbour can refuse access unless there is essential repair work needed.

Persistent 07/01/2015 at 2:46 pm

I am the lease owner of a top floor flat in a Victorian building which is split into three properties. I bought my place two years ago and would like to convert the loft area above.
Now that I have finally obtained planning permission and building control approval, my neighbour (owner of the lower ground floor flat) informed me that she will not grant me permission to use her land where to set the scaffolding. She is not happy with the loft development and is now trying to block the works.
My other neighbour just below me (ground floor flat) wants her lease changed so that she is no longer liable for the future reparation of the roof which so far was split between all flat owners in the building. Does she actually have the right to ask this?
Thanks in advance for giving me your kind advice on how to overcome these obstacles.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 06/01/2015 at 11:15 am

@chuck. Yes many people do not consider this when furnishing their properties and laminate/wood has a lot going for it in terms of practicality. Also sometimes it's the landlords who make this decision when preparing flats for letting.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 05/01/2015 at 2:20 pm

@Spotty dog. No you don't. It's not essential repairs or maintenance. He should really have thought about this BEFORE extending. It would be neighbourly of him to offer to replace the decking for you if it has to be done.

Chuck 01/01/2015 at 5:26 pm

Why do brainless people always have wood flooring right through out their homes,it turns houses into giant microphones and trebles noise for usually the poor neighbour.

SpottyDog 30/12/2014 at 9:33 pm

My neighbour (our houses are semi-detached) has recently built an extension at the rear of his property. The extension stands 4" off the boundary line. He now wants me to grant him access to my property to put up a concrete fence within his 4 inches. This would mean I would have to remove my decking to allow him access to dig. Do I have to comply?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 05/01/2015 at 11:30 am

@Stevie. It doesn't sound like it should be an issue, but it is one that you should certainly check out with your local planning office for full details.

stevie 29/12/2014 at 5:09 pm

Hello, advice required! We wish to build an extension over the (attached) garage of our 4 bed detached house. At the side of the garage we have a side passage measuring approx. 1m in width and increasing to 3m in width towards its rear. A boundary wall then exists separating our plot from the back gardens of neighbouring properties.....the 'neighbours' are located within a different residential street.
The back gardens of these neighbours are all north facing and are approx. 7m in depth - and as such are approx. 8m increasing to 10m away from where I wish to build my extension. Will this proximity cause me an issue??

UltraAndyC 20/12/2014 at 6:32 pm

Hello, I would like to ask for some advice if I may.

I have recently installed a log cabin which is under 2.5 metres high and is 5mtr x 4mtr. This was sold to us as this log cabin did not require planning permission due to its dimensions. The cabin was installed by the cabin company in the only area of our garden which was suitable and that we believed would have the least affect to the other houses. This location is in front of the front elevation of our house but is in the side garden (as we have only a front and side garden) and approx 5-6 metres from house. It is also next to a boundary that has a road next to it (although a cul-de-sac)

After after 3 months we got a complaint, and we believe that this complaint was made by someone outside of the village and not a neighbour. The complaint was reference to two issues 1x driveway and 1x large shed. So the council came around and concluded that the driveway had planning permission and the log cabin was within the required size dimentions. However they have said that the location is such that we require to move the cabin to the area where it will affect our neighbours negatively (it will cast a large shadow over almost the whole of the neighbours garden to the rear of our property and also cause some other issues to two other neighbours)

The wording of the letter reads "I would suggest that I move the cabin to different location in the garden, prior to moving I should read general permitted development order 2008 part 1 class e. They end by asking me to inform them once I have made a decision" there is no cut off time is seems to be open ended.

My question is, can I ignore this (knowing that I can not sell the house with this cabin in the location) and assuming the neighbours are happy which I'm sure they are and have been since the installation. And also am I likely to get any further letters from the council as this seems to be a advisory and not a order?

Any help or advice would be very well received as this cabin is very important to us, and moving the cabin is not really a option due to primarily our neighbours but also physical issues such as the cabin shape and our garden shape etc.

Regards

Andy

Fact 16/12/2014 at 8:21 pm

Hi, Please advise, live in a maisonette, the neighbour's shed is close to the dwelling (building) and to our garden fence. Is there a minimum distance the shed has to be from the building and also the garden fence, the shed is 6ft x 4ft dual pitched roof 8ft, currently 1 meter from the building and est 60cm from the fence. Also it stops any maintenance work to the area the shed sits, also to clean the Windows as there isn't enough room to put a ladder. Is there any fire or planning, building regs as the shed is made if wood. We believe permitted development rights are removed as its a maisonette. The lease holder is the local council. But they don't seem to be acting on the restrictions, which were 1.8m from dwelling and 1meter from boundaries, but the have recently removed this the shed has caused. Any support would be great or links to guide lines or legal compliance. Thanks

Priscilla 04/12/2014 at 8:06 pm

Hi, does anyone have any advise for me please? Around 7-8 years ago my neighbours moved in (the houses are semi-detached) and I'm unfortunately attached to these neighbours. The last 8 years have been nothing short of a living hell with problems including loud music, constant (and I do mean CONSTANT) DIY, anti-social behaviour, rubbish thrown into my garden and even being harassed in my own garden. I've made around 8 or 9 complaints to my local council, who, based on my noise logs, wanted to install noise listening equipment into my house. However my neighbours know just how far they can push the system and each time it has got to that point they suddenly go quiet. Until they think they are not being monitored and then it all starts again. Keeping a noise log is a normal routine for me and after the latest round of noise from DIY I looked back through the log and realised that there has not been one month this year when noise from DIY hasn't taken place, which regularly includes banging, drilling, hammering, sawing and sanding. There is no telling what time it will start, what time it will finish and how long it will go on for. They know it is a problem but just don't care. A case in point was just last Tuesday with the banging and drilling starting at 18.30 and still going on at 21.40. I am at the point now where I feel that I am being driven out of my home of 25 years due to their behaviour. Even when they are not making noise I'm constantly on edge waiting for the noise to start. Whilst I appreciate everyone has a right to do occasional DIY this is way, way beyond occasional. Even as I type this I can hear him banging and drilling. Please does anyone have any advice on what, if anything I can do about this? Thank you.

Sharny 23/11/2014 at 12:12 pm

My neighbours at the back have built a brick single story duel pitched roof building just near my rear fence. It is rather an eye sore as it has replaced the Cherry Trees which was outlook. Now we have this wall and roof to obstruct the view from our bedrooms and lounge and dining room. It I feel will de value our property in which we have lived for 37years, and as we have a small garden it feels even smaller. Please can you help as any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you and look forward to your reply.

Barrie 17/11/2014 at 9:17 pm

my neighbours complained to the councils planning regulations and building etc. We have had them all round since building a bar in our garden (we own our own home)
we have had

police
planning
licencing (she said we were selling drinks)
environmental health (she said we were noisy)

we have friends and family round occasionally and no other neighbours complain. We have made it smaller then told need less decking we made less decking now told we cant have a log burner chimney and flue we have installed.
Its one thing after another. Anyone know how we could get around the chimney?stove complaint without taking it out please?

ruby 13/11/2014 at 10:31 pm

My neighbours of a few doors away have had a skip outside my other neighbours property for about 2 weeks now. The skip was filled with bricks in the first couple of days but is still out there..it is overflowing with bricks...which could cause damage to cars and this has also resulted in a problem for parking on the road....its bad enough without the skip. Is there anything we can do? Can we report this to aomeone to have the skip removed? Please advise.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 10/11/2014 at 2:22 pm

@T. It will be difficult (and costly) for them to move it. Is there actually anywhere else they could have put it? As it's only temporary, could you not simply put up with it for a few weeks?

T 08/11/2014 at 6:21 pm

I live in a ground floor masoinette. My new upstairs neighbour are converting 1 flat into 2 and have placed a huge skip in front of my window. Though it's their patch of land, it's right outside my window just 6 inches away. It's huge and obstructs my day light to the living room. Also I feel a bit insecure as it can be used by foxes to hide after dark or some thugs as it gets pretty dark at my corner. Can I ask them to move it?
Thanks.

ProblemNeighbours Editor 28/10/2014 at 9:46 am

@chas. Did you get anything in writing at the time? If he has failed to reinstate or repair any damage that he has caused, you can take a civil action. In the first place write a letter reminding him of the original agreement (if you had it in writing, include a copy). Ask that he completes the work within a certain timeframe (of your choice) and state that if he doesn't you may be compelled to take further action. If he fails to rectify the damage then make an appointment with a solicitor (the first 20 minute consulation is often free) and get advice on hope to proceed to recover any damages via the courts. The Citizen's Advice Bureau may also be able to help.

chas 25/10/2014 at 11:56 am

Hi there my upstairs neighbour has converted the loftspace into a room and bathroom which involved removing my chimneys.When he asked if he could do it he said he would replace the roof and gutters which needless to say he has failed to do.My question is should he have paid to have my deeds changed to remove me from any liability to do with the roof.Also could i ask him to reinstate my chimneys?

Toblerone 10/09/2014 at 9:30 pm

Hello, we are extending our house simultaneously with our neighbours. We used the same architect and agreed a party wall down the centre of the boundary line to maximise space either side of the wall (i.e. make our rooms a few inches bigger) and save some cost (building one wall is cheaper than two!). Planning was approved and work started a few weeks ago. Our neighbour started a couple of weeks before us because their builder has a slot. Unfortunately their builder has built the party wall 100% on their side of the boundary line, leaving about 2 inches from the outside of their wall to the boundary line. We're now stuck as what to do! We didn't realise until it was too late and now our builder has laid insufficient foundations to build a separate cavity wall on our side of the boundary - in any case, this wasn't the plan we agreed and have had approved. Our architect recommends filling the 2 inch "gap" with mortar and builing our wall right up to the boundarym therefore re-creating the solid party wall on the boundary line as per the plans. Our neighbours are now very twitchy about letting us use their 2 inches...what should we do? Can we do this without their permission/approval as it is only meeting the original plans that were agreed and drawn up for both of us? Or can we force them to take down their new wall and put it in the right place?! Any advice much appreciated!

mandy 01/09/2014 at 5:13 pm

I have planned to have a loft conversion I know I need to inform my neighbours in writing but do they have to sign the letter it's a shared wall some people say they do but not sure thank you .

Jim 31/08/2014 at 3:56 pm

My neighbour has turned their back room into a kitchen,so now the kitchen is against the dividing wall and we are stuck with constant noise from their kitchen which also affects the upstairs bedroom.does anyone know if this is allowed because this is a semi detatched and I have never been in a house were the kitchen is positioned against the neighbours house.

mike 27/08/2014 at 6:04 pm

Our neighbour has been carrying out some extensive internal renovations without really notifying us about potential noise and time scale etc.

The problem really is that we hear quite a lot of banging and vibrations coming through our connecting wall. We are certain they have removed internal walls due to number of bricks in the skip outside and know they have not put in any planning application for this, so are concerned that they are using cheap labour and that the correct building regulations will not be practiced eg putting in a lintel if a supporting wall has been removed. Basically we want to ensure that the correct practices are been observed and that no damage will be caused to our property through their work.

How would you approach this, contact your neighbour first and raise your concerns or go to your council?

ProblemNeighbours Editor 05/08/2014 at 9:58 am

@pink. The extension has to be on their side of the boundary.

Pink 02/08/2014 at 1:16 am

Hi
We live in a semi detached house and our neighbour is now having an extension on her kitchen
I have no objections against this, even tho i know it is going to block my light considerably in my kitchen and back room into the garden, My only worry is that they will take part of boundary fence down and replace with there extension? Can they do this or does there extension have to be there side of the fence completely?

creme 29/07/2014 at 12:50 pm

My neighbour is putting exterior cladding/insulation on the outside of our semi-detached house. This will be 4" thick so there will be a 4" thick 'edge' between our houses at the mid point, front and back. They didn't notify us before work started and the cladding will be on half of the party wall. We don't want this work to go ahead as it will look bad on our house and devalue ours. What can we do?

chela 02/07/2014 at 10:57 am

My neighbour broke part of our common garden wall before consulting us to do their extension. Later they said they will built it as it was earlier.

The wall they built now is disgusting and doesn't match with the other half that was not knocked down.
I have asked them to re-do but they are behaving as if it our problem.

Due to their breaking the wall, there is now overflooding of the drainage system.

ell 01/07/2014 at 9:01 pm

my neighbour is putting in a drive on the front of their house.They have taken down the wall on the side of their house it is semi detached.can i object to them not having a wall there as we have had always a wall seperating the houses with the road in between us.

Liz 20/06/2014 at 9:33 pm

Hi

My Next door neighbour has placed a garden shed right against my window. I cannot even get round to paint the windows frame or if I have to do any work on the buiilding I cannot get at it. Can he do this? I don't mind hm having the shed there but I would like my windows light back and to get at it. He might own the land right upto the windows is there any thing I can do. I have spoken to him but he stated it stays there and if I have a window i should not be looking out onto his ground!

Suzy 13/06/2014 at 10:13 am

Hi my neighbour has sent me a letter says he plans to use my garage wall to put up a porch I object to this. What will happen now ? It comes under the wall act 1996 It's my garage wall and I don't want him to use it. Can I just say No ? Thanking you

ProblemNeighbours Editor 09/06/2014 at 1:52 pm

@Papa. Different planning authorities may have slightly different limits but the minimum gap is usually around 150mm - to allow for air flow etc. As for light - it's not a key reason for planning refusal but it may be taken into account.

papa 07/06/2014 at 5:49 pm

my neighbour wishes to build a single story extention. I would like to know what is the minimum gap need between our wall and their extention? can they build right up to my wall?

it know too that the movement of the sun means that especially out of the summer months it will take take light of part of the garden and make the kitchen darker. can I use these as grounds to object?

thanks
papa

cherrypie Editor 09/06/2014 at 11:03 am

@Bonnie - no he should not refuse this request. If it's your wall I'm sure he should have your permission before drilling a hole etc.

bonnie 06/06/2014 at 3:45 pm

I came home from work to find my neighbour had taken down his shed to which his washing line had been attached and he had drilled a hole into my garage wall and attached the line to my garage.This was done without my permission and i have asked him to take it down and make the wall good again so that water cannot enter my garage. He has refused. Can he do this

HelpMe 28/05/2014 at 2:00 pm

Hi,
We are having a conservatory built which we have ensured does not fall under the Party Wall Act by not being on an adjoining wall and the foundations do not go below the neighbour's (and ours) foundations. The neighbour has appointed a surveyor that is sending us threatening letters to cease and desist or suffer legal consequences as we are in violation of the Part Wall act, along with being responsible for their costs. What can we do as the Party Wall act does not apply. I have had this verified by two different surveyors and through what I have read on the government websites online.
Any help would be appreciated.

delphine didier 23/04/2014 at 10:02 pm

My neighbour has made a flower bed, installed a water butt and plants in pots on the car park behind his property. However, the water butt is unsightly and he has installed all that outside of the limits of his house as the car park is not actually part of his property. I am not sure though whether the car park belongs to Magna housing association or the town. Who can I complain to? How do I report this issue and ask my neighbour to remove all that?

Lynette Harwood 09/02/2014 at 2:41 pm

Can a council tenent object to a single storey extension(granny annex) due to a part of his light is affected

Lou21 23/10/2013 at 7:18 am

I have an extension that was on the house when I moved in 19 years ago and now my neighbour says it is 8 inches on his land the extent ion has been there for at least 35 years, will I have to knock it down

lami 06/07/2013 at 2:08 am

My neighbors are doing a ground floor and loft extension under permitted development Our party wall surveyor and our neighbors met recently, but although we expressed our great concern about the dramatic loss of light that will inevitably occur as a result of the works he says that even if a right to light specialist acknowledges a great loss of light, works will still go ahead and our only recourse is to go to court after building work have been completed which will be very costly and will not necessarily be successful.Our property , already fairly dark will be plunged into further darkness and almost certainly devalued is there really no recourse we can take to stop this from happening before works are done?This is our only asset for ourselves and our children can the law really allow others actions legally to devalue your home , is there really nothing we can do.

curly 23/06/2013 at 11:00 pm

my neighbor is building a conservatory and has drill a wooden frame into my living room wall without my permission they are buying their home mine is housing association can they do this

vicstar 23/04/2013 at 10:48 am

hi. i live in a converted house in the upstairs. the only outside access we have is out the front door and down a side ally which is not good with two children. we also own the flat down stairs which has a small outside bathroom. would i need planning permission to from my upstairs flat turn the roof of their bathroom into a baloney and the add stair down into our garden. i would need to put some form of wall up on the baloney as well. i don't have an outside door so i would also have to add one of them. thank you.

jo 07/04/2013 at 1:50 pm

Hi.. my next door neighbour is erecting an extention.. i would like to know if there is a time frame he can work within.. i work silly hours and need my sleep.. is he allowed to work on a sunday and what time can he work up to of an evening? Thank you :)

dismayed 20/03/2013 at 5:54 pm

Can you help?
On returning home tonight I noticed that my neighbour downstairs has erected a shed in front of my flat...they have an elevated garden where most of the garden is directly level or above the level of my bedroom, bathroom and kitchen windows. The garden is quite big but they have erected the shed, with two windows, directly looking into my windows.

Is this acceptable?

PDrights1302 28/02/2013 at 8:06 am

If you cannot reach agreement with your neighbour, the next best thing is to appoint, jointly, what the Party Wall Act calls an "agreed surveyor" to draw up a "party wall award". Preferably the agreed surveyor should not be the same person that you intend to employ to supervise your building work.

Alternatively, each neighbour can appoint a party wall surveyor to draw up the award between them. The two party wall surveyors will nominate a "third surveyor" who would be called in to arbitrate if the two party wall surveyors cannot agree.

In all cases, surveyors appointed to negotiate and prepare an award or party wall agreement must behave impartially and consider the interests of both neighbours. They do not act as advocates for each side.

thor 03/12/2012 at 9:50 am

My neighbours will not respond to my letters from my surveyor about the party wall act and they are about to start work no one wants to help what can i do the neighbour is a bully and wont listern

steve 27/11/2012 at 2:07 pm

Some people have no idea of the visual impact of house alterations my nieghbour or was , has visualised a project that completely shows no regard for surrounding houses or the people that live in them we who live directly next to this monster and when I say this I mean it , had no notification of this so called impending build the person in question did put up a sign of alteration but low down on a front gat flanked by a privit hedge so unless you went looking for it you would nt see it , when we did eventually find that a extension was on the cards we thought conservatory of something along that line my god were we in for a nasty shock

x 06/11/2012 at 10:53 am

My next door neighbor has built an extention to his home with planning permisionAll the houses on Sandgate and Lodge Moor estates have internal soil and vent stacks.He has now put up a soil and vent stack seven foot outside my lounge window.Also the work is not very good,with swannecks and long run across to the toilet.The drawings done by the achitect show an internal soil.The local planning say its ok because he has told them he has not got a drawing for thispart of the house, but I have seen it.The pannong dept. say they only deal with the outside partof the property,I think this is the ouside part of the propery.I was a plumber with my own firm for fourty six years and to see this in front of my lounge window every day is to say the lease disturbing.Regards R.Anthonies

Tuppence 26/09/2012 at 2:51 pm

How can I stop a neighbour endlessly blaming me for damp coming in through a party wall on his side, when both of us have had work done on the wall? My builders were the first and didn't do a good job but before I could put their work right he did some new work on his side without telling me. My new builder then sorted the top of the lead flashings where I believe the original problem was. Before that his workmen broke the seal at the bottom of the flashing (by installing a new glass roof) and there is still damp coming through on his side. There never has been any on my side.

Stressed 08/09/2012 at 1:10 pm

Please could you tell me if my neighbour should have applied for planning permission to put up a stable in the garden? Thank you.

Zaf 24/07/2012 at 7:41 am

Hi hope you can help and advice me my neighbors recently made a drive, our houses are semi- detached but now he wants to build a wall between the drives but problem is I think he didn't leave enough space for the wall if the wall is now built it will be on my side of the house leaving narrow space for us can I object to that, we live in Sandwell