Neighbours building into my garden

C

capperdown

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sincere apologies if this question has been asked before - i have looked at previous but couldnt find answer to my specific problem.

I live in a semi detatched bungalow. My neighbour is building an extension and asked my dad (landlord) if he could knock down the wall separating our bungalows at the back and build a new one. (this was just a boundary wall with nothing either side of it originally). My dad agreed stating that as long as he kept his extension on his side he did not mind.

Now the extension is up, the wall that has been rebuilt is not a separate boundary wall like before but the wall to his extension and is where the old wall used to be but back roughly 3 inches (round about half the width of the old wall). Therefore the new wall is actually the side of his extension. The roof that has been put on overhangs our house with guttering 11 inches. He assured my dad that there would be no guttering on this wall so dad assumed the roof would be flat and agreed. No agreements were signed or plans shown to us dad just agreed in good faith that he would keep to his side.

I hope you follow all that. Do we have any options? Can we get him to move back? We do not want 11 inches of his property hanging over us (about 15 foot long) and have asked to see the plans, building is nearly complete at this stage.
 
get him to build a parapet wall on your side so that there is no overhang at all...

your father was very fair to him, its the least he can do!!!
 
Get onto the Council and tell them that it's being built and is overhanging your property. I'm guessing it doesn't have planning permission.

They will investigate, and initiate proceedings if necessary, but be warned, it may take a while.
 
thanks syd.. parapet wall, i'm not sure what this means.. building another wall to cover the guttering would mean it would start half way up my bedroom window. i wish i could draw a picture !!
 
Thanks J26
i believe it has planning permission of some sort as the plans have been passed. I have requested to see them through the council. Do you mean that he may not have permission to build this particular structure? even if he has plans passed is he in breech of these being that the guttering etc is attached to my outside bedroom wall and overhangs right up the garden?
 
if it's got planning then you can view the plans by

a] calling to the council planning office in person

or

b] check to see if the council have an eplan system (online) where you can view all applications.you don't even need a planning number, just the townland and surname should do.
 
I had a similar problem a few years ago. I got verbal agreement and then the neighbour complained. I should have been more clear and understand where he was coming from. Unless its a huge extension or it is taking up most of his garden then he probably does not need planning permission. It is a very gray area, i got a lot of advice from builder friends and could not get a straight answer either way. If its a proper dividing wall then an extension can be build on your side using the same wall saving you 3 or 4 thousand euro. (i.e it should not devalue your property). Anyway as far as I know once its up there is not a lot you can do. If the extension is not finished then you can refuse him permission to enter your garden to plaster/seal the wall making his extension useless. Nasty, but if you are been messed around ?????
 
Get the council to have a look at it. Forget getting involved in suggesting that they build a parapet or anything else. If you dont resolve this, ie force them to make good, then you will have trouble yourself selling your own home when the time comes and you dont need that hassle. Whether they had planning for their build or not, they dont have the right to build in your property so I would get onto this asap.
 
I had a similar problem a few years ago. I got verbal agreement and then the neighbour complained. I should have been more clear and understand where he was coming from. Unless its a huge extension or it is taking up most of his garden then he probably does not need planning permission. It is a very gray area, i got a lot of advice from builder friends and could not get a straight answer either way. If its a proper dividing wall then an extension can be build on your side using the same wall saving you 3 or 4 thousand euro. (i.e it should not devalue your property). Anyway as far as I know once its up there is not a lot you can do. If the extension is not finished then you can refuse him permission to enter your garden to plaster/seal the wall making his extension useless. Nasty, but if you are been messed around ?????
 
There is no point in getting the council involved if he did not need planning permission in the first place. He does have the right to build a dividing wall if he got verbal permission. That’s where it gets messy, your word against his. It is unbelievable that there is no law or rules as it is a very common problem..
 
fair enough he has the right to build a dividing wall, but not to move it in another 3 inches...he is now moving the boundaries...

as for the overhanging roof, not sure where that stands, but if your neighbour has a tree and a branch grows over your fence, you are entitled to cut that back. And thats just a branch, never mind a structure.

Seeing as its your dads house, what does he think? Do you have any financial involvement in the house?

If it was me, I wouldn't be happy about it. One thing that I hate is people, especially neighbours taking liberties like this
 
capperdown said:
Thanks J26
i believe it has planning permission of some sort as the plans have been passed. I have requested to see them through the council. Do you mean that he may not have permission to build this particular structure? even if he has plans passed is he in breech of these being that the guttering etc is attached to my outside bedroom wall and overhangs right up the garden?
Click to expand...

AFAIK you need planning permission to build within a metre of a party wall, and it can be hard to get even if you apply Even if he applied, I'd be very, very surprised if permission was granted to overhang neighbouring property, so there's a more than fair chance he's not building in accordance with the plan submitted.
A friend of my wife works in planning and was called out recently to a house near us. The person is building a shed using the party walls, and this is a major issue for the Council.

Is the new wall three inches on your side or his side of the old boundary? It's a bit hard to work out from your post.
 
But if the dividing wall is 6 inches wide then 3 inches will be in both gardens. As for the overhang again you can stop him putting this up which he needs to do to seal the wall but once it’s up it’s up. By overhang I am talking about a cement lentil type thing, not gutters. If you then try to remove it he can sue you for damaging his property.

You only need permission to build upon a party wall, not near a party wall
 
venice said:
There is no point in getting the council involved if he did not need planning permission in the first place. He does have the right to build a dividing wall if he got verbal permission. That’s where it gets messy, your word against his. It is unbelievable that there is no law or rules as it is a very common problem..
Click to expand...

That is true. But it over hangs his properity, he has every right to get it knocked.
 
Legally nobody has the right to damage another persons property even if it overhangs. If its in place then the courts are the only option which is expensive and could go either way. i am not saying its fair but...
 
venice said:
You only need permission to build upon a party wall, not near a party wall
Click to expand...


Planning and Development Regulations said:
The extension of a house, by the construction or erection of an extension (including a conservatory) to the rear of the house or by the conversion for use as part of the house of any garage, store, shed or other similar structure attached to the rear or to the side of the house.
1. (a) Where the house has not been extended previously, the floor area of any such extension shall not exceed 40 square metres.
(b) Subject to paragraph (a), where the house is terraced or semi-detached, the floor area of any extension above ground level shall not exceed 12 square metres.
(c) Subject to paragraph (a), where the house is detached, the floor area of any extension above ground level shall not exceed 20 square metres.
2. (a) Where the house has been extended previously, the floor area of any such extension, taken together with the floor area of any previous extension or extensions constructed or erected after 1 October 1964, including those for which planning permission has been obtained, shall not exceed 40 square metres.
(b) Subject to paragraph (a), where the house is terraced or semi-detached and has been extended previously, the floor area of any extension above ground level taken together with the floor area of any previous extension or extensions above ground level constructed or erected after 1 October 1964, including those for which planning permission has been obtained, shall not exceed 12 square metres.
(c) Subject to paragraph (a), where the house is detached and has been extended previously, the floor area of any extension above ground level, taken together with the floor area of any previous extension or extensions above ground level constructed or erected after 1 October 1964, including those for which planning permission has been obtained, shall not exceed 20 square metres.
3. Any above ground floor extension shall be a distance of not less than 2 metres from any party boundary.
4. (a) Where the rear wall of the house does not include a gable, the height of the walls of any such extension shall not exceed the height of the rear wall of the house.
(b) Where the rear wall of the house includes a gable, the height of the walls of any such extension shall not exceed the height of the side walls of the house.
(c) The height of the highest part of the roof of any such extension shall not exceed, in the case of a flat roofed extension, the height of the eaves or parapet, as may be appropriate, or, in any other case, shall not exceed the height of the highest part of the roof of the dwelling.
5. The construction or erection of any such extension to the rear of the house shall not reduce the area of private open space, reserved exclusively for the use of the occupants of the house, to the rear of the house to less than 25 square metres.
6. (a) Any window proposed at ground level in any such extension shall not be less than 1 metre from the boundary it faces.
(b) Any window proposed above ground level in any such extension shall not be less than 11 metres from the boundary it faces.
(c) Where the house is detached and the floor area of the extension above ground level exceeds 12 square metres, any window proposed at above ground level shall not be less than 11 metres from the boundary it faces.
7. The roof of any extension shall not be used as a balcony or roof garden.
Click to expand...

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2001/en/si/0600.html#partii

It would seem not if there are windows, or multi-storey involved.

To the OP - see if there are any points that might be relevant here.
 
OP,

I'm not too sure on the legal aspect but my aunt is in a similar situation. She rang the council and they said they would send out an inspector to make sure the other party was complying with the planning rules. However she was told it would take 6 to 8 weeks for the inspection. So she went to her local counsellor who arranged for an inspector the next day! He checked the building and put a stop to all work immediately. She was then able to send in her appeal, and the neighbour has applied for retention planning. Still a decision isnt due till the new year.

So if you have a good counsellor in your area get on to them. It cant hurt to get it checked out!

Hope it works out!
 
Thank you all for your posts.. really useful.. i am going to try to answer some of the questions you had in order as i read them.

Woodbine - yes he had planning permission to build an extension. I have requested to view thse to see if what he has built is the same as what he submitted. I suppose this is the best starting point. Thank you.

Venice - Yes it is a HUGE extension - doubling the size of his bungalow at the back up my garden's boundary with his.

H U G E..... | new wall with 11 inch
.EXTENSION| overhang (dividing wall now 15 ft long roughly up gdn)
_His house_|_My House_

All seals and plasterwork has been done unfortunately. Thanks for suggestion tho - I wouldnt be nasty anyway ;)
I thought there were rules for boundary/party walls?

David D - Will get council involved once i see plans for breech if applicable i guess?

To Sullivan - Dad is furious and wishes he'd never agreed to boundary wall being knocked down as now instead of small boundary wall we have huge half a bungalow. Dad is just a pensioner and didnt realise this neighbour would take advantage. I hate it too!!

J26 - If it is not in accordance with the plan submitted what could happen? and regarding the 3 inches, the old wall was approx 6 inches across and i have 3 inches left at my side of his extension. His wall is right on the line.

Venice - he knocked party wall down completely.##Towger - i hope we can get it knocked or at least moved!! He has a window at the end looks right onto where i sunbath in the summer :(

J26 - Thanks for Regs 2001 - very useful!!!

Paddy and eimsrv - good idea about the counsellor - will do that !!


thanks everyone again please let me know anything you think would help given these replies.
 
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