Boundary wall vs "party wall" (off topic!)

[simonlangford]

Hi,

The neighbouring land to ours has been sold to a developer who is building two houses with garages on the next-door plot. Our garage is built in our garden, and two sides of it form the boundary of our property. The builders have built one of the new garages extremely close to our existing garage, such that the guttering is in contact with our garage. Is this allowed?

An architect friend mentioned something about a minimum gap of 50mm, but I don't know where this requirement comes from. I spoke to Building Control this afternoon, and they said that if the buildings are touching then it's a civil matter which falls under the Party Wall Act. But the point is that I don't think the buildings SHOULD be touching, and the garage wall is not supposed to become a party wall.

Being extremely picky, the new garage has encroached over the border, since it has been extended under the eaves of our existing garage by a couple of inches. Can I insist that they move the new garage?

Any advice received with interest!!

Simon.

[ben]

Best advice I can give is let sleeping dogs lie. A situation like this can blow out of all proportions and falling out with the neighbours is one thing that should be avoided, and to be honest is it actually causing any harm? Classic cases like this have been shown on TV with dire consequences.

[Rob Morley]

It doesn't matter if he falls out with the developer, because the developer won't be living next door.

[Rob Morley]

Are you sure that they have encroached on your land, rather than vice versa?

[ben]

He would still have to take him to court if the developer is not having any of it, and that could take months or years, by that time he will have sold the houses and then its to blows with the purchasers of the houses this is when it starts getting complicated as to who should be liable.

[dg]

You should really be checking the Planning Permission, not the building control approval. This will determine the approved location. Although building control should be interested to make sure that two touching buildings have proper fire spread protection

Your architect friend does not seem to know a lot about buildings and boundaries! There is no such limit of 50mm. You can build upto the boundary line, but not cross it without the owners consent.

The Party Wall Act only really applies before the building starts, and there is no provision for retrospective action (in fact its not manditory either)

No, your only redress is to determine where the boundary is, and then if the building crosses it. Then you have to take out a civil claim. Or can licence the overhang and charge a fee.

Moving the garage is unlikely. More likely would be that the gutter and eaves will be redesigned to avoid projecting across the boundary.

dg

[Owain]

But the developers might be tempted to give the builders some bunce for smashing things with big hammers. Like the OP's car - or kneecaps.

Owain

[Rob Morley]

If someone buys the house they will have to be told of any legal action that is pending, so presumably they won't be too bothered by it. More likely the developer will go for a quick settlement so he can sell and move on.

[fred]

In article , Rob Morley writes

Indeed, " . . . two sides of it form the boundary of our property." makes it sound a bit versa, could your roof/guttering be overhanging their property?

[Bob Smith (UK)]

What about maintenance. He now does not have acces to the outside of his wall, and probably no way of changing the gutter. If one is overhanging the other, the one below will not be clearable if it gets blocked either.

Bob

[ben]

Not my problem mate,take it up with the developer :-)

[Mark]

In article , [e-mail] writes

Think most has been said elsewhere in this thread, but it may be worth while having a look at

if the url is wrapped

follow Building Regulations The Party Wall etc Act 1996

[Hzatph]

Try posting to

- they are expert on this sort of thing

[dave]

To get some action by someone on this, could the OP put a sign on his land saying that there is an ongoing dispute over the siting of this new garage? That should do wonders for the salability of the new property!

As to the the implied kneecapping by the developers (by an earlier poster), maybe the anti-terrorist brigade could pay them a visit.

[simonlangford]

Thanks for all the responses.

I have looked again at the original plans under which permission was granted and there is a definite gap shown to allow for maintenance and airflow. So I have spoken to the planning permission people at the Council. The lady there talked about the "enforcement team" and someone coming out to have a look.

I hope I don't get any baseball bats through my windscreen...!

Simon.

[kajr]

Can I ask a really dumb question as this sounds like one of those only getting half a story posts. To need guttering it must be a pitched roof and if the guttering is touching the wall then the gap must be of the order of 4 inches. How did they fit the guttering and build the roof?

Kevin

[fred]

In article , [e-mail] writes

The guttering could have been fitted from above before the tiles went on.