Conservatory being built - whose fence is it?

[paulfoel]

Live in detached house. The back garden fence attaches to my house and runs parallel to the house (in a continuation). So looking at it - the fence is on my land.

Having a conservatory build and want to replace part of this fence with a wall (i.e. the conservatory). Can I legally do this?

Obviously, I'mn going to ask my neighbour but is he allowed to object? It would just mean replacing fence with wall. Othewise, even if he does object I can build conservatory 1" inside fence and he can't do anything anyway.

[charles]

You are unlikely to get Planning Permission to put your conservatory that close to the boundary

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 10 August 2013 11:04 paulfoel wrote in uk.d-i-y:

uk.legal.modertaed would be a better place to ask this.

But from a practical POV, if you can build it 40cm inside your boundary, you avoid all issues of boundary and you will still be able to get around it for maintenance purposes.

One other thing worth checking: Are you within your permitted development rights for the volume and position?

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 10 August 2013 11:25 charles wrote in uk.d-i-y:

I don't think that's a problem for single storey extensions:

I'm assuming the OP is doing this under permitted development rights - but the OP should check - and clarify that he lives in England! (or check the different rules for Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland

[paulfoel]

Yes, checked the rights etc.

So how far past the edge of the conservatory would foundations go? I forgot about that. IS that the 40cm you mention?

[paulfoel]

I'll have to check but pretty sure I dont need planning permission.

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 10 August 2013 13:11 paulfoel wrote in uk.d-i-y:

I assume you are talking to me? If you replied to the right post (and not yourself) it would help!

No.

40cm was an approximate amount that a thin person could squeeze into to clean windows and fix gutters. Just.

Having just had a conservatory built (so I am fairly au fait with the

*English* rules, footings go about 10cm beyond the brickwork.

But they don't have to - with care, they could be flush. But I suspect builders would complain about this and want a little leeway.

[Brian Gaff]

Well, there is the little matter of what happens to your neighbours plants near his side of the fence. although you could cut off all the roots that encroach on your foundation trench, it might not be the best thing to do for peace and lack of future hassle.

Brian

[Brian Gaff]

I notice the classifications on planning around here have things like Permitted development certificate or Householder, what ever that might mean. Strange folk these planners. Brian

[yendor]

If he does object and you build it 1" from boundary, how will you get to the outside of the wall to finish the brickwork, as he is likely not going to give you permission to come onto his land, and is there any roof overhang that may go over the party wall into his property? If so, he could insist you remove any overhang.

Best bet is speak to him, and check if he is OK with it, but also keep all parts of it within your boundary.

Falling out with a neighbour for an extra foot is not worth it in the long run.

[Mike Humphrey]

You're building a party wall, so you need to look up the procedures for the Party Wall Act. The neighbour can object, but it gets referred to a surveyor if you can't agree.

Mike

[Another John]

But (as others have said): the builders will need to be on *his* land in order to erect the wall and the conservatory itself.

Further, you will need to go on to his land in the future to carry out repairs, or maintenance.

Personally I'd have it built as far back from the boundary as the builders need, in order to do their work -- might be 3 feet.

The neighbour of a friend of mine recently had an extension built, replacing the joint fence with the wall of the extension. The builders had to erect scaffolding in my friend's garden, taking out a space in the flower border 12 feet long by 4 feet wide, while the work was going on. Fortunately (for the neighbour) my friend is very accommodating; I really don't know what would have happened to the neighbour's planned extension if my friend had decided to forbid access to her land.

J.

[Stephen Mawson]

See the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992

Stephen

[Bill Taylor]

That looks as if it only gives right of access to maintain existing structures, not to build new ones.

[Peter Crosland]

That only allows access, under a Court order if necessary, to do repairs. There is no right for building. Also remember that the neighbour may not be their forever and a new one may not be so helpful. As a rule of thumb don't build closer than three feet.

[sm_jamieson]

Well I'm not sure what the problem is - around here plenty of extensions ha ve been built right up to the boundary (just a plain brick wall). The build er can finish the brick work overhand it he has no access, but the finish w ill be better if he can access the wall from the other side, so it may be i n the neighbour's interest to let them have access. Just have a brick wall to that side of the conservatory - the gutter can be a box type if need be. Simon.

[Terry Fields]

The neighbour would be quite within his rights to resist any part of the structure - such as gutters - overhanging his land. It could create a 'flying freehold' and cause problems for the neighbour if he decides to sell.

I'd suggest leaving a minumum gap that the OP could use for maintenance purposes.

[Peter Johnson]

I've just looked at the photographs taken wnen my extension was being built with one wall along the boundary. The footings went up to the boundary and the brickwork went along the outside edge. This aroused no comment from the builder who, I assume, did it that way because he always did it that way. Didn't attract any comment from the building control inspector either. (My neighbours were a bit nervous about the extension but gave their permission for access and the scaffold to be errected. The building control approval came with a note that they thought the Party Wall Act applied. As the builder was to start a week later and the PWA requires two month's notice to be given I kept quiet about it. Afterwards the neighbour said that the extension wall looked better than the section of fence that it replaced. I gave them permission to screw fixings into the fall for climbing plants.)

[SteveW]

Under permitted development rights you probably don't need planning permission.

If he's got a structure close to the boundary, you may need to look at the party-wall act.

However, If you are putting a wall right up to the boundary, be careful that you have no overhangs - guttering is a favourite, but even flashing usually has to go a few inches past the edge of the roof and an already upset neighbour could kick up a fuss.

They could also make it difficult in the future by denying access for maintenance.

We went for just enough gap to allow me to squeeze between the conservatory and the fence, despite the current neighbours being fine and even offering to let us work from their side - you don't know what your next neighbours will be like.

SteveW

[SteveW]

Our neighbours had a small extension built, well away from our house, but their first plan was for a much larger one, coming close to, but not up to, the boundary. They mentioned it and subsequently we received a letter from the council. We had no objections, but suggested that they build right up to the boundary, so if in the future we decided to extend, we could build right up to theirs and avoid any problems of maintenance access - which is exactly how the existing extensions are constructed.

SteveW