how to object to neighbour's extension

My neighbour has just presented me with a set of plans for a huge extension to the side of his house, taking his house hard up to the boundary between the gardens, and to within 6 feet of my gable wall.

I'm wondering how best to object such that it'll be taken seriously by the council.

I have a window on the second floor facing the boundary, and the proposed gable end will only be 6 feet away from it, blocking out a lot of light - is this a good enough reason?

also, he has a central heating outlet on the gable wall which, if not relocated elsewhere, would be venting straight into my garden into the 6 feet gap.

If he gets approval, I don't see how they can build it, then rough-cast it without access to my garden for scaffolding etc. Can I stop them from doing this? How about things like foundations & eaves as well - would they not have to extend over the boundary line?

I'm not against him building an extension as such, but think he could stop a metre back from the boundary line.

Any one had similar experiences?

Thanks,

Jim

Reply to
JJ
Loading thread data ...

Unlikely unfortunately. Very few properties have any right to light these days. Does he plan a window facing your property? This may be restricted by covenants on the property, and planners tend to take a dim view of anything which lessens a neighbours privacy.

AIUI he can not vent a boiler on to your land, but this won't get the planning application blocked. I don't know what the situation is if he builds six inches inside the boundary and then vents into his own space and subsequently on to your land.

The foundations will have to be fully within his own land, so in all likelihood the wall will be slightly inside his land. He has no right (unless enshrined in your restrictive covenants) to access your land to do building work, so that will hinder his plans, but again is not a block to the planning application. It may however persuade him to move the extension 1m inside his boundary.

One thing which planners are much stricter on now is parking amenity. Will the extension remove parking spaces or turning area on his land? If so then this could reduce parking amenity for the street, at the same time as raising the potential number of cars required by the house. This is one way of objecting to the planning application which may be successful.

If he is planning to excavate foundations 1.5m from your house then he will need to follow the requirements of the party wall act, which includes getting a letter from you giving permission to do the work. If you refuse, he then has to pay a structural surveyor/engineer to look at the situation and decide what is safe etc.. One tactic could be to suggest that you will happily give him the letter of permission if he agrees not to build within 1m of the boundary.

Let us know what happens, Al Reynolds

Reply to
Al Reynolds

Interesting. In many cases here, where a residence is completely detached, it is essential to have a minimum one metre (3 feet) strip to make it possible for a fireperson to drag a hose to the rear of the property, even if they have to axe down a fence or break open a locked gate to do so. What provision must be made in your jurisdiction to have definite access to the rear of said property in event of a fire? It's planning and insurance issue surely? PS. Wasn't there something called "Ancient lights"? Which I dimly remember, in Britain, from the 1950s.

Reply to
Terry

Building regs state that a flue outlet must be at least 600mm from a facing boundary - this case as you have described it is against building regs.

Andy

Reply to
Andy

I thought if the window had been there for 25 years or more then you do have "a right to light".

W.

Reply to
W

So what did you decide to do? Al

Reply to
Al Reynolds

decided to ask that a hip roof be fitted to the extension - so that will let enough light reach my upper window.

also mentioned siting of flue & concern about proximity of footings to existing foundations.

let you know what happens...

JJ

Reply to
JJ

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.