Neighbour's extension

Would be difficult, likely to require foundations protruding into your land ...

Good ;-)

Yes, subject to complying with the obligations imposed on them by law.

Those obligations include:

a. planning where you are now free to make comments and representations

b. the Party Wall Act which - if it applies as a result of eg their foundations - entitles you to appoint at their cost your own surveyor and to an agreement which constrains the work.

But your neighbours are not obliged to go beyond that, let alone to seek your approval before they even submit their plans. Indeed, some advise against discussion with neighbours before plans are submitted on the basis that that can lead to misunderstandings about both what is proposed and what is a relevant consideration.

Unlikely to work in our case I would have thought. The houses in the neighbourhood are all detached and have a gap of several metres between them, but a lot of people have done what they want to do and extended the kitchens (originally too small for modern living) to the side, hence reducingthe gap.

Others have asked whether you have any thoughts of extending your garage towards the boundary?

OTOH if the foundations bring the Party Wall Act into play you might also face section 8 (Rights of entry). That broadly speaking provides for your neighbours to get access to your land for certain work. You'd need someone more clued up than me to advise what is and isn't covered.

PS Section 8 includes provides for "the building owner [ie your neighbour], his agents and workmen may, if accompanied by a constable or other police officer, break open any fences or doors in order to enter the premises"!

No the party wall act comes Into play if they are planning to build within

Our bungalow was originally a link detached with next door with a carport spanning the gap between. When we had our roof re-tiled our neighbour took his carport down as it required a lot of repair however the side wall of our house is on our side of the boundary if we wanted to extend backwards along this line or our neighbour wanted to extend over part of his drive the Party Wall Act would come into play as we are only one drive width approx. 2.5m apart. In the deeds there are covenants regards sharing certain features and getting access to carry out repairs. The roofers were able to access our roof from his side and also to erect scaffolding.

All covered in the (IMHO rather good)

Depends on how the floor is done. When the floor is concrete, no problem with no foundation past the face of the wall. The concret is just deeper under the wall itself.

Its not actually true if the floor in the new extension is concrete.

The slab is just deeper under the wall itself, it doesn't project past the face of the wall that is on top of it.

On 13/02/2023 08:54, Robin wrote: <snip>

Yes, worth appreciating as Robin suggests that 'Planning Permission' is not permission to build. You can, in theory, get planning permission for a building on land you don't own - all it means is there are no planning objections, not that it would be lawful or achievable.

response to

Did you know that if you both build up to the boundary(not even acroos it as a party wall) your houses become semi detatched or even terraced if already one of them is a semi? This limits the volume of a y future extension.

properties?

Look at the party wall act. Things like this are specifically mentioned. The rules for digging footings within 6m of your own footings are quite complicated and potentially expensive for them.

I'd say that your obvious objection ground is loss of residential amenity via loss of sunlight. Plus perhaps design of building not in keeping with surrounding buildings in the locality.

Why not contact your local councillor and ask for a site meeting (at which the planning committee will attend at a particular time and be able to assess the situation for themselves as well as allowing you and perhaps other neighbours to outline the problems you would be caused?

You are not obliged to give neighbours access onto your land, but if they get permission and if they propose a brick or rendered wall, it'd be better - for you - to let them do it.

The council is supposed to write to you in connection with a planning application like that, next door.

He has no windows facing the new extension.

Not something he can use to prevent the new extension.

Not needed if the extension has a concrete slab.

And you are wrong about that.

That one put a notice on a power pole.

The planning notice on the pole is enough. Often they'll write too, but don't have to.

Same thing happened to us - in previous years we'd had a letter and we assumed this was the law, but it turned out not to be so.