Boundary wall dispute - HELP!

[paulllewellyn220172]

Help!

my new neighbour who is a property developer has removed my dwarf boundary wall and replaced it with a 1.2m rendered wall which is 8" deep, 4" on my land and the rest solely on his. He did not serve me with a party wall notice and I did not give my consent. The wall now looks like it all belongs to his house and the colour and texture of the render is the same as his building, only my side of the wall is painted white.

He informed me that he was going to build a new wall on both sides of his property and has done the same to his other neighbour, although that boundary is his. I did not know however, that he was going to pinch 4" of my land. He would not claim to have pinched it but what he has done is akin to that. As a developer, he can't plead ignorance.

Do I have a good chance of getting the wall demolished if I take legal action?

I know wall over 1m require planning permission but that will not get me my brick width of land back.

 

[jono_h]

I would suggest that for 4" it could end up being an expensive exercise. Lawyers aren't cheap.

Proving that he's nicked the 4" is the difficult bit. Land Registry plans aren't accurate enough to measure that amount.

By all means shop him to Planning, and if he's knocked down your wall inform the Police regarding he crimnal damage.

 

[RedHerring2]

Purely my opinion, but I fail to understand your problem.
You claim that you had a boundary wall that has been replaced with another wall and you've lost 4" of land in the process, even though the new wall is only 8" thick and half of it is on your land.

Surely if the original dwarf boundary wall was indeed yours it was wholly on your land, within your boundary, therefore taking up at least 4" of your land? Therefore I fail to see how you've lost 4" of land.
If, however, the original boundary wall was not on your land, was it really yours?

If you "shop" your neighbour to the local Planning, a) is the wall 1.2 m high on their side of the wall, and b) will the local Planning Officer want to get involved for 200mm of wall height, and c) if local Planning do get involved will taking 200mm off the top of the wall make so much difference?

I don't claim to understand much about the PWA, but the little I think I do understand is that now the new wall is built there is little to be gained by a PWA. Also, a PWA would allow you to claim for repairs, etc if damage has been caused. But if the wall has been re-built, all be it to a different spec', can that be claimed as damage?

Finally,

................../
He informed me that he was going to build a new wall on both sides of his property and has done the same to his other neighbour,
/...........

So he did inform you, did you request a PWA?

 

[^woody^]

If this wall is definitely crossing the boundary without consent, then legal action to have it removed will succeed.

The problem will be, how difficult it is to prove?

If the line of the boundary is clear and easy to interpret, then it will be easier than if the line could be easily disputed.

Armed with certainty, then any legal costs will eventually be recoverable from the neighbour if this progressed to court

 

[MarkWG]

Surely building without a PWA is reason for some enforcement action.

At the end of the day, is the wall that much of a bother? I'd just get a few quid off the developer and put up with it, unless it's blocking out light etc.

Don't need to worry about alienating the neighbours as it's a developer, but maybe put up a sign on your side saying it was built without permission and will shortly be coming down...

Or get out the trowel and demolish it, building a dwarf wall in its place over night...

 

[mattylad]

There is a train of thought that says that you now own 4" of that new wall too as it has been placed on your land & gifted to you.