Neighbour wishes to clad wall, which will overhang boundary.

Kirchner8 · 2 Oct 2008

Hi I'm new to this board so not sure if this topic is in the right place. Please move if necessary.

Our neighbour wishes to clad the wall that sits on the boundary between our properties. This means essentially that his cladding will overhang our boundary by a minimum of 80mm. What I wish to know is, do we legally have the right to object to this?

Any advice much appreciated, thank you.

theoutlaw · 2 Oct 2008

If it is a party wall then he has to ask your permission, as for 80mm over hang I'm not sure. I would let him do it if I got on with him whats 80mm unless you have a garden of only a few feet wide.
Ask him why he needs to clad it?

Tony

Kirchner8 · 2 Oct 2008

Thanks for the swift reply Tony.

It's the wall that separates our two house (terraced), but where his house extends further at the back it creates the wall in question, i.e. a wall that's outer face sits on the boundary line between the properties, and faces into our garden. Would this be a party wall?

He wants to clad his entire house to save on heating costs, which is fair enough. What worries us is, if we, or any future purchasers (we're planning to sell in the next few years) would want to extend our house at the back, we would have to remove this cladding on his wall which will be problematic. We also have new decking, on which he'd have to place scaffolding to clad this wall, and we're concerned about damage the scaffolding may cause to this decking.

In truth, we don't want him to clad wall for the above reasons, but don't know legally if we have the right to say no. Are you saying that if it's a party wall we can say no, but if not he has the right to clad it, and there's nothing we can do about it?

JohnD · 2 Oct 2008

nobody is allowed to extend their building onto your land without your permission (which should best be documented).

80mm or 8m makes no difference.

Neither are they allowed to put scaffolding on your land without your permission, and you would be foolish to grant this without ensuring his written agreement to repair any damnage and reinstate afterwards. You could insist on a cash deposit or a payment as a condition of agreeing if you felt like it.

^woody^ · 2 Oct 2008

He can't overhang the boundary without your express permission. If he does this, then he commits a trespass.

Its basic property law - you own your land, no one can cross it without your permission or unless allowed in other law

You can agree, and charge him for it - either a one off fee or a licence.

If you agree be careful not to word your permission so as you move the property boundary line. State that the cladding is crossing the boundary onto you property and not that the new boundary is deemed to be the face of the cladding.

If you agree get him to pay for a formal notice done by specialist Solicitors and have it amended to both property deeds

In any case this work will impact on the building regulations - Part B - Externsl fire spread.

Any cladding close to the property boundary must be such that it will not allow external spread of fire across the boundary.

He will need to take special precautions in construction and choice of materials, and he must involve building control

mattylad · 2 Oct 2008

And ensure the wording of the agreement also mentioned removal of the cladding should you wish to extend your property in the future.

theoutlaw · 2 Oct 2008

Blimey some quick responses and correct they all are, even if it is something that doesnt touch the ground it is an infringement on your right of air.
Nothing more to add really as the others have cleared it up nicely.

Tony

Cruithne · 2 Oct 2008

I believe that if your neighbour does carry out the work, potentially his property will have what's known as a 'flying freehold'. This can cause alarm bells to ring when selling.

Kirchner8 · 2 Oct 2008

Thank you all so much for your advice. This is very helpful. Your info prompted me to search online about party walls, and this in turn led to a surveyor, who confirmed that our neighbour has no legal right to clad the wall beyond the boundary, as, as somebody else mentions it is a trespass.

Interestingly he said that if the wall is a party wall, it is not such a worry as we always have the right to demand removal of the cladding (although I suspect we would need to agree this in writing before work was carried out). However if the wall is classed as an external wall, in 12 years, the boundary line would shift to the external face of the added cladding, so this can be a big problem!

In his opinion it would not be advisable to agree to the cladding.

Thanks again for the swift advice. Much appreciated.

^woody^ · 2 Oct 2008

Cruithne said:
I believe that if your neighbour does carry out the work, potentially his property will have what's known as a 'flying freehold'. This can cause alarm bells to ring when selling.

He wont have a flying freehold unless one is granted by the property owner.

He can't just do it and claim a flying freehold

^woody^ · 2 Oct 2008

Kirchner8 said:
Interestingly he said that if the wall is a party wall, it is not such a worry as we always have the right to demand removal of the cladding (although I suspect we would need to agree this in writing before work was carried out). However if the wall is classed as an external wall, in 12 years, the boundary line would shift to the external face of the added cladding, so this can be a big problem!

It's not correct with regards to the removal of cladding if a party wall.

Also the boundary would not automatically shift after 12 years. It may if you did nothing, but if you agreed to the work and stated that the boundary has not moved, then the boundary line remains where it is

This neighbour can not build across the boundary even if the party wall act is used. He can use the PWA to put scaffold on you land and work off you land, but thats it - his wall, cladding and gutter, must stay on his side of the boundary line

Cruithne · 2 Oct 2008

^woody^ said:
Cruithne said:

I believe that if your neighbour does carry out the work, potentially his property will have what's known as a 'flying freehold'. This can cause alarm bells to ring when selling.

Click to expand...

He wont have a flying freehold unless one is granted by the property owner.

He can't just do it and claim a flying freehold

I agree, but I was taking it that the second party was considering the outcome if agreeing to the cladding work.

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Neighbour wishes to clad wall, which will overhang boundary.

theoutlaw

theoutlaw

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