Neighbour's Kitchen Vent Extracting Over Boundary

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I live in a mid-terraced property and I’m looking for some advice regarding the fitting of a kitchen extractor fan to my neighbour’s property.

Following a recent kitchen renovation, my neighbour is now using an extractor fan in his kitchen. The exit to this extractor fan has been placed on his side wall which directly faces the front of our property (a boundary wall) This means that the extractor fan, when operational, is directly facing our front door and front window. The air from it is vented directly across our property front and into our airspace less than 30cm from the front of our house.

I’ve read a number of forum posts on this subject and generally the agreement seems to be that my neighbour cannot position or discharge anything over the boundary to my property. This also means that to complete any maintenance to the extractor fan, my neighbour would need to cross over the boundary onto my property to complete the work.
We received no notice that this was going to happen, and we didn't agree to the position of the extractor fan as we were never consulted. My neighbour is currently unwilling to install a recirculation system, or move the extractor fan to a position where it’s venting over his property only.

We thought we might be able to duct the air from the outside upwards and away from our house, but he has since told us that his ducting is already at the maximum capacity within his home for the extractor to work correctly – therefore he is refusing to do that too.

We think we are reasonable people who would like to reach a compromise with our neighbour amicably – but he now will not answer the door to us. We have suggested the ducting, a charcoal filter to lessen the smells, recirculation, or moving the vent to the front of his house – but he always refuses or has an answer that means he is unwilling to compromise.

When the extractor fan is in use, we have to close our front windows and upstairs windows as the smell of the cooking is really strong and happens instantly – the smell infiltrates our whole house – we even know when he has started using the extractor from our back room as the smell is that strong.

We are constantly looking to see if it’s in use so we can close our windows and avoid the cooking smells in our property – but even when we close the windows the smell is coming in through our extractor vent as his has been positioned right next to ours.

I would really appreciate any advice on what our options are in this situation.
 
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I would really appreciate any advice on what our options are in this situation.

I think you have two options:

a) get a lot of different opinions from us lot

b) consult a solicitor

I'd go for the latter. I'd have thought you have a good case for getting the nuisance abated. Whether this could be effected by a well-worded solicitor's letter, or would need a court injunction, I'm not qualified or experienced to comment.

Cheers
Richard
 
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but even when we close the windows the smell is coming in through our extractor vent as his has been positioned right next to ours.

So does your extractor also vent next to your front door and across your property?
I once had a similar problem and contacted the council who sent an environmental health officer out to investigate the 'noxious smell'.
He sorted it out but I never spoke to the neighbour again.
 
So does your extractor also vent next to your front door and across your property?.

Thanks for the replies

Our kitchen extractor is on the front wall of our house pointing out. It's as far into the corner of the wall as it can be. The air is vented out away from the property so it has no affect on our property or our neighbour's property

Our neighbours extractor is on his side wall/boundary wall (30cm from our front wall) and pointing directly towards our front window and front door.

I once had a similar problem and contacted the council who sent an environmental health officer out to investigate the 'noxious smell'.
He sorted it out but I never spoke to the neighbour again.

The environmental health team at our council, whilst being very friendly, have said that they can't do anything formally as it's not a commercial property and the Environmental Act does not cover cooking odours from a residential property.
 
Our neighbours extractor is on his side wall/boundary wall (30cm from our front wall) and pointing directly towards our front window and front door.

I can't visualise this very well (a diagram would help). Is the neighbour's wall the boundary, or does the neighbour own some land between it and the boundary? That is, whose land is the flue outlet on?

Cheers
Richard
 
I can't visualise this very well (a diagram would help). Is the neighbour's wall the boundary, or does the neighbour own some land between it and the boundary? That is, whose land is the flue outlet on?

Just produced a quick diagram on paint, hope it gives you a better idea of the layout of the houses.

View media item 79049
 
If you have legal cover on any of your insurance or banking products then call it in to address this. It is a nuisance and needs to be abated before they gain a prescriptive easement.

If the front boundary runs in line with the rear one then it appears to be venting over the boundary and directly onto your property? If so you could always block it at the boundary - e.g. by erecting a post directly in front of it with a large board the same size as the vent attached to it on your neighbour's side blocking the vent but remaining wholly on your property. Stick a bird house on your side to make it look nice. The flow would be reduced significantly and the smells would back up into the neighbour's property so they would move it pretty quickly.

(For anyone else reading this - do not block a boiler vent as it is highly dangerous.)

If you think a post/board would be too provocative and the vent is less than 2m from the ground externally then as you are far enough from the highway you could erect a 2m high fence just as far as the neighbours front elevation. It wouldn't change any light getting into your kitchen window but if would block the vent just as effectively.
 
This is a clear statutory nuisance and trespass. Don't delay. Get it sorted immediately.
 
Although rectifying this is best done by moving the output to the front of the house, it can probably be rectified by placing a shield over it to direct the output towards the front or even back onto their own property.
 
Fit some ducting over the outlet, and run it through your house, and then through your rear wall, so the smell ends up in his back garden :idea:
 
Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who's offered me advice on this thread. Most have been really positive and helpful, and the rest have been pretty amusing.

I'm currently exploring all the possible options but I think it's going take quite a bit of time before I have any update.

Thanks again.
 

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