First post!
We live in the ground floor /basement flat of a 4 story converted period house, with a share of freehold (shared with the other 3 flats). We share garden access with the first floor flat, we have the garden next to the house and they have the end of the garden. Currently they access the garden via a balcony and steps on the rear of the house, which is directly above our patio area.
We would like to build a rear extension within usual permitted development size, however we are aware that this will adversely affect our neighbours by removing the balcony/stairs
Initially I thought we would be able to get around this by creating a roof terrace on top of the extension with stairs down to the garden, therefore actually increasing the value of their property. However a few google searches has made me realise this probably would not be allowed due to overlooking neighbours.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we can get around the problem, I.e. still give access to the garden for our neighbours? Would the fact that there is already a balcony in place have any bearing on the issue of overlooking neighbouring gardens? I know we need to eg agreement from all freeholders before going ahead, so I want to make sure that we can get them on board with the idea (as obviously they will just refuse if the work has an adverse affect on them!)
Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this
We live in the ground floor /basement flat of a 4 story converted period house, with a share of freehold (shared with the other 3 flats). We share garden access with the first floor flat, we have the garden next to the house and they have the end of the garden. Currently they access the garden via a balcony and steps on the rear of the house, which is directly above our patio area.
We would like to build a rear extension within usual permitted development size, however we are aware that this will adversely affect our neighbours by removing the balcony/stairs
Initially I thought we would be able to get around this by creating a roof terrace on top of the extension with stairs down to the garden, therefore actually increasing the value of their property. However a few google searches has made me realise this probably would not be allowed due to overlooking neighbours.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we can get around the problem, I.e. still give access to the garden for our neighbours? Would the fact that there is already a balcony in place have any bearing on the issue of overlooking neighbouring gardens? I know we need to eg agreement from all freeholders before going ahead, so I want to make sure that we can get them on board with the idea (as obviously they will just refuse if the work has an adverse affect on them!)
Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this