Can my Neighbour do this

[Braddy07]

Hi All

My neighbour is currently ripping out their drive and will be extending it to cover the whole of their front of the house.
They will also be building a wall around the drive which is fine.

The issue is they want to join one of the walls to my wall which is on my side of the boundary.

I've attached a crude drawing to explain, the red bit is my wall at the back then as my house is elevated the garden is above the wall which then has a fence on top of it.

The grass bit spans both houses at the front and currently there's a little non panelled fence about 2ft which divides the grass bit indicated by the brown line.

The little sticking out bit is the vent for my boiler.

I think if they build this wall then I won't have any access to the vent if needed or to that side of the house in case any pointing or maintenance needs doing.

When the work started I did say I'm fine if you want the wall to start at the front and go up to my garage door/first manhole cover but not to block access to that side of my house which looks to have been ignored and they've cracked on.

Can they join the wall onto my wall fully and then bring the wall to the end of the drive where the two meet?

 

[JohnD]

they can't build onto your side of the boundary.

 

[^woody^]

How is it going to prevent you accessing the side of the house?

 

[Braddy07]

How is it going to prevent you accessing the side of the house?

Between my house wall and the proposed wall there will only be about 40/50cm gap and the wall is going to be around 5/6ft so not sure how anyone can fit into that space if they ever need to.

If you take my retaining wall in red and the left hand face it to be the boundary line, it's not like they will join the wall with half the brick face attached to the wall and half off.

The new wall will be joined fully to the red wall face and then extend down the middle where the small fence currently is until our two driveways meet at the front of the house.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Is this a shared drive?

 

[Braddy07]

No not a shared drive, not sure if you can see the pic I attached but I've outlined the driveways on there, we have a small grass bit between the drives and then a small fence that goes through the middle of the grass.

 

[Alec_t]

Between my house wall and the proposed wall there will only be about 40/50cm gap and the wall is going to be around 5/6ft so not sure how anyone can fit into that space if they ever need to.

Won't the same restriction also limit your neighbour's access to his own property? If so, might be worth pointing that out to the neighbour so that the offending wall section can be eliminated.

 

[Braddy07]

Won't the same restriction also limit your neighbour's access to his own property? If so, might be worth pointing that out to the neighbour so that the offending wall section can be eliminated.

No the houses are detached, their side of the house has a path that goes into the back garden from their side of the small fence and my retaining wall, so it's a lot wider on their side.

Our houses are not side by side, mine is set more forward.
Their house would start roughly in the middle of mine if looking from the top down.

 

[garyo]

I'm not sure I fully get it, but have you been trespassing for the last 20 years? Or another way, Why did your builder put an extension in so close to your boundary?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The issue is they want to join one of the walls to my wall which is on my side of the boundary.

They cannot go beyond their boundary, without your express agreement, so they cannot join to your wall on your side of the boundary. Is there any planning permission involved, have you seen any plans?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I'm not sure I fully get it, but have you been trespassing for the last 20 years? Or another way, Why did your builder put an extension in so close to your boundary?

I'm not seeing any mention of the OP having an extension.

 

[JohnD]

Between my house wall and the proposed wall there will only be about 40/50cm gap and the wall is going to be around 5/6ft so not sure how anyone can fit into that space if they ever need to.

you'll need a skinny lad

At one time I lived in a house where the boundary was the furthest projection of the house wall and the eavesdrop

so the fence was level with a projecting chimneybreast and there was a gap of about 300mm

At one time I was capable of sidling down it to pick up footballs, fallen slates etc.

 

[^woody^]

Between my house wall and the proposed wall there will only be about 40/50cm gap and the wall is going to be around 5/6ft so not sure how anyone can fit into that space if they ever need to.

If you take my retaining wall in red and the left hand face it to be the boundary line, it's not like they will join the wall with half the brick face attached to the wall and half off.

The new wall will be joined fully to the red wall face and then extend down the middle where the small fence currently is until our two driveways meet at the front of the house.

Maybe so, but then what you are saying it's that currently you must step onto your neighbours land to access those areas if it's only 40-50 cm gap. So strictly it's not an argument you can use against the neighbour building on his side. It's an inconvenience, which stops your trespass, but you can't say that to him!

I can't see any way around it for you. He can build his wall on his land. OK, he can not tie in to your wall or across the boundary, but it may be beneficial to allow it.

 

[daviesm1976]

Now I realise your boiler may have been there before this but is there now a regulation that you cannot site a flue within 60cm of a boundary? When you eventually replace your boiler you may need to move it anyway.

 

[mattylad]

Maybe its best to organise a maintenance session on that wall now!
Get it repointed and fettled ASAP.