Extractor fan exhaust placement and neighbour issue

[matei]

Hi,

Not so much a DIY query, as a builder is doing this work, but what happened is that we moved our kitchen from it's old location to an existing extension in the rear of the house (just purchased house, built in early '60s).

The builder put the extractor fan exhaust directly out the wall, which overlooks the neighbour's garden. This wasn't our preference, so in the spirit of keeping relations good with the neighbours I went next door to inform them of this and not to worry, we'll be moving it ASAP. Nothing is hooked up to it yet, it isn't in use.

The vent, as it exists now, is over two meters above their rear garden (we're slightly uphill from them). Our extension wall is on our side of the property, about 10cm or so from a fence. The houses are semi-detached. At no point does the vent protrude into their property - so I doubt that this is a party wall issue.

The couple didn't take this well at all; the woman went hysterical - stating it was going to devalue their property, that we've no right to do this, it'll be an eyesore etc. She threatened to go to the council and get a solicitor involved etc.

I explained that we're going to vent it through the one-story flat roof instead, it won't vent directly into their garden.

However the neighbours aren't happy with this either, they're insisting that we relocate it on the far side of the extension roof, as they feel it is only 6' from their first floor bedroom window.

It isn't, it is roughly 10+ feet, and it will be squarely on the top of our roof.

Is there any legal standing in regards to the positioning of kitchen extractor fan exhausts? The neighbours claim there are... keep citing it is only 6'' feet from their window. I spoke with the council, and they didn't seem to care, put me in touch with a buildings reg surveyor and he said that he wasn't aware of any issues...

He did add that if it were venting directly into their back garden, there might be a case for a complaint with the environment people, as we'd be creating a nuisance, but he said if it were on the roof, he doubted it.

Does anyone with experience in these matters concur or perhaps can advise otherwise?

Thanks!

 

[stem]

Click here for a copy of the Building Regulations regarding 'Ventilation'. The most relevant part I can find is on page 56 "Location of Exhaust Outlets" and it does say that it is only guidance.

Not quite the same I know, but some new build houses near me have the gas boiler flue terminals pretty close to their neighbours opening windows, so if it's fine for exhausting dangerous fumes, my thinking that venting air from your kitchen ought to be OK.

Having said that, for the sake of maintaining the peace with your neighbours, it might be worth making a sacrifice, especially if they are unreasonable or hysterical. Such individuals often will go to great efforts to make your life a misery if you do something they don't like. You need to decide if it's worth it.

 

[matei]

Hi - thanks for the reply, my wife is leaning towards trying to appease them... however I get the feeling that they won't be happy with that either.

They're not happy that the vent would be on the roof not far from the actual location, they're insisting it be placed on the far side of the roof... not going to happen as we can't run ducting that far... *sigh*

Same with the actual hole in the wall, they're insisting it be made good as it was previously, matching bricks etc. I told them we'd probably just cement it up, but they started to moan that it will be an eyesore etc.

I assumed (perhaps my mistake) that as it is my wall, I can do what I like aesthetically-speaking, even paint it bright orange if I like. Perhaps I was wrong.