Neighbour dispute over vent

[sha256]

Hi Everyone,

Both me and my neighbour have extensions; they are very close together (maybe a few millimetres apart). My extension is taller than his.

Yesterday, I decided to drill 100mm hole straight through my wall; it will be used for ducting. The hole is facing his side but is above his extension and is on my wall.

Today, he is demanding I remove the vent and 'fill the hole with concrete'. I ask him why and he can't really give me a good excuse. He said it infringes his property (its a discreet vent BTW, protrudes a few mill from the wall). I think he wants it removed because of his roof felt. He had his roof redone and the roofers covered our exterior walls in felt too.

In any case, this has gotten a little silly and I am very disappointed at his response and completely uncompromising position; he has even threatened to 'do it himself' (i.e. fill the hole and remove the vent) which is ludicrous.

I will be getting in touch with the council tomorrow but it would also be nice to hear what people on here my have to say.

 

[KenGMac]

Question?

Did your neighbour get your "permission" to overcoat your wall with "his" roofing felt?

Ken

 

[sha256]

Question?

Did your neighbour get your "permission" to overcoat your wall with "his" roofing felt?

Ken

Ofcourse not. His men were even on our roof, I didn't really worry too much over it TBH. If I have to remove the vent, he has to remove the felt. I did suggest that to him and he went into a rage, and when I mentioned it's my wall he felted, he jibed something along the lines of "your wall is only one block thick" and "its on my property" (which it isn't). Completely irrational. We've been very lenient and helpful over the years and did not anticipate this woeful event.

 

[^woody^]

It's not a problem for you to have an air vent on the boundary.

It may be a potential issue if you exhaust cooking odour or flue gases, but only if it causes specific nuisance.

 

[wessex101]

Presumably there is nothing stopping the neighbour putting a big plant pot or something on his roof directly in front of the vent effectively blocking it. I take the view that discharging a vent or relying on an air intake directly onto/from a neighbouring property is rather poor form as you do not control the airspace necessary to make the vent work, and as Woody suggested things like cooker extracts, boiler flues or a soil and vent pipe possibly constitute a nuisance. Any chance you could take it vertically straight through your roof? Otherwise it looks like you will have to reach an amicable agreement with the neighbour.

 

[sha256]

Thanks woody. The nearest window is about 3 metres away and the nearest door is also about 3 metres away. The vent itself is at least 2 metres above the ground. I have never seen him open the window facing us in the last 5-6 years he has been living here.

Presumably there is nothing stopping the neighbour putting a big plant pot or something on his roof directly in front of the vent effectively blocking it. I take the view that discharging a vent or relying on an air intake directly onto/from a neighbouring property is rather poor form as you do not control the airspace necessary to make the vent work, and as Woody suggested things like cooker extracts, boiler flues or a soil and vent pipe possibly constitute a nuisance. Any chance you could take it vertically straight through your roof? Otherwise it looks like you will have to reach an amicable agreement with the neighbour.

Read the above with regards to smell. Even if it does smell, I don't mind re-routing the pipework onto our side. I initially wanted to do it via the roof but we have a false ceiling and above that is an asbestos ceiling. To the right, we have a boiler flue and on the other wall we have a lot of water pipework, windows, a door and a number of electric wiring. Basically, this side is the only side we could do it. Again, its not an issue with the smell; he's made no mention of that; he doesn't want the hole at all because of the felting he has done on MY wall, alleging that it is somehow his property.

Anyway, I had a chat with the council, they said they can't do anything and that if it turns into a dispute that you could apply the party wall act. Doesn't look too promising TBH.

 

[^woody^]

Anyway, I had a chat with the council, they said they can't do anything and that if it turns into a dispute that you could apply the party wall act

Your council are talking rubbish

 

[sha256]

Anyway, I had a chat with the council, they said they can't do anything and that if it turns into a dispute that you could apply the party wall act

Your council are talking rubbish

heh; thanks for affirming my sentiment.

So, now I have received a letter expecting us to seal it off by the end of the week or 'further action' will be taken. Not sure what he means by that but so far he doesn't really have any standing; the council won't do anything. Will a solicitor be able to do anything on his part ? or some sort of surveyor ?

Also, do I have a legal standing on the fact that he has felted all of my wall facing his side without my permission ?

 

[^woody^]

If you cant resolve this informally, which is the best option then .....

If you are confident that the wall is yours, and on your side of the boundary, then you could invite the neighbour to explain what regulation or part of common law that he feels the vent is contrary to. Perhaps in the form of a report from a suitably qualified person?

If such a person caries out a site survey, then insist that they should also comment on the felt upstand in terms of trespass.

Tactically, you could let him choose his own professional and pay for it. Then if you don't like what he says, you could refute any report as biased, or the author unqualified to comment. Or you could jointly agree on an independent person, and agree to abide by their opinion - share the cost or loser pays. But this will have no legal basis if one of you does not like the result.

For info, the neighbour may well go to a Solicitor, and a Solicitor could no doubt send out a strongly worded letter telling you how wrong you are and [potentially] in breach of one or other law. This will be bluff. A solicitor wont know a thing about the situation, other than what the neighbour tells him in an initial 15/30 minute conversation.

It will need an independent "expert" opinion as to the position of the vent, the impact it is having, and regulation it breaches, and that will be what guides any Solicitor. That will come further down the road if the neighbour wants to pursue it and rack up his costs.

As to odours from the vent, that in itself is not a problem. It must be proven that they are causing a nuisance, not just that they are there.

Bare in mind that he may well be able to place something in front of the vent, but not seal it up nor fix to your property. Remind him that.

Also, if for instance the vent was required for the purpose of some or other safety requirement such as say, the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, then blocking it will be an offence. That can be worded creatively, even when it does not apply.

 

[Nakajo]

I'll keep my mental clothes on, thanks.

 

[jeds]

Just to clarify this; technically you have no right to exhaust anything directly over your neighbours land so there's no legal remedy from your point of view. In other words there's nowhere you can go to get 'permission' to do it. From your neighbours point of view he could seek an injunction. That would be at his own cost and you wouldn't be involved so there would be no way for him to reclaim costs from you. So the question is; is he likely to go to that far? Things change if your fumes become smelly or noxious or start causing him some harm. The other possibility is he could put something in the way of the vent to prevent it operating correctly. If he does that I don't see anything you could do about it.

On the flashing/roof covering; when you build against another building on the boundary the enclosed wall becomes a party wall for the purposes of section 2 of the act - even if it is not a party wall. In that case s.2 gives the right to cut into the wall to insert a flashing and therefore the flashing/roofing is not trespassing on your land. One caveat; if I understand right you are saying he has not just inserted a flashing (which would be OK) but has also dressed the roofing membrane up the wall above his roof to your roof line. If so then that area of wall is NOT party wall. In other words, once the wall is not being enclosed by his property then it is no longer party for the purposes of the act.

 

[sha256]

Thanks for the input jeds and ^woody^, much appreciated. We have written up a cordial response, hopefully all goes well.