Neighbours having an extesion and say we have to pay to remo

[lisap]

We have three fence panels on the side of our patio. The land slopes so fence panel at the end furthest from the house has two gravel boards that support the patio and the second panel has one, the one nearest needs none...if this makes sense! They have been in ten years. The neighbours are having an extension and they say the first post is over their land by 3in and the second is on the boundary so when their builder removes them he will charge us even though they he has to dig there anyway! They have never asked for them to be moved and the impartial surveyor said he has exaggerated but give him the benefit ao the doubt.
We had our own builder round and he said, because the middle one acts as a support we would have to have the boards put back immediatley and so this would then be a longer job and could cost £600!! We havent got this money and niether do we feel we should have to pay it. we are already going to loose access to the patio, move the childrens play house, on top of the usual noise and dust etc.
we feel the nieghbours are just doing it to get back at us as we appointed a surveyor which they have to pay for under the partywall agreement.Is there any laws to fight back at this? We are fed up of being yes people and think its time to fight back

 

[kbdiy]

I'm no legal expert but I would say they haven't got a leg to stand on if the fence has been there 10 yrs, plus I don't see how they can challenge over 3" as I don't see how any garden can be measured that accurately - where are they taking their measurements from to reach this conclusion?

As it's your boundary I would say do nothing but take plenty of photos to illustrate what exists so that any disputes can be backed up with evidence and make it clear to them that following any works by them they are responsible for full re-instatement to the current (or higher) standard. You might need to put something in writing to that effect too.

Others here may be able to give more advice but from a layman's angle I think that's what I would do.

 

[big-all]

what do you mean by loosing access
is it your right off way they are building over or something else

 

[tony1851]

You certainly should not be paying anything to have your side supported.
Your PWA surveyor should have soted this out beforehand. Seems like he's not done his job.

 

[lisap]

what do you mean by loosing access
is it your right off way they are building over or something else

Its because we are having to move playhouse which is on the patio and the scaffolding, we are loosing use whilst work is going on. but we get so many diff stories. we ahve been told thorughout, until last fri, that they didnt need to go on our property, only maybe for poointing but now its, playhouse is in the way, scaffolding!!

 

[lisap]

You certainly should not be paying anything to have your side supported.
Your PWA surveyor should have soted this out beforehand. Seems like he's not done his job.

The PWA surveyor is looking into it as he has never seen this happen before but I was just trying to find out some stuff to ask him, or just get an angle he may not have thought of! I just cant leave it a wait, I always have to get an idea even if the experts are involved!
The problem is the support needs to be completed at same time as posts removed but we are not willing to let thier builder do the work. We have been told if their builder removes them he will send us the bill which we assume will be highly inflated as he has protested about the PWA surveyors fees that we have not had any imput into. We have just followed the law (have posted another post about thier party wall agreement...interesting reading...shows the type of people we deal with!)! Some people of so lovely!

All the bad people should be have to go up to live on uranus!

 

[peca27]

Couldn't you negotiate?

If they need your land for scaffolding / access, ask them to pay for all the remedial works.........otherwise 'sorry mate'

 

[lisap]

Yes this is one tact we could try. Not sure what the party wall award is going to have in it, whether this type of thing has to be sorted before that is completed, im not sure!!

 

[rjm2k]

Check your home insurance for legal cover and talk to them if it's included.

The PWA surveyor sounds like an idiot, is it a friend of theirs?

 

[lisap]

Yes home insurance is on the list of calls today! The PWA surveyor they have is awful, he hasnt got a clue! he is actually the one who did the architect drawings so we know he shouldnt be surveyor but let that one go after many other problems! the one we have appointed is actually brill, I just dont give him time to find out the information! Im not very good at waiting I want to know so I can sign the forms and go back to pretending they dont exist!

 

[kingandy2nd]

http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/boundaries.html

http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk/boundary-problems/frontpage.html


Even if your fence is 3 inches over the boundary, assuming it's a 4 inch wide fence it shouldn't matter too much as I guess it'll be replaced with the extension wall.

Sounds to me like the patio, and the support of it that's your main concern here.

Any works the neighbours that requires access to your property, or where they may need to carry out works on your property (I.e. digging foundations) they must restate your property to the condition it was in prior to the works at their expense.

So if they dig up your patio for their build, then they must re-build it again afterwards without cost to you.

 

[rjm2k]

Yes home insurance is on the list of calls today! The PWA surveyor they have is awful, he hasnt got a clue! he is actually the one who did the architect drawings so we know he shouldnt be surveyor but let that one go after many other problems! the one we have appointed is actually brill, I just dont give him time to find out the information! Im not very good at waiting I want to know so I can sign the forms and go back to pretending they dont exist!

You should insist they pay for your independent surveyor, sounds fishy that they are using the same person who did the plans. Don't let it go. Also take lots of photos before the work starts if it's not too late

 

[lisap]

They are paying for him. They tried to bully us with that one by saying he would get a third and we would have to pay but that got dropped. His excact words were "if theres one thing i p****s me off its people wasting my time and my money" (didnt like to point out thats two things!) They are just nasty vile bullies. Shame they couldnt win the lottery and move to a house and life style they believe they are entitled to!

 

[big-all]

have you done your own checks about the boundery
assuming your plots are square the boundary will tend to come off the center off the party wall

 

[lisap]

http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/boundaries.html

http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk/boundary-problems/frontpage.html


Even if your fence is 3 inches over the boundary, assuming it's a 4 inch wide fence it shouldn't matter too much as I guess it'll be replaced with the extension wall.

Sounds to me like the patio, and the support of it that's your main concern here.

Any works the neighbours that requires access to your property, or where they may need to carry out works on your property (I.e. digging foundations) they must restate your property to the condition it was in prior to the works at their expense.

So if they dig up your patio for their build, then they must re-build it again afterwards without cost to you.

Yes this is what everyone seems to be saying but we dont want a bill though the door, which is what they say they will do, so need to have it written in somewhere,or some law to say you cant do this!!