Boundary advise
Kweegly
Posts: 104
Hi,
I'm hoping someone could advise me on a boundary issue.
A little info, I live in a semi detached house with large bay windows and the living rooms are at the back of the property. The distance between each houses bay window is around 3 feet. Between the back bay windows there is a well established hedge that runs from the house wall down the garden acting as a boundary.
My neighbours are planning an extension and I want to know if there is anything I can do as I have the following concerns.
1) Can they pull the hedge up without my permission? I love the hedge as looking down my garden I have birds and greenery. I do not want a wall right up to my bay window running down the garden.
2) The sunlight comes from my neighbours side, the height of an extension would stop light coming into my living room. It will cast a large permanent shadow across my lawn and flowerbeds, this will exaggerate drainage issues (Surface water) I have in the area, no direct sunlight will cause me to change the flower beds to better suited plants and I will need to move my seating area as there will be no direct warm light.
I have checked paperwork from when I bought the house and the boundary side in questions is listed as "responsibility unknown".
Thank you for any advice
Posts
This may be helpful http://www.mybuilder.com/questions/v/5912/how-near-can-my-neighbour-build-an-extention-to-my-boundry,-the-size-he-is-considering-does-not-require-plannning-concentin-adition-this-extention-is-going-limit-view-sunlight-can-i-object
Good luck
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks for the advice so far, To answer 1Runntbeak1 I checked the hedge base and the actual "stumps" for the hedgerow are mixed and seem to come from both sides of the imaginary middle line between our houses.
I was reading what you posted Dovefromabove and it kinda confirms my fears that if they stick to what they are permitted without planning permission then I can't do much about the design.
Do they have to provide me with a copy of the plans? Or even inform me of their intentions?
It is likely, if there is no definitive owner of the hedge, you and your neighbour both own it equally. That is the case with the walls between us and our neighbour. Your neighbour has no right to encroach by even 1 inch on your land.
Unfortunately you have no right to light. Your neighbour has no right to discharge water on to your land from down-pipes or gutters.
Do get hold of the planning department and voice your concerns. And speak to your neighbour if you can.
When I had an extension built, the plans were posted on the council's website for anyone to see and comment on. They also put up statutory yellow notices on fences, telegraph poles etc saying what the plan application reference number was and which planning office to contact. That's a legal requirement. The party-wall act has all sorts of regulations for semi-detached houses which is well-worth a read as it doesn't just apply to the actual wall between two houses.
https://www.gov.uk/party-wall-etc-act-1996-guidance
I don't know if this is pertinent. https://www.gov.uk/party-wall-etc-act-1996-guidance
Permitted development is restricted for semi-detached properties and they will 100% need planning permission before building on or near a boundary regardless of what it is.
"Responsibility unknown" just means who cares for it, there must be some other description telling where the boundary occurs. From that you can tell who owns the hedge/shares it.