Very low hazardous roofline - legal??

[MsH]

Hi all,

My neighbour has built an addition to the back of his house, his house is considerably lower then mine and his wall runs along the boundary line of both properties. My issue is that he is putting his roofline so it projects over the boundary line and this is less then a metre in height on my side. I have a young child who would easily hit her face on the edge of his roof tiles (slate, so nice and sharp) and I would also bump into his roofline every time I wanted to go into my garden. I've spoken to the council who passed planning permission for this and they've told me there are no regulations covering this issue and he has every right to construct his roofline this way. He's also planning on putting external guttering on my side of the boundary which will cause a further hazard/obstruction. I've spoken to him and he said the only other option is for no guttering so all the rain water will flood my pathway.

Will someone please tell me the council were wrong to grant planning permission and there is something that I can do about this??

[Kati]

Re: Very low hazardous roofline - legal??

tagging [MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] [MENTION=15129]Crazy council[/MENTION] [MENTION=85500]Peridot[/MENTION] ??

[des8]

Re: Very low hazardous roofline - legal??

The council can give planning permission without breaching any rules.
However planning permission does not give your neighbour the right to invade your airspace, and they (the neighbours) are guilty of a trespass.
If the guttering was many feet up, it probably wouldn't matter much, but in the circumstances you describe it is quite possible a court would order its removal.
This would not allow him to flood your garden. He would need to find some other solution to his problem.

I would suggest a written request to him at first, pointing out his trespass and asking him to remedy it within a certain time.
It always helps to look reasonable.

[MsH]

Re: Very low hazardous roofline - legal??

Thanks for that information.

I've been reasonable for over a year and got nowhere, he's put his footings on my land despite me telling him not to, backfilled with concrete so I've lost part of my garden which was a flower bed, he's had scaffolding on my land for 7 mths and refused to adhere to our written compensation agreement - enough is enough!

I've just been out tonight and put fencing up against the wall so they can't lay tiles over the boundary line, although I suspect they'll just push back the fencing and carry on regardless.

[des8]

Re: Very low hazardous roofline - legal??

Are you considering court action to enforce your agreement, and injunctions to remove the trespasses and dispose of the rainwater within his own curtilage?

[MsH]

Re: Very low hazardous roofline - legal??

I am, i went to a solicitor and sent him a letter warning him about trespass and breach of our written agreement but he just ignored it. I can't afford to use a solicitor for court so I'm looking at taking him to the small claims court myself. However as a working single parent it's really hard. He's trying to intimidate me into selling as he wants my garden so he can build a load of new houses on both his garden and mine.

Do you have any advice on what to do if he does push back my fencing to put up his roof line, can I just remove what's over my side?

[des8]

Re: Very low hazardous roofline - legal??

A difficult position for you.

You are perfectly entitled to remove anything on your property, and return it to him.
However do not damage it!

I would advise against that course of action however, as it could become very confrontational.

You need to apply for a common law injunction, using form N16A and a statement of claim (this states exactly what you are claiming about and who was responsible) There is a fee to pay (£150?), but if you are on a low income you may get fee remission (see form https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.j.../ex160-eng.pdf)