Falling retaining wall

[sunshine10]

Hi, does anyone know if my neighbour has the right to build on my land to support his falling retaining wall to save him rebuilding his wall? TIA

[Aluminati]

Assuming he wants to build buttresses, I would say no.

[smokey mow]

sunshine10 said:

Hi, does anyone know if my neighbour has the right to build on my land to support his falling retaining wall to save him rebuilding his wall? TIA

In law, no. That would be civil trespass.

They may however have rights under the access to neighbouring land act if some temporary propping is required to prevent it falling and causing injury whilst they arrange for a more permanent repair.

[Simpo Two]

Aluminati said:

Assuming he wants to build buttresses, I would say no.

Better that than the wall falls over, no?

Perhaps something clever could be installed on the other side to exert a pulling force.

[sherman]

What are we talking?
A couple of feet of soil or a 20ft wall?
2 very different engineering challanges and also what is your neighbour shoring up?
Is it just garden, their house or sloping bank?

A few mknths disruptionwhilst its rebuilt properly could well save you rebuilding your entire house when the next winter storm washes the hillside away and your neighbours house ends up in your livingroom.

[sunshine10]

The neighbour will be shoring up his garden which is currently 3 1/2 feet higher than ours. He wants to build a wall in front of his, on our land, and concrete foundations in front of that wall extending a further 2 foot into our garden which would also prevent us from planting anything near the wall. We only have a small garden so it would have a big impact.

[FMOB]

sunshine10 said:

The neighbour will be shoring up his garden which is currently 3 1/2 feet higher than ours. He wants to build a wall in front of his, on our land, and concrete foundations in front of that wall extending a further 2 foot into our garden which would also prevent us from planting anything near the wall. We only have a small garden so it would have a big impact.

Which property has the natural land level? If it is his you might just find you owe him a right to be supported.

I have a similar situation but the land level next door has been lowered relative to mine and the retaining wall is theirs and they have to maintain it.

[Antony Moxey]

FMOB said:

sunshine10 said:

The neighbour will be shoring up his garden which is currently 3 1/2 feet higher than ours. He wants to build a wall in front of his, on our land, and concrete foundations in front of that wall extending a further 2 foot into our garden which would also prevent us from planting anything near the wall. We only have a small garden so it would have a big impact.

Which property has the natural land level? If it is his you might just find you owe him a right to be supported.

I have a similar situation but the land level next door has been lowered relative to mine and the retaining wall is theirs and they have to maintain it.

Then surely the neighbour digs back into his own land and all the foundations etc are on his side? The OP should be left with a nice looking wall that at sits theneighbour's side of the boundary.

[twokcc]

Dig out on his side, footings in next to existing wall, build block vertical retaining wall on his side then back fill with soil removed from his dig out. Rebuild leaning retaining wall as necessary next to blocks on your side. No lose of land of your garden. I'm not a builder but don't think any other acceptable solution, why would he think that he has the right to build on your land?

[FMOB]

Antony Moxey said:

FMOB said:

sunshine10 said:

The neighbour will be shoring up his garden which is currently 3 1/2 feet higher than ours. He wants to build a wall in front of his, on our land, and concrete foundations in front of that wall extending a further 2 foot into our garden which would also prevent us from planting anything near the wall. We only have a small garden so it would have a big impact.

Which property has the natural land level? If it is his you might just find you owe him a right to be supported.

I have a similar situation but the land level next door has been lowered relative to mine and the retaining wall is theirs and they have to maintain it.

Then surely the neighbour digs back into his own land and all the foundations etc are on his side? The OP should be left with a nice looking wall that at sits theneighbour's side of the boundary.

As I understand it, it depends who has the natural land level and what was done. If the neighbour has raised his land then the retaining wall is his responsibility, maybe the OP can lease a small bit of their garden for an outrageous sum and pay off their mortgage.

Edited by FMOB on Wednesday 17th April 14:58

[sunshine10]

Both properties are on a natural land level, the retaining wall is old is an old original boundary wall which originally bordered an orchard where our 1950's house is built, the building of which would not have compromised the wall. I was built without drainage, retains heavy clay soil and some large trees.

[hidetheelephants]

smokey mow said:

In law, no. That would be civil trespass.

They may however have rights under the access to neighbouring land act if some temporary propping is required to prevent it falling and causing injury whilst they arrange for a more permanent repair.

That; if he wants a new retaining wall it needs to be where the existing one is, taken down and rebuilt on the boundary line.

FMOB said:

sunshine10 said:

The neighbour will be shoring up his garden which is currently 3 1/2 feet higher than ours. He wants to build a wall in front of his, on our land, and concrete foundations in front of that wall extending a further 2 foot into our garden which would also prevent us from planting anything near the wall. We only have a small garden so it would have a big impact.

Which property has the natural land level? If it is his you might just find you owe him a right to be supported.

I have a similar situation but the land level next door has been lowered relative to mine and the retaining wall is theirs and they have to maintain it.

Nothing is owed; a metre high does not require that much engineering and there's no reason it should intrude significantly into the OP's garden, certainly not as is described. If the neighbour wants metre wide foundations they can be on his property, not the OP's.

[alabbasi]

No, tell him that he needs to fix his wall. Preferably in writing so he does not pretend to be ignorant when he knows that he's taking the p1ss.

[JQ]

Can you share a photo?

[sunshine10]

JQ said:

Can you share a photo?

Tried and failed! Not sure how to other than copy and paste pdf which didn't work

Edited by sunshine10 on Wednesday 17th April 19:35

[sherman]

sunshine10 said:

JQ said:

Can you share a photo?

Tried and failed! Not sure how to other than copy and paste pdf which didn't work

Edited by sunshine10 on Wednesday 17th April 19:35

Uploading an image to the forums

If you want to upload an image to a forum thread, you can do this via the image uploader when you have clicked Reply. You can practice posting images here if you like.



OR

If you’d rather use an external hosting service like imgur/Flickr, then you need to copy the shareable image link from the image host site into the reply box. External links should be posted like this: [img]<insert link here>[/img]. See the formatting help link if you get stuck.

[sunshine10]

sherman said:

Uploading an image to the forums

If you want to upload an image to a forum thread, you can do this via the image uploader when you have clicked Reply. You can practice posting images here if you like.



OR

If you’d rather use an external hosting service like imgur/Flickr, then you need to copy the shareable image link from the image host site into the reply box. External links should be posted like this: . See the formatting help link if you get stuck.

you can do this via the image uploader? where do I find this please once I have clicked reply?

[sherman]

sunshine10 said:

sherman said:

Uploading an image to the forums

If you want to upload an image to a forum thread, you can do this via the image uploader when you have clicked Reply. You can practice posting images here if you like.



OR

If you’d rather use an external hosting service like imgur/Flickr, then you need to copy the shareable image link from the image host site into the reply box. External links should be posted like this: . See the formatting help link if you get stuck.

you can do this via the image uploader? where do I find this please once I have clicked reply?

Click here and follow the steps. It adds the pic to your post and you can type around the picture.
You cant edit the pic once its uploaded though. Any editing needs done before uploading.

[Blib]

Nice photo of a tree.

[sherman]

Blib said:

Nice photo of a tree.

Is that better.