Informal Planning Advice prior to Complaint?
Discussion
I can't really see how this sort of thing isn't inevitable when the fence top starts lower down than the level of the house?
Why isn't there a fence coming out of the back of the house meeting where the slope and the other fence starts if you want full privacy from your neighbours?
Even standing at the top of the steps where what presumably was the original patio is gives an unobstructed view into the neighbours.
Or am I completely missing something?
Why isn't there a fence coming out of the back of the house meeting where the slope and the other fence starts if you want full privacy from your neighbours?
Even standing at the top of the steps where what presumably was the original patio is gives an unobstructed view into the neighbours.
Or am I completely missing something?
Devils Advocate here I'm afraid - Does photo 16 not show that the 2 houses to the left of your neighbour have decks at exactly the same height as theirs. Of the 4 houses in that picture it appears yours is the only one without a deck. Not sure if that has an impact with regard to planning permission.
ps. I'd also put a board in the garden stating you're dispute with your neighbour and leave it there permanently.
ps. I'd also put a board in the garden stating you're dispute with your neighbour and leave it there permanently.
JQ said:
Devils Advocate here I'm afraid - Does photo 16 not show that the 2 houses to the left of your neighbour have decks at exactly the same height as theirs. Of the 4 houses in that picture it appears yours is the only one without a deck. Not sure if that has an impact with regard to planning permission.
ps. I'd also put a board in the garden stating you're dispute with your neighbour and leave it there permanently.
It's a good point, but consider that the ground level also drops from left to right (you can see by the roof lines) as well as front to back and the other decks are built from the original rear wall, not the extended rear wall which is 5m further down the hill.ps. I'd also put a board in the garden stating you're dispute with your neighbour and leave it there permanently.
Also, you can't tell from the picture, but the other neighbours' decks do not extend into the garden as far as next doors' does.
I agree though, that they probably wouldn't meet permitted development either.
JQ said:
Devils Advocate here I'm afraid - Does photo 16 not show that the 2 houses to the left of your neighbour have decks at exactly the same height as theirs. Of the 4 houses in that picture it appears yours is the only one without a deck. Not sure if that has an impact with regard to planning permission.
ps. I'd also put a board in the garden stating you're dispute with your neighbour and leave it there permanently.
Devils advocate or not - there is no way that patio will get retrospective planning permission.ps. I'd also put a board in the garden stating you're dispute with your neighbour and leave it there permanently.
WolfieBot said:
I can't really see how this sort of thing isn't inevitable when the fence top starts lower down than the level of the house?
Why isn't there a fence coming out of the back of the house meeting where the slope and the other fence starts if you want full privacy from your neighbours?
Even standing at the top of the steps where what presumably was the original patio is gives an unobstructed view into the neighbours.
Or am I completely missing something?
The fence line between our properties belongs to our neighbours (who are developers who moved in two years ago). Before they moved in, we paid for and installed a higher fence, which our current neighbours have only just removed and installed a lower one.Why isn't there a fence coming out of the back of the house meeting where the slope and the other fence starts if you want full privacy from your neighbours?
Even standing at the top of the steps where what presumably was the original patio is gives an unobstructed view into the neighbours.
Or am I completely missing something?
Also, we have asked them (and they agreed) to install a 3 foot high fence on their deck on the border of our properties. They have seemingly decided not to do so.
OP again, we had the nuclear exchange this evening! 
Came back from spending the day with the family and was sitting in our front room when we noticed the neighbours peering over the fence that borders our property right next to our window. Apparently my wife (sitting on our sofa) caught the husband's eye and he looked very aggressive and mouthed something at her.
So, it seemed like the planning department had been exceptionally speedy and let them know. I went out to the garden to mow the lawn, ostensibly to give them the chance to say anything they needed to get off their chest over the (non-existent) fence. I wasn't interrupted, but noticed in the front garden that our gutter downpipe offshoot, which previously drained into a shared drain on their property had been removed and thrown over the fence onto our side.
At that point I decided to force the confrontation rather than let it linger and went around with the aim of finding out what the very obvious problem was. Only I didn't make it halfway down the drive before the wife appeared at the open first floor window and started heckling me.
What followed was a pretty nasty experience, her husband soon came out of the front door and bizarrely told me to "get out of their house", despite me still being 6 foot from their front door (on the outside!) and started to push me when I refused to leave without having an explanation of what they'd done to our pipe and why.
In the resulting "conversation", I was accused of being "a nonce" and my wife "a cockroach" by the charming neighbour's wife (former head of maths at a local school, would you believe), but we also learned that the planning department had sent them a letter which arrived this morning.
They also threatened to forcibly remove a CCTV camera I've recently put up (on their rear extension wall that borders our properties) after I only agreed to take it down once their deck was down (I was quite pleased with my response to that threat: "The funny thing with CCTV cameras is that they record what happens in front of them!").
I eventually called it a day by saying that the bottom line was they'd broken the rules and the planning department will decide who is right. They still seem convinced that they're within the rules (and that our complaint is out of jealousy) - he even mentioned the 30cm rule and how they hadn't broken it.
Just calming down from it all now, was thoroughly unpleasant experience, but I'm not sure why I expected anything else given their behaviour all the way through.
My only concern now is that the exchange has confirmed that I'm not paranoid: they are the sort of people who will take petty revenge and whilst the front and back of the properties are covered by CCTV, that won't protect our property from damage if they put their mind to it.
Anyway, thanks for reading if you made it this far, I need to get that off my chest!
Came back from spending the day with the family and was sitting in our front room when we noticed the neighbours peering over the fence that borders our property right next to our window. Apparently my wife (sitting on our sofa) caught the husband's eye and he looked very aggressive and mouthed something at her.
So, it seemed like the planning department had been exceptionally speedy and let them know. I went out to the garden to mow the lawn, ostensibly to give them the chance to say anything they needed to get off their chest over the (non-existent) fence. I wasn't interrupted, but noticed in the front garden that our gutter downpipe offshoot, which previously drained into a shared drain on their property had been removed and thrown over the fence onto our side.
At that point I decided to force the confrontation rather than let it linger and went around with the aim of finding out what the very obvious problem was. Only I didn't make it halfway down the drive before the wife appeared at the open first floor window and started heckling me.
What followed was a pretty nasty experience, her husband soon came out of the front door and bizarrely told me to "get out of their house", despite me still being 6 foot from their front door (on the outside!) and started to push me when I refused to leave without having an explanation of what they'd done to our pipe and why.
In the resulting "conversation", I was accused of being "a nonce" and my wife "a cockroach" by the charming neighbour's wife (former head of maths at a local school, would you believe), but we also learned that the planning department had sent them a letter which arrived this morning.
They also threatened to forcibly remove a CCTV camera I've recently put up (on their rear extension wall that borders our properties) after I only agreed to take it down once their deck was down (I was quite pleased with my response to that threat: "The funny thing with CCTV cameras is that they record what happens in front of them!").
I eventually called it a day by saying that the bottom line was they'd broken the rules and the planning department will decide who is right. They still seem convinced that they're within the rules (and that our complaint is out of jealousy) - he even mentioned the 30cm rule and how they hadn't broken it.
Just calming down from it all now, was thoroughly unpleasant experience, but I'm not sure why I expected anything else given their behaviour all the way through.
My only concern now is that the exchange has confirmed that I'm not paranoid: they are the sort of people who will take petty revenge and whilst the front and back of the properties are covered by CCTV, that won't protect our property from damage if they put their mind to it.
Anyway, thanks for reading if you made it this far, I need to get that off my chest!
garyhun said:
f
king hell!
I’d be tempted to move. Life’s too short to have aholes like that in your life.
Hope you get resolution of some sort eventually.
Well, the good news is that they are intending to move and are clearly trying to move quickly given the speed with which they're arranging the open day. king hell!I’d be tempted to move. Life’s too short to have a
holes like that in your life.Hope you get resolution of some sort eventually.
I suspect they have a substantial mortgage and so any delay will cost them in interest payments plus they're both teachers, so it wouldn't surprise me of they'd planned to sell by September but were running late due to over running works.
Now we just need to get the deck down and survive the next few months.
youngsyr said:
Well, the good news is that they are intending to move and are clearly trying to move quickly given the speed with which they're arranging the open day.
I suspect they have a substantial mortgage and so any delay will cost them in interest payments plus they're both teachers, so it wouldn't surprise me of they'd planned to sell by September but were running late due to over running works.
Now we just need to get the deck down and survive the next few months.
They'll be there a while longer if they try to go through the planning process! I suspect they have a substantial mortgage and so any delay will cost them in interest payments plus they're both teachers, so it wouldn't surprise me of they'd planned to sell by September but were running late due to over running works.
Now we just need to get the deck down and survive the next few months.
Or you're hoping they just go for the option of removing the access to the roof?
Hub said:
youngsyr said:
Well, the good news is that they are intending to move and are clearly trying to move quickly given the speed with which they're arranging the open day.
I suspect they have a substantial mortgage and so any delay will cost them in interest payments plus they're both teachers, so it wouldn't surprise me of they'd planned to sell by September but were running late due to over running works.
Now we just need to get the deck down and survive the next few months.
They'll be there a while longer if they try to go through the planning process! I suspect they have a substantial mortgage and so any delay will cost them in interest payments plus they're both teachers, so it wouldn't surprise me of they'd planned to sell by September but were running late due to over running works.
Now we just need to get the deck down and survive the next few months.
Or you're hoping they just go for the option of removing the access to the roof?
However, I also suspect that they want, and quite possibly need, to sell a quickly as possible, so that should mean they try to speed it up as quickly as possible.
Lazermilk said:
Be sure to add the dispute sign in your garden on the day of the viewing to really piss them off 
If you need extra cctv then the Yi Dome 360 camera we have for checking our dog is pretty good and cheap too.
Good luck, hope they get what’s coming to them soon!
Thanks for the support. If you need extra cctv then the Yi Dome 360 camera we have for checking our dog is pretty good and cheap too.
Good luck, hope they get what’s coming to them soon!
I'm wondering about adding more cameras, but there are issues with which areas you're allowed to film and the neighbours have already made it clear that they're going to make our lives as difficult as possible as revenge for the complaint, so I don't want to give them any more ammo.
youngsyr said:
I'm wondering about adding more cameras, but there are issues with which areas you're allowed to film and the neighbours have already made it clear that they're going to make our lives as difficult as possible as revenge for the complaint, so I don't want to give them any more ammo.
With a lot of cameras (certainly Hikvision, Dahua) you can mask off areas (quite a fine grid is available)WOW!
I have been watching this thread from the start and been impressed by your restraint.
Your main concern now is to keep your family and property safe. Idiots like you have next door are not rational.
Don't know if you have already done it but make sure you put it in writing to the estate agent that you are in dispute - might sound daft now but it leaves a paper trail should that become necessary down the road.
How long had your downpipe been connected to the drain in their property?
I would look into getting that replaced as soon as possible as digging a new drain after they sell the property could be expensive.
Good luck and stay safe.
I have been watching this thread from the start and been impressed by your restraint.
Your main concern now is to keep your family and property safe. Idiots like you have next door are not rational.
Don't know if you have already done it but make sure you put it in writing to the estate agent that you are in dispute - might sound daft now but it leaves a paper trail should that become necessary down the road.
How long had your downpipe been connected to the drain in their property?
I would look into getting that replaced as soon as possible as digging a new drain after they sell the property could be expensive.
Good luck and stay safe.
Ricky146a said:
WOW!
I have been watching this thread from the start and been impressed by your restraint.
Your main concern now is to keep your family and property safe. Idiots like you have next door are not rational.
Don't know if you have already done it but make sure you put it in writing to the estate agent that you are in dispute - might sound daft now but it leaves a paper trail should that become necessary down the road.
How long had your downpipe been connected to the drain in their property?
I would look into getting that replaced as soon as possible as digging a new drain after they sell the property could be expensive.
Good luck and stay safe.
Check your deeds you may have every right for that drain pipe to be there.I have been watching this thread from the start and been impressed by your restraint.
Your main concern now is to keep your family and property safe. Idiots like you have next door are not rational.
Don't know if you have already done it but make sure you put it in writing to the estate agent that you are in dispute - might sound daft now but it leaves a paper trail should that become necessary down the road.
How long had your downpipe been connected to the drain in their property?
I would look into getting that replaced as soon as possible as digging a new drain after they sell the property could be expensive.
Good luck and stay safe.
Any prospective purchaser will be notified of the planning issue when they carry out a local authority search.
If they decide to make a retrospective planning application this will take 8 weeks to process, possibly more.
I suspect they will take advice and realise that is probably best to take it down as this saves time and they are unlikely to get planning approved.
If they decide to make a retrospective planning application this will take 8 weeks to process, possibly more.
I suspect they will take advice and realise that is probably best to take it down as this saves time and they are unlikely to get planning approved.
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