Neighbours extension is over boundary - now he is selling his house

The neighbour build an extension at back of house 3 years ago - the eve shoot is definitely on my side and probably some of the white board also. I spoke with the neighbour and he agrees eve shoot is on my side and he is willing to give me a letter if I extend my house with similar extension - he will put this letter on legal pack of the house as he has sold it and in the process of moving out. So what should I ask him to write on the letter ? He suggested something like " I consent if my neighbour wants to add an extension to the back of the garden, he can add an extension to my wall along with the existing gutter." Thanks

endacl

How do people end up in these messes….

elperello

Get legal advice without further delay.

when the neighour built it 3 years ago I told him eve were on my side - but he is a roofer by trade and he said to me if I extending mine then we do joint gutter. I not know that much about building but this would probably work okay - but now that he has sold the house what rights will I have with new owner ? How do I ensure that the new owners are aware of the issue ? How I ensure if I extend on my side I have rights to at least remove current gutter ? Thanks

Rustyman101

Don't know how he's going to sell as no surveyor or engineer would sign off on that assuming the potential new buyer gets one, unless they're a cash buyer.

He's hardly in a position to make promises on behalf of of the new owners ?

Unfortunately for you you need proper legal advice.

Lenar3556

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004978#Comment_121004978

Are you not the original poster?

Ginger83

Why did you allow this at the time?

when the neighour built it 3 years ago I told him eve were on my side - but he is a roofer by trade and he said to me if I extending mine then we do joint gutter. I not know that much about building but this would probably work okay - but now that he has sold the house what rights will I have with new owner ? How do I ensure that the new owners are aware of the issue ? How I ensure if I extend on my side I have rights to at least remove current gutter ? Thanks

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005784#Comment_121005784

Has the neighbour sold the house or is selling the house?

As for any agreement you have with them, this is worth the paper it is currently written on! The new owners will be under no obligation to honour a verbal agreement you have with the old neighbour!

brokenbad

"he is willing to give me a letter if I extend my house with similar extension - he will put this letter on legal pack of the house as he has sold it and in the process of moving out. So what should I ask him to write on the letter ? He suggested something like " I consent if my neighbour wants to add an extension to the back of the garden, he can add an extension to my wall along with the existing gutter." 

Very considerate of him to give you a letter IF you build an extension! 🙄

Cant believe he has his house sold without a survey - this is a major red flag to any prospective buyers...

Former Former Former

OK, well your first mistake was letting him build the wall on the boundary line, but it's done now.

Ironically, if you did want to extend, you'd need the consent of your new neighbour to join up the gutters.

It's really up to you how to proceed. You can;

1) Advise him that the extension isn't compliant with planning regulations and it's up to him to figure out how to fix it.

2) Not worry about it.

As noted above, his solicitor will have sent him a questionnaire and one of the questions is whether any part of his house enters any other property, or vice versa. I'd be interested to know what he wrote.

Any competent surveyor for a potential buyer will spot this immediately, and any competent solicitor will want written confirmation of your agreement to the overhang in perpetuity. Don't provide this until you're 100% happy.

Thanks - house next gone sale agreed 2 weeks ago - the neighbour is moving out his stuff at the moment...

Seth Brundle

You'd want to alert the vendor's solicitor ASAP before it goes too far! I'd also recommend getting a solicitor yourself but this should not stop you sending a note to the vendor's solicitor!

Calahonda52

My understanding is that he can't sell without your consent as the over hang belongs to you.

He may lie when the question is asked as part of the requisitions.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121007625#Comment_121007625

If it's gone sale agreed, then obviously his promise to put a letter into the legal documents was bullsh1t.

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121007874#Comment_121007874

He can sell; nothing stops that but the buyer would acquire a property which is not compliant as a result of the trespass.

Victor

Of course, the best solution would have been three years ago and install a valley instead of an eaves.

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005384#Comment_121005384

Seems to have gone unnoticed that fact. Or corrected by the OP.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121014229#Comment_121014229

That post was deleted.

I'm not sure what was meant.

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121014340#Comment_121014340

Strange one OK.

SimpleDimple

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121014229#Comment_121014229

Maybe he let his neighbour post from his account as well?

Water John

No solr will sign off on the house transfer, once the position is outlined to them. Get your solr to contact the vendors solr and inform them by letter of the issue. I would also insist to the vendor's solr that they inform the solr of the purchaser.

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121014376#Comment_121014376

I was starting to wonder what a solr was there for a minute 😂

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121014376#Comment_121014376

First problem here: how is the OP supposed to know who his neighbour's solicitor is?

Victor

They could ask the neighbours, the estate agent or if it is a small town, phone the one solicitor and say "I am phoning about X property, who should I speak to about it? "

shalom

Another option could be money. Whatever amount of money it is worth to you. Can you put a price on it?

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121015982#Comment_121015982

How would you ask the neighbour without raising suspicion? The estate agent cannot and will not tell the OP anything.

Even if he gets the details or by some fluke he rings up the right solicitor, they can't simply discuss their client's business with random strangers.

iwillhtfu

Looking at that picture the lower wall against the extensions would typically be the dividing wall. These look like old corpo houses where they'd build that party wall then put in a metal fence the length of the garden. The fence posts would also suggest the same.

It certainly looks to me as though you've gained a few inches OP albeit with a gutter or what would be half a gutter I guess 🤷‍♂️

SteM

Is the roof flat? If it's not then I guess they'll need access to your property to clean the gutter?

Victor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121016039#Comment_121016039

You never know what details a chat might elicit. Estate agent notices sometimes include solicitor detail. Remember, the OP only needs to find out who the solicitor is, they don't need to have a discussion with them.

F1ngers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121014229#Comment_121014229

Looks to me that OP is the owner of the extension and posted pretending to be the neighbour with the encroachment.

They then forgot to log in with an alternate account suggesting legal advice, realised their error and edited the post to make it look like it was the neighbour.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

brokenbad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121016229#Comment_121016229

Think you've hit the nail on the head. O.P has gone quiet since his last post 2 days ago.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121016096#Comment_121016096

Agree the extension is built inside the boundary spur wall, the gutter doesn't seem to extend over this at all so I don't really see the issue.