UKC

I've just noticed that while I was in work my neighbour has trespassed on my property and installed an extractor fan venting out through the partition wall and over my garden. Can any one with legal training tell me if this is legal?

In reply to gethin_allen:

No, on the face of what you have written he is in breach of The Part Wall Act.

Get legal advice. It is also likely that he will be responsible for your legal/surveyor's costs in a Party Wall Dispute.

In reply to gethin_allen:

He hasn't broken any law if he hasn't caused any damage to your property. You could try to take a pop at him in a civil court if you thought his actions had caused you significant distress or financial loss.

Why don't you nip round, greet him cordially and ask him nicely if he would keep you inforned next time he needs access? Good neighbours are worth their weight in gold.

In reply to Rigid Raider:


Without being rude, is this your opinion or is this fact? You get a lot of the former expressed as the latter on here.

As a minimum he's trespassed on my property but it's the exhaust from the fan (which also sticks out over my property) I'm concerned about, I don't want to smell his cooking in my garden.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

Rubbish. Any works to a Party Wall constitute a Party Wall Dispute whether or not damage is caused

Anyway if knocking a hole through said wall is not damage what the hell is it?

In reply to gethin_allen:
If he's worked on a party wall, this overview shows he has broken the Party Wall Act.

https://www.gov.uk/party-walls-building-works/overview

The full detail can be found here.

https://www.gov.uk/party-wall-etc-act-1996-guidance

In reply to gethin_allen:

I have legal training, but I suspect what you need is somebody with *qualifications* in law.

Before you go any further, I'd introduce you to the principles of what people are allowed to do, and what they actually do. The legal profession makes its money off the mismatch between the two, generally with less gain to either of the paying punters involved than to the solicitors under instruction.

Your neighbour has rights under the Party Wall Act to do stuff to the outside of his property, but he's supposed to inform you first and *should* agree the scope and extent of any works. However, your rights of redress are limited to financial loss and, in theory, to compensation for any detriment caused by his actions. I'd suggest a whiff of cooking won't cut much ice in court and any award you got almost certainly wouldn't cover your legal fees.

What can you do? Spend money on a solicitor, who probably won't talk you out of spending said money for the first few hundred quid, but who ought to advise you not to go to court; lamp the neighbour and have ongoing hassles for ever more; have a grown-up word about the fact that he should have talked to you first before coming on to your property and then move on.

Or construct some kind of Heath Robinson contraption which ducts his emissions through a pipe which curls back onto his property. Make sure you don't actually *touch* his stuff, but he couldn't actually argue about it.

Me? I'd have a quiet word about him not having come round beforehand and then wait to see whether it was a problem.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Is it actually a party wall or is it set slightly into his boundary but without demarcation,I have to deal with this stuff all the time at work though cannot offer legal advice.to be honest it could be an over site on his part maybe the trades person who carried out said works thought your neighbour had mentioned it so it wasn't a problem,

In reply to gethin_allen:

Google statutory nuisance. If the odours or noise materially affect your use and enjoyment of your property, get in touch with environmental health.

But speak to your neighbour first and try to sort it our amicably.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:
There is nothing to stop the OP trying to settle this amicably, but his neighbour is in breach of the Party Wall Act and this needs to be rectified. At the very least under the Law, the neighbour should pay for a Party Wall Surveyor to advise the OP as to how to "normalise" the situation and consider any reasonable objections the OP has. Neighbours can't just ignore the Law and it's procedures because it suits them! The OP has rights here and at the very least he should not be out of pocket which includes the cost of being professionally represented.

In reply to Trangia:

Being "right" will be of great comfort to him during the subsequent years of seething animosity between him and his neighbours.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Thanks all.

This thread has at least given me the time to cool down a touch and to follow the wise advice of never confronting an issue when annoyed.

I was seriously pisses off when I first noticed this, I was ready to seal the vent up with expanding foam. Considering it now, although I don't want it there, the action required to remove it is likely to cause more hassle than anything, and the lack of communication is the most irritating thing as if I'd been informed I'd have likely been able to stop it.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:
Why should there be animosity?

The whole purpose of the Party Wall Acts was to ensure that the interests of both Parties are protected and considered. It is precisely because of non-discussion as has occured in this case that the Act was introduced.

Anyway the OP asked a question. I answered it. It seems that he is now content with the status quo, so I have nothing further to add.

In reply to gethin_allen:


Bit obvious? How about some non-flammable spray adhesive...

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Adhesives/Tapes/Products/~/3M-N...

In reply to Trangia:


What people *should* do.


What people have *actually* just done.


What people think the law does, for free.

You're right in principle, but bizarrely lacking in cynicism for one who's usually fairly pragmatic.

Neighbours are more like family than friends - you can't choose them, you're largely stuck with them and it's unlikely that you'll make the relationship work without making sacrifices that you shouldn't need to. Plus, you probably won't like them anyway.

In reply to Martin not maisie:

See my post of 18.35

In reply to gethin_allen:

i would put in a post up to the height of the vent then fix a board less then an inch from the vent covering the whole surface area.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:


Unfortunately, odour from a residential property cannot be a statutory nuisance under s79 1(d) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. If an abatement notice under s80 of the Act is served it can only be on odours from a trade or industrial premises.

In reply to Alan M:

Did wonder about that, but certainly couldn't be arsed looking it up.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

It's ok, I work in the pollution control sector and have a lot of experience with statutory nuisance etc. Stat. Nuisance is one of the those head scratching elements of the law being that no absolute standard exists.