Neighbour wants to build a wall

TripleT

TripleT

TripleT

Soldato
Joined
24 Oct 2002
Posts
9,654
Location
Manchester City Centre
So my neighbour wants to build a wall which goes between our properties back gardens to replace an old fence.

He's checked and that boundrey is his apparently which I've no reason to doubt but is worth double checking. He's doing it at his cost. Now I've no problem with this, it's one less thing to paint! But what questions should I be asking. He mentioned something about his cousin doing it so want to make sure they do it right etc. Can I insist on getting it safety checked or something or is he free to do want he likes as its on his property?

Also he mentioned that it had to be under 6ft or something but his garden is higher than ours so is that 6ft on his side or mine?

Cheers
 
I would imagine a garden wall would be notifiable work therefore would be inspected by building control. Any wall can be extremely dangerous if not constructed correctly.

I would check with building control before work starts.

The max height at a garden boundary is actually 2m not 6'. Unless it's far in excess your side I wouldn't thing planning will get involved.

EDIT : Apparently a garden wall isn't notifiable. There are some guidelines here. Building control would probably still be happy to offer advice though.
 
Last edited:
Make sure about the boundary location, do your own search, should be marked on your deeds, don't accept his word, you need to get that boundary 100% correct, or it will come back to bite you if you want to sell & it's not correct.

You need to make sure the foundation are deep & wide enough for the soil conditions & height of wall.
 
Last edited:
Thanks I'll take a look, going to try and dig them out if not it's 30quid online to get copies.

My brother in law's a jack of all trades so I might ask him to come round as the only thing I'm bothered about is location and safety as I've got a dog and child on the way.

What's a reasonable amount of time to allow in removing the old fence, concrete foundations then laying a 10metre long wall?

With having a dog I don't want the garden out of action for too long but obviously want to be realistic.

Thanks
 
A 1.8m wall 30m long would have a substantial wind loading acting on it. I would expect footings to be at least 450 deep if not 600mm to avoid frost action and wetting and drying. This also depends on the soil type and strength though to determine width of footing. At least one brick thick wall unless piers are incorporated in the design.
 
TripleT said:
Thanks I'll take a look, going to try and dig them out if not it's 30quid online to get copies.

My brother in law's a jack of all trades so I might ask him to come round as the only thing I'm bothered about is location and safety as I've got a dog and child on the way.

What's a reasonable amount of time to allow in removing the old fence, concrete foundations then laying a 10metre long wall?

With having a dog I don't want the garden out of action for too long but obviously want to be realistic.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm reasonably sure that if it's his wall, he doesn't have to replace it at all if he doesn't want to, let alone complete it in a " reasonable" timeframe
 
10m not 30m

Whilst true Lopez I'm pretty sure you can't just tear down a fence and leave it like that with no consideration. We're on good term so I'm sure he won't. I just don't want it going on for x amount of weekends as its a friend whose doing it for him.
 
From a personal point of view with so much at stake, I'd notify the council of his intentions whether or not it's deemed necessary
 
Lopéz said:
I'm reasonably sure that if it's his wall, he doesn't have to replace it at all if he doesn't want to, let alone complete it in a " reasonable" timeframe
Click to expand...

I think that covenants normally require that x person maintains a certain type of border (fence or wall etc.) so he would be required to do it to some extent. I agree that in reality, OP is almost completely at his neighbour's mercy though.

Timescale is a question, as what would really happen if he took 6 months (nothing). If he was taking his sweet time then OP has no redress in reality, aside from building his own wall.
 
Title deeds will not show fences though may show who owns the boundary.
This will be indicated by t-marks on the title plan. You can get the title plan for both your property and your neighbours directly from the land registry.The boundary is an invisible line so there is no guarantee that the fence marks the 'actual' boundary, and just to make things more challenging you cant determine the exact position of a boundary from a title plan, only a general position.
If it is his fence i.e stands wholly on his land, then your neighbour can remove it and not do anything for as long as he likes, unless there is something in his title deeds that suggests that he must provide a fence/wall/other.
The only reason you would possibly have any reason for complaint is if he has a dog/child etc... that is causing you some nuisance due to the fence not being there.


However, this is all the things that you would need if you can't trust your neighbour. If he is paying for the wall and you allow him access to your land to build it and point it nicely.....bite his arm off! :)
 
I don't know if it's relevant in your case, and I've got no knowledge in this area so it's as much of a question as anything else, but would the party wall act come into effect if it runs close to the house? I'm thinking about the excavation for the footings.
 
Sorry, just spotted that his garden is higher than yours?
What is currently retaining his land from collapsing into yours? If its going to be a retaining wall then he is legally obliged to support his own land.
As for the height, if it sits wholly on his land then it is measured from ground level his side. However, by the sound of it the idea is to place the wall astride the perceived boundary in which case it could be argued that it could be measured from your side if his land is higher.

As I mentioned above though, as long as your neighbour plays ball and involves you in the process (lots of grovelling and general boot licking) and everything is amicable there is unlikely to be any problems and you'll have a nice maintenance free wall.
 
TripleT said:
10m not 30m

Whilst true Lopez I'm pretty sure you can't just tear down a fence and leave it like that with no consideration. We're on good term so I'm sure he won't. I just don't want it going on for x amount of weekends as its a friend whose doing it for him.
Click to expand...

Unless the deeds state otherwise, I'm pretty sure you can.
 
One brick thick = 225mm. If it is a retaining wall, it will be much thicker to provide a gravity retaining structure. He should prepare calculations to show stability although many builders tend to eye these things in as standard solutions. The subsoil bearing capacity is very important in this case.
 
Need photo's to clarify things.

You said his garden is higher than yours?

So, he will need to dig out however much soil to get to your present ground level, plus then the the footings for the foundations, say 600mm, but I assuming that here, as I don't know your soil condition.

I hope his isn't thinking of digging footings on his side just at his ground level to build wall, you could end up with every thing crashing down.

I don't know what the difference is in ground level between the two properties, could be 100mm or so, or maybe a 1000mm or more.

Once you start getting to 400mm-500mm or more you need to consider ground heave,movement, drainage (possible build up of water behind wall).

If the wall has to be a retaining wall at it's base, then your looking at a minimum width of 225mm,ie a 100mm concrete block laid flat.
Have built several retaining walls 400mm wide at the base, then reaching ground level stepping down to 225mm wide over the last 30 years.

I certainly wouldn't want some weekend amateur building a wall, there are many other factors to consider building a retaining wall 1.8mts high.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom