Hi, My neighbours wall ( approx 2ft high ) sits on a foundation which overhangs my drive by approx 6 inches horizontally and 4 inches vertically. Can I ask him to remove this so the footing is flush with the wall, or can I just do the job myself after informing him ? And would i need something like an angle grinder..? Thanks in advance...
If its below the level of your drive way then no you can't remove it, or even ask him to, he has the right to encroach on to your property below ground for the sake of a boundery, in the same way that a fence post has concrete all the way around it even though its on the boundary.
Thanks for replies so far. Its is approx 4 inches above the level of my driveay out to about 6 inches. The concrete has gravel in it, but is not re enforced otherwise. It currently looks quite undtidy, also i am thinking of having the whole area blocked or tarmacked...
No right to place foundation across the boundary above ground level. Only below. You can ask them to remove. (by reinforced I was referring to steel.)
Now don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but if the wall is older than 10 years you can not make them move it, it will be deemed to be the new boundary be virtue of time.
I don't think that is currently the case, Phil, and rightly so. The days of a person moving fences, or mowing a piece of scrub land for 12 years and then claiming it as theirs is over. Which is good. What a slimy fluffinganomaly that was.
10 or 12 years? It's called adverse possession? - would have to be exclusive use of that area of land Adjoining Owner would have to prove that though... unless they have photo evidence of it being there that long.
looks like its been there a while... thoguh they haven't had exclusive use of the land. If it really bothers you and you chop it off to the lower level, it probably won't do too much damage as the wall looks fairly lightweight and is settled by now.
That's the baby, CPM. But I'm fairly sure that law has been repealed 'cos it is patently unfair. It was chust a license for the slimy cheats amongst us.
Our old friend 'The Party Wall Act' again Phil. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa..._Wall_etc__Act_1996_-_Explanatory_Booklet.pdf But, reading it briefly I see the following paragrapgh. Walls that are not Party Walls: These may include boundary walls (a fence wall/garden wall built wholly on one owner’s land) and external walls (the wall of a building built up to but not astride the boundary).
Looking at the pic, I would be incline to suggest, the wall may not actually be the boundary, and the concrete could in fact be. I would suggest get a proper detailed copy of your deeds showing all boundary lines, this copy would need to be to scale, so you can take measurements. The 10 year rule would only apply to properties etc after the law was changed, if I'm fact is has been.
Snafinch (or is that the 'son of snafinch' - soz, couldn't help it... ) Are you sure the wall itself is on the boundary? Either way, I agree it looks untidy, but my personal feeling is that it would be churlish to try and remove the found on 'your' side even if you were legally permitted to do so. Certainly, it would be very awkward if the wall started to move as a result. It would also be very hard to remove - and angle grinder is gonna struggle with these pebbles. There are solutions, of course, but the best ones will involve agreeing with your neighb to, say, go half-price on a new wall - one with deeper founds. Or the other way would be to remove all that overhanging found (SDS chisel or grinder or summat) and then underpin the rest of the found if needed, perhaps by simply building up a short brick wall alongside it to reach the bass of the existing wall. Do you get on with your neighb?!
Might speak to them first, but they are an old couple and don't want to cause them un neccesary worry. ..... What's the best way to cut it so the footing is flush with the wall..... angle grinder...?
If they see you cutting away the foundations of their wall they are going to worry, just leave it alone and block or tarmac up to it, seesh.