"Susan Barlow" wrote:

Hi Folks,
I hope some of you can advise me on this situation:
My mum lives in a small detached house, (built 1976) where the neighbours
driveway runs the full length of one side of her house. The neighbours are
going to apply for planning permission to have a 2 storey extension built on
the side of their house i.e. in their driveway, which will be the full
length and height of their own house, and the maximum width of the driveway,
leaving a gap of around 6 inches between their house and my mums. This will
mean that the whole of the wall on one side of my mums house will be
completely inaccesible. The roof of the proposed extension will slope down
towards my mums house and finish under her eaves. Mum has a Gas CH boiler in
an upstairs room, on the side facing their property with a flue out into
their driveway.
Personnaly I would be unhappy about this, but concerned that saying NO
would upset my neighbours and turn them into enemies.

First I would get quotes for the real cost of moving the boiler and
its flue, and making good any decoration etc. I suspect that your
neighbours may baulk at excessive costs and moving a boiler may be a
cost too far.

Then I would get the opinion of local estate agents regarding any
detrimental effect on the value of your mum's house. If other
properties in the neighbourhood have got similar extensions then they
should have a good idea of the effect (if any) on neighbouring
properties.

You should also get the opinion of a good surveyor regarding the
affects (detriemental or not) of building so close to your mum's
house. Whilst it would be preferable if your neighbours paid for this
it should be YOUR surveryor who acts for you.

An obvious concern for BOTH properties would be the difficulty of
maintaining the respective gutters and consequential damp problems
affecting both if one should fail out of sight.

Finnally I would then talk to the neighbours armed with all the FACTS
and expert opinions and not just your fears. Remember that if your
Mum's wall cannot be maintained then so too is the neighbour's new
wall out of reach. It may be possible to persuade them to drop back a
few inches to allow mutual access, if your surveyor suggested it.
After all if their builder was not up to standard they may have a
bigger problem than you!

Richard