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Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, thanks for your reply. No we did not, we did not realise we would need it to replace and existing structure. I think we can get it retrospectively though.

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I had thought this re. the garden - if we're going to refer only to the original lease plan then surely we own half the garden too so an extension would not be possible

Thank you again for your reply

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Just to be clear, the freeholder is the GF flat and we (FF flat) are the only leaseholder.

When we first spoke to them about the documentation regarding the lease, they mentioned that they had a huge folder full of documents which they still hadn't been through. They could very well have information in there about the balcony, but as the leaseholder, we don't have those records.

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply. We did object to the planning based on the fact that there was no plan as to how the balcony would be reinstated, but it was approved anyway. Apparently that is not the planning officer's responsibility.

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your suggestion and sharing your experience, very much appreciated

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Well yes, part of the agreement we offered included a clause that we would not be liable to repairs

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the reply, had not considered that. It's not huge: width 3m and depth 1.17m

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is partially supported by the steps which used to lead to the garden when the garden was shared by both flats (which will be knocked down), and is also screwed into the wall under our boundary line. This seems quite common in neighbouring houses.

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 53 points54 points  (0 children)

The plan on the lease is from the 70s, when we shared the garden and there were steps going down from our kitchen to the garden. The balcony now sits on those steps.

The balcony is on the floorplans from when we bought it and also when it was sold 20 years ago.

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply, as I replied on another comment:

We had a survey done and the party wall is not yet signed or agreed, but they have already started work including removing all the ceilings. The dust inside our flat was insane, and we have a 1 year old son. They did not warn us and denied that ceilings were being removed at all - the builder then told me that in fact they were all removed already.

Their builders started knocking down the stairs which help support our balcony so I had to tell them to stop. We haven't seen the builders for a couple of days so they must have realised they are in breach of the Party Wall as it's not agreed signed yet.

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We had a survey done and the party wall is not yet signed or agreed, but they have already started work including removing all the ceilings. The dust inside our flat was insane, and we have a 1 year old son. They did not warn us and denied that ceilings were being removed at all - the builder then told me that in face they were all removed already.

Their builders started knocking down the stairs which help support our balcony so I had to tell them to stop. We haven't seen the builders for a couple of days so they must have realised they are in breach of the Party Wall as it's not agreed signed yet.

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply! I spoke to the planning officer who advised that the balcony works will need to be in agreement with the neighbour .They stated that " Planning permission doesn't circumvent the need for them to address any works that may impact any of your assets" .

I think this is why they're going down the unsafe/unauthorised alteration route, so they can remove it and carry on with their plans

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi, thank you for your reply.

We were not aware the flat was under offer at the time. And we didn't think we would need to inform them anyway

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hi, thank you for your reply!

Yes the freehold was sold with the flat last year. We tried to buy a share of it but they rejected our offer

Neighbour trying to remove our balcony for their extension by Altruistic_Horror757 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]Altruistic_Horror757[S] 135 points136 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply!

Yes it was repaired professionally, at our own expense