Building on our side wall

[Teddy]

We own a detached village house in France and our end gable wall adjoins a gravel car parking area which belongs to the house next door. We noticed that our neighbour had put down a concrete plinth which touched our side wall. The house is occupied by tenants and so we wrote to the owner to request that nothing permanent is erected against our wall which would prevent us from maintaining it. The owner who is a land surveyor and court expert (retired) responded at length and in essence said that the law allowed him to build either 3 metres from our wall or to build against our wall. He asked for permission to join lead flashing to our wall.

We went to see the Mayor who was courteous and took time to discuss our concerns however he said that the surveyor was correct and informed us that we would be able to make our objections known when a Permis de Construire was applied for. The Permis has now been applied for and we will make a visit to view the plans for this erection which at present is described as a cloture – which is an enclosure or fenced area.

In all of this it seems unfair that we bought a detached house and a few years later someone is allowed to make our house semi-detached. We plan to ask a local estate agent to advise us how much this will affect the price. This seems to be a “done deal” and we wondered whether any forum members have encountered anything similar and have any advice to offer? Many thanks

[suein56]

[quote user="Teddy"]We own a detached village house in France and our end gable wall adjoins a gravel car parking area which belongs to the house next door.

... it seems unfair that we bought a detached house and a few years later someone is allowed to make our house semi-detached.

[/quote]

It is a blow but the rules in France are crystal clear, either build up to boundary or 3 mtrs away from it. As your house has been built up to the boundary then your neighbour has the right to do the same thing on his land. There was always the possibility that this was going to happen. Detached tends to mean bang in the middle of a plot and yours, regretfully, is not.

[quote user="Teddy"]

We plan to ask a local estate agent to advise us how much this will affect the price. [/quote]

If you plan to sell to French people then not much, though this depends on many factors.

If planning to sell to English people then perhaps it might matter a tad more.

Sue

[Quillan]

From your description it sounds like we may be talking a car port or a place to store logs for the fire however until you know for sure it is difficult to comment.

As to the value of your house I would be very surprised if it makes a difference especially if you were to sell to French people. We often think of our own values whereas the French and other nationalities think quite different to us. For example people round here like to be closer to, if not on, the main road because of winter, working and snow. They don't want to put snow chains on every morning and night to get from their house to the main road two kilometers away (or more) and back. Having a house built across from you that 'blots' out part of the view for many French is not a problem where as we would consider that it devalues our property. So all in all I wouldn't worry about it but if in doubt check with an agent, possibly the one you bought from.

[AnOther]

Does your roof overhang the gable wall ?

If it does, even if only by inches, then I would have thought a vertical line from that should be the boundary and not the wall itself and if that is the case the neighbour may actually be trespassing on your property.

Conversely if the boundary is definitely the wall then a roof overhang could be seen as trespass on the neighbour !

Just thoughts !

[Théière]

They are not just thoughts Ernst, I know of a case back a few years that got ugly and expensive over approximately 4 1/2" of roof and a party wall dispute arose.  The judgement after many pounds were spent and using an independent surveyor was both parties were ever so slightly guilty of infringing the boundaries of each other and as neither side could still agree both had to dismantle their walls and move them back!

[danny]

The exact same think happened to us. We got a call from one of our tenants saying their was a man on the roof of the house nailing in some zinc flashing. I drove down and had a word with the builder. He got the neighbour out and she said that she did not have our address. Rather than start a war I agreed to let the builder continue. I talked to the appropriate person in the Mairie as your neighbour said she has the right to build an Abri right up to the edge of my gable wall.

I talked to several estate agents and they assured me that the abri would not devalue the property. Over the years the abri acquired an electronic up and over garage gate, out the back another extension was built. Each year I visit the gable end and ask her to remove all of the rubbish that she has stored against the wall.

We receive one or two emails from the neighbour about our tenants putting tennis balls in her garden, not cleaning the leaves out of the gutters at the same time as she gets hers done. The latest communication is about the new tenant cutting the grass on a sunday which is apparently against the regulations of the estate.

We generally ignore the emails and let them solve out the problems.

[EuroTrash]

Just out of curiosity, what would happen if there was a window in the gable end?

I ask this because my joined-on neighbour's house is identical to mine except I have a window at the back and a courtyard outside which doesn't belong to me, and the back wall of my neighbour's house has no window and has a shed belonging to the owner of the courtyard. If that makes sense - complicated to explain but simple when you see it.

Was wondering if next door originally had a window and they were made to fill it in, could that happen?.

[PaulT]

With regard to mowing the grass on a Sunday I thought there was a law against it.........OK for the farmers to cut and bale hay with their tractors

[YCCMB]

Off the top of my head, and it's a while since I looked into this, but when I did I could quote chapter and verse...a lot depends on whose wall it is, and the height of the window. In general terms, the law says it can't open (or only a certain amount, not affording a view of the neighbouring property), or, if low down, it should be of obscured glass and shouldn't open at all.

It also depends on whose wall it is. For example, my neighbours' rear wall (of their house) is actually also my garden wall, but it's not mitoyen, it belongs to them...even though they can't access it at all because it's in my (enclosed) garden. And they put some windows in it, hence my (forgotten) knowledge of the subject.

[andyh4]

[quote user="PaulT"]With regard to mowing the grass on a Sunday I thought there was a law against it.........OK for the farmers to cut and bale hay with their tractors[/quote]

I think it is generally permitted on Sunday morning, but the rules do seem to vary from place to place and local rules may override the byelaws and add additional restrictions.

[Chancer]

You are allowed to create a glass brick window of less than 1m2 (which equates to 25 glass bricks exactly) in any wall no matter what is the other side, you could even fit one in the mitoyenne party wall while your neighbours are on Holiday to give them a nice surprise when they return.

An external wall on the boundary of a neighbour is seen to be their wall by most French particularly the owner who does not want the maintenance of it.

If you live in a detached house built 3m from the boundary to the side dont be surprised one day to find a house built either 3 or 6m from it if the terrain is constructable. If your detached house is built on the boundary then you might return one day to find that you now have a semi-detached house, your new neighbour profiting from the economy of not constructing one gable end wall, a considerable saving, you will both henceforth be plagued with noise problems.

[dave21478]

Be very sure that your own property limits are exactly in order before poking the hornets nest, as mentioned on the previous page.

A couple of guys in the next town along from here are having this kind of dispute just now, where one guy objected to building against his wall and the person doing the building did a little digging and found problems with the boundary limits at the expense of the complainer.. Seemingly it came to fisticuffs in the street a while back.

[Teddy]

Thanks to all for the shared experiences and suggestions on this topic,