A retired couple have been left outraged after their next door neighbour built an extension to his house which encroaches onto their property.
Larry and Brenda Lott were ‘accommodating’ when the Polish builder living next door in Hampton, south west London, began improvements to his home.
It started with a loft conversion, then a year ago he began a single-storey extension at the back of his house.
But once they saw the building develop, they realised it stood on their land, encroaching by a brick’s width, or around three inches.
They say they have now lost space in the garden, ‘ruined’ their £650,000 home, and left them with ill-health.
They feel they have little choice to move from the home they have loved for 28 years after falling out with the neighbour.
Larry and Brenda Lott say their neighbour has encroached into their garden space after building a rear extension
Homeowner Larry Lott points out what he claims is an incursion of his neighbour’s extension onto his property in Hampton, south west London
The Lotts say the extension has cut into their storage space and ‘ruined’ the home in Hampton, south west London, where the average price for a house is £638,000
To make matters worse, the local council has refused to help, insisting that it is a boundary dispute and therefore a ‘private legal matter’ and not a breach of planning regulations.
Under planning laws, extensions can be built without needing consent from authorities as long as they do not exceed certain limits, in what is known as ‘permitted developments’.
For example, a single-storey rear extension will be given automatic approval if it does not measure any higher than 13.2ft.
The Lotts say they have been ‘kept awake for a year’ by the ‘constant banging and drilling’ of builders working on the property in the leafy suburb of Hampton, south west London.
Brenda, 76, said: ‘We had a new neighbour move into the property almost eight years ago now, he is a Polish builder.
‘It’s a beautiful area and we always said hello in the morning but this is a step too far; he has taken some of our land.
‘He has built a loft extension, which we were fine with a year ago, but this extension at the back goes into our property.
‘We were accommodating at first, we’ve always got on so well with all of our neighbours, but this has become a nightmare.
‘We only became aware when he started. He showed us the plans, which clearly show the extension going into our property.
The elderly pair claim their neighbour’s patio roof hangs over their fence into their garden (a red dotted line, which they claim is the boundary line of their property)
Pictured are the plans submitted for the extension in May last year. Under planning laws, known as permitted developments, extensions can be built without needing consent from authorities as long as they do not exceed certain limits
‘Now there is banging and drilling every day for a year, it’s affecting my health – it has really shot my nerves to pieces.’
Larry, who is originally from Texas, said: ‘This is Hampton, you don’t expect this kind of thing to happen around here.
‘He pushes everything to the limit – saying there’s nothing we can do about it – and he tried to force documents on us.
‘That man was supposed to leave a two-inch gap between our houses, but he has built right onto our living room wall.
‘There was no consideration for us at all. It’s an encroachment onto my land. There is always something going on there.
‘He works so early in the morning, even on Saturdays, and then late into the night – my wife’s nerves are shot after this.
‘The building has not been stopped by Richmond Council, who keep passing us on to different people and aren’t looking into this.
‘We wrote to a surveyor, he came and said ‘this needs to be stopped now’ – the council is just dithering, they don’t want to listen.’
A council spokesperson maintained that the issue is a ‘private’ matter, meaning the authority had no power to stop any more work
PIctured is the garden of the next door neighbour before work began to build the extension
A council spokesperson maintained that the issue is a ‘private’ matter, meaning the authority had no power to stop any more work.
They said: ‘The extension at this property is authorised by a Government Order, the General Permitted Development Order 2015.
‘This order allows homeowners to carry out some works without the need for planning permission from the council.
‘Last year a resident made a complaint to the council that a breach of planning had occurred. An investigation was undertaken and indeed the resident was aware.
‘However, following the investigation, the council confirmed that the works do comply with the Government Order under the GPDO Prior Approval procedure.
‘It is important to note that any boundary and land ownership disputes are private legal matters between parties.’
The neighbour, Zbigniew Twardowski, has been contacted for comment on his building plans.
Larry, who is originally from Texas, said the couple had little choice but to consider moving after 28 years