Do I have to let my neighbours into my garden so they can finish their ugly

My neighbours are building an extension to the rear of their property.  

It has been built 15cm from my house with concrete blocks. It is in no way similar to the finish of the existing home, which is rendered and painted white. 

I contacted the council planning department who ended up contacting my neighbours. The neighbours said they were planning on rendering the exterior of the extension to match their home, but needed access to my property to do this. 

My neighbours have not asked me for access, and I will not allow them it if they do. 

The council’s planning department told me that if I do not grant the neighbours access, the council’s ability to enforce the rendering as planned would be limited. 

I don’t see why I should have to do this and it would inconvenience me greatly. They would have to remove an established plant in my garden to do this. Surely if they want to build an extension they need to ensure it is built and completed within the boundaries of their property. 

Extension wars: A Daily Mail reader’s neighbours want access to her property to finish their ugly extension (file image)

Jane Denton, of This is Money, replies: Certain works and extensions don’t need planning permission. This is due to permitted development rights, which are fairly generous. 

Any building work done within a permitted development will, however, need to meet certain standards and criteria limiting the maximum size of the extension or loft conversion. 

As I can see in the photo you sent, your neighbour’s new extension comes right up to the boundary of your property, and in its unfinished state, its appearance is far from ideal. 

You are under no legal obligation to give your neighbours access to your property to enable them to complete the extension and rendering.

If your neighbours choose to access your property without your permission, it would constitute trespass, which is typically a civil rather than criminal matter. 

Your neighbours could apply to a court for access to your property to finish the extension if the rendering is deemed as undertaking ‘basic preservation works’. 

You could talk to your neighbours and suggest they do what they can to complete the works from their side of the boundary. They should have considered these issues before sticking up a large extension right by your boundary. 

However, it is clear to me that you also think the current unfinished extension looks dire, and this complicates the matter. 

With this in mind, perhaps a compromise could be reached, whereby you permit limited access to your property, but only if certain conditions are met, including ensuring your established plant is not disturbed or destroyed. 

I asked two solicitors for their views on the matter. 

James Naylor, a partner at Naylor Solicitors, says: Let us set the scene. It is a Saturday. You are in the garden, minding your own business, when your neighbours, who built an extension so close you can hear their kettle boil, pop their heads over the fence. They wish to render the wall.

Naturally, this means trampling through your winter jasmine and generally treating your garden like the set of a low-budget episode of Ground Force.

You contact the council, expecting at least a degree of support, but they simply shrug and say, ‘Not our problem.’

So, what now? Are you legally obliged to allow your neighbour access, or should they have considered this before building a brick’s width from your fence?

You are under no legal obligation to grant neighbours access to your property, James Naylor says 

To be clear, in the eyes of the law, your garden is your castle – roses, weeds, gnomes, and all. 

There is no general legal requirement for you to permit your neighbour onto your land. If they clamber over the fence without your consent, that constitutes trespass. The fact that they need access to render is legally speaking, their problem, not yours.

However, because parliament cannot resist a bit of legislating, we have the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992. 

This statute allows your neighbour to apply to the court for an access order if they need to carry out ‘basic preservation works’. That includes maintenance, repair, or renewal. Rendering a wall might just about qualify, but it is not a given. 

If you refuse access, your neighbour’s only recourse is to litigate. The judge will consider whether the works are truly necessary, whether your inconvenience, and the fate of your jasmine, can be compensated, and whether any conditions, such as payment for damage or a requirement to wear those little blue shoe covers, should be imposed.

For those who appreciate their legal precedents with a side of property bling, consider a recent South Kensington case. 

Two neighbours became embroiled in a dispute over access for…