My elderly mother lives in a house where access for maintenance on one side is only possible through the neighbour’s lane, as is the case for nearly all houses on the road. Her understanding, based on the original conveyancing advice, was that neither she nor the neighbours could build permanent structures in this lane, as it must remain available for maintaining both properties. New neighbours have since built a large side shed that fully occupies their lane, removing all access to my mother’s left‑hand roof, gutters, windows and wall.
The shed also has no drainage, and its sloped roof directs water on to my mother’s wall. The neighbours erected this structure without any prior contact. What steps should we take to address this situation?
This must be very stressful, especially given your elderly mother is involved. For the sake of our readers, I’ll just describe your mother’s house from the photo you supplied so that they can glean the nuances here.
Your mother’s house is a dormer bungalow with an “A” type roof with the gable presenting to the street. It is one in a series of such buildings forming a crescent in an urban setting. These buildings follow the contours of a hill, with each house being slightly higher than the next as you move uphill.
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Each building has its own access to the back garden via a footpath to the side of the house. The opposite side of each property has no access and indeed the side wall of the house forms the site boundary. As one may imagine, to build on your own garden footpath would mean that you may prevent full or partial access to that part of your neighbour’s house. Why would they need access? Gutters will need to be unblocked, walls painted, cleaned or checked for cracking, unblocking a drain etc.
The shed is a timber-cladded shed with a monopitch roof in line with the front wall of your mother’s house. It appears to stretch along the path, but the full extent is unknown.
So, what’s to be done? The first thing I suggest is that you go to your mother’s neighbour and explain why the position of the shed is unhelpful. It is possible that the property is being occupied by someone who isn’t aware of the impact their shed is having on your mother’s house.
If this doesn’t work, I refer you to the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended, Schedule 2, Part I, Exempted Development-General, Class 3, as this sets out what is allowed when it comes to sheds.
As you’ll see, the shed is not compliant with number 4 of Class 3, which states – “The external finishes of any garage or other structure constructed, erected or placed to the side of a house, and the roof covering where any such structure has a tiled or slated roof, shall conform with those of the house.”
[ My neighbour is blocking access to the side of my garage. What should I do?Opens in new window ]
On the basis of this noncompliance and your concerns generally, write to your local planning office and request they investigate.
They will start with issuing a warning letter. If nothing is done to address the issues raised in the warning letter, they will escalate to enforcement.
If the shed remains, go to your solicitor and ask about rights of way, easements and your mother’s rights. The very best of luck.
Brigid Browne is a chartered building surveyor and a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland
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