How close to a boundary can someone build?

[peggysue000]

Hi, not sure if I'm in the right place but trying to find an answer from the building regs seems to be a minefield. I bought a new build house last year and our property is on the edge of the new development, directly behind our garden fence is a patch of unused land. Yesterday a for sale went up on this land, it is being sold by our local council as a potential residential development. Basically, my concern is how close to our fence (which is our boundary line) can any other houses be built? And also what are our rights in terms of not having our garden overlooked or sunlight being blocked out?

Thank you in advance for any information you may be able to provide.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Any development that may take place would be subject to a full planning application and as such would be decided using the planning guidance that your Local Authority have adopted. Generally some form of Right to Light is incorporated into their guidelines so they will consider this when deciding whether to approve any application or not. It’s difficult (actually impossible) to say one way or another as we know nothing of the site etc and every Local Authority varies with their stance on a Right to Light.

BTW this has little to do with Building Regulations, which is a different beast altogether, though gaps around buildings can be relevant to Building Regulations.

 

[Diyisfun]

They may also not be able to have windows with clear glass facing your property. How much do they want for it?, buy it & have a bigger garden.

 

[cjard]

Diy's answer is bob on.. club together with your neighbours and buy the land while it has no granted permission and hence much lower worth..

..or if you don't want to accept that your edge-of-town house will not always remain so, wait while they build a new house on the edge of town, sell yours and buy that one

 

[SimonH2]

How much do they want for it?, buy it & have a bigger garden.

+1 for that.
It's what my parents did (with the neighbours) when a field behind their house came up for sale. The owner had already tried twice to get planning - but turned down on the grounds that it was outside the current guidelines which put the feels outside the development area.

On the basis that plans change and you never know who will "know the right people" - they bought the land between them.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

They may also not be able to have windows with clear glass facing your property.

Weirdly inconsistent, the rules on overlooking.

I can stand in my garden and look over the 3' high fence into my neighbour's. I could build a heated gazebo in the garden to protect me from the elements so that I could sit out there and look over the fence into their garden at any time of the day, any day of the year.

If I look out of the bedroom at the back of my house I can see the entire length of their garden.

But if I were to build a half-width rear extension I wouldn't be allowed a door with obscure glass, or even no glass at all, facing their garden.

 

[tony1851]

But if I were to build a half-width rear extension I wouldn't be allowed a door with obscure glass, or even no glass at all, facing their garden.

??? You could if it was built as permitted development.