Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Most of the 'side return' extensions done on ED semi-detached houses have I think been done by people who own the whole house. In my case I own just the upper flat, and share the freehold of the house with the owner of the lower flat, who wants to extend that.


Has anyone been in a similar situation? Are there any particular issues or problems that have arisen or might do so? And if I need professional advice, any recommendations?

A small fry point. I'm sure others will post with more substantially important info....


Without knowing your flat layout a practical question - will you still be able to clean your windows? Sounds riddiculous, but like you, I'm above someone else's flat and am not sure how I'd be able to if they added a side return.


HP

Hello, I was in a similar situation five years ago with a joint freeholder in a building with two flats. Without going into too much detail the other flat who are organizing the extension should pay for architect's drawings and a structural engineer's report for you before you consent. An extension should get approval from Southwark planning and you should be aware when the extension is happening (they usually take 3-6 months) you will be living on a building site with dust and noise. A party wall agreement will need to be prepared as they are likely to cut into walls you both share and could cause damage in your flat. Also, you should be aware that an extension may take away your right to access the back of the house and access to roof/window/brickwork. I think you said you are a joint freeholder, so you have the right to say no but that comes with consequences. The couple who wanted to do the extension five years ago, have been annoyed they couldn't extend and bullying me ever since, which has been really difficult since I live alone.

My thoughts...

- You should insist that the roof can take enough weight to walk on, and not be fully glazed, to ensure access for maintenance.

- If your contractual obligations are that you share all roof repairs 50/50, you might want to try to renegotiate this

- This work will DEFINITELY cause movement of the back half of the building. You will probably need repairs, redecoration, doors re-hung, etc over the back portion of your flat. This should be agreed up front. Take lots of photos before the work starts. Builders are often quite dodgy and might deny that this will happen... don't be fooled.

I don't think there's a guarantee of movement (the structure/fabric of the pre-existing building being made to move by the addition of a side return extension).

There may well be settling cracks from new works done, but that happens on any floor where structural works undertaken, and is more likely to occur in the new area to be built, rather than untouched adjacent pre-existing building.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Is it? Let's see  Farming is a tough gig with increasingly lower returns, if farms have to sell off land to pay inheritance tax it will reduce their ability to survive. Which in real terms could mean more farm land lost and more reliance on imported food which sees money flowing out, not in to the country.  But I guess as long as you get cheap food that doesn't concern you 😉  Lol "what about the cars"  again Mal... like a broken record....  Governments know that squeezing car drivers for more fuel duty will drive down income from taxes as people switch to electric, which would leave them with a black hole in income. Guess the fuel duty is a fine balancing act tiĺl enough electric cars have been sold to raise tax revenue from their use. 
    • Hello - if anyone is in need of sofa/rug/carpet cleaning, we have recently had a very good experience with husband and wife team Kate and Vlad. They're a very reasonable cost and the result was great (don't look too closely at the colour of the water that comes out!) Kate's number is 07731 140246
    • You can buy your parcel postage (tracked or any other) online from Royal Mail, they will come to your address with the label and pick up your parcel, (no extra charge) alternatively, you can print your label at home and apply to your parcel for them to pick up from you also. The other option is to drop off your labelled parcel to the Royal Mail Delivery Office of your choice.
    • A silly title, Truss set such a high bar I doubt whether anyone can ever match her level of incompetence and level of delusion. Paul Johnson spoke on inheritance tax on one of the political programmes.  Any inheritance tax is controversial, and he considered farmers should not be an expectation I was underwhelmed and incredibly disappointed that there was no increase in fuel duty; Labour chickened out and I will be telling Rachel's sister this view. Paul Johnson has written a good article on his analysis and that the budget was not at all revolutionary https://ifs.org.uk/articles/budget-was-non-event-and-kicked-big-decisions-down-road If you want something to worry about look over the Pond Reality check - pound crashed against the dollar and other major currencies following Brexit vote - 1.70 to 1.20, and has never recovered Truss's mini budget sent it to almost an all time low 1.08, from around 1.20 the week before Reeves budget it lost a cent, and fared worse since Trump won the election.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...