Damp Proofing

PASSAGEWAY ROOF ATTACHED TO HOUSE BY NEIGHBOURS

Anonymous user 03/03/2024 - 3.45 PM

I'm wondering if anyone can offer any advice in relation to a passage between 2 houses and rights about attaching things to property walls. Both my Mum's and neighbours houses are detached with a 30-36" lane between them which is the neighbours and leads into their back garden). Many years ago the neighbours put a 'roof' along the lane (some sort of corrugated sheeting), attaching it to both properties, and adding a door at each end, effectively creating an enclosed area the depth of the house. The neighbours didn't ask about putting the roof up/attaching it to my Mum's, there wasn't even any indication they were thinking about it, it just went up. At the time my Mum told them she wasn't happy with them putting it up (attached to her house) but my Dad didn't want to create any trouble/friction (they were all friends but there had been friction brewing around that time between a few of the neighbours). Over a few years there have been small spots where black from damp has appeared in a few places at the gable ends of the house (the house is over 150 years old and the original walls are around 16" thick), particularly the gable end in question, but this seems to have been quite a bit worse in the past few years. We are going to get a professional in to investigate (any guidance on which speciality would be best to contact first?) and have told the neighbours that if they need to inspect the wall, their roof will have to come down. Really I'm wondering what my Mum's rights are in relation to the roof? We know we have a right to access for maintenance etc. so more to do with the roof actually being there, especially given they didn't ask if they could fix it to her property? Regardless of the damp issue, since we don't yet know if it's related, my Mum has always hated the roof being in place and it creates a considerable echo chamber which is frequently used as they use it as storage and pass in an out of it to the garden. If it has to come down so the wall can be properly inspected/assessed, can we refuse for it to be put back up afterwards? Even if the wall doesn't need to be inspected, could we ask that it is taken down regardless? Any advice would be gratefully received.