As SunTzu wrote around 2,600 years ago:

<i><b>"it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperilled in every single battle."</b></i>


Or as the British Army teach:

<i><b>"Time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted"</b></i>

Posted By: gustyturbineI am not asking for the earth after all.

Hmmm.... then just tell him what to do with it

I called him last night. He thought I was going to complain about the .5 mtr error in house position. I have told him about my garden height concerns so we will meet tomorrow. I have checked the planning approval and no heights are shown at all. Apparently planning have now changes the rules and they require heights to be shown. That has to be a good thing in my opinion. I also informed him that he could access his rear garden over my land if this helps him remove some earth. I cant be fairer than that. If it all goes wrong then I will consider a complaint to planning and cause as much trouble as possible. Not a route I want to go down at all so that is a last resort. At least if we cant agree and I complain he should then give me future consideration rather than trying to walk over me. At the end of the day all I want is privacy in my garden with a 6ft boundary built.
Thanks so much for all of the information,
Gusty.

Update- My neighbour has agreed to lower the level of his garden so we will see. No action has taken place yet and the levels remain the same but I keep you all informed.
Thanks again all.

>Thanks for the information all. More importantly the developer has now moved the property from 2250mm from the boundary to 1750mm. Can he do that?

how close will his foundations be to your property - if within 3m then he will need (well, ought to) serve a party wall notice on you something like 2 months before the foundations are dug - this is an opportunity to make life difficult if you so wish, or not if you don't. maybe worth some research

Thanks all.
My neighbours property will be 1750mm from the boundary so 3750 from my house. He has still not lowered the height of his garden but it has been very wet for the last week or so.
I will update on any action,
Gusty.

Both!

Posted By: gustyturbineWhat to do next? Complain to planning about garden height, house position, both or neither?

Both

Posted By: gustyturbinehe does not not want to compromise at all.

As I see it you have tried the diplomatic approach and he has come back and slapped you in the face (and put the knee in asking for your calcs).

From this distance removed from the situation it seems like you are not going to get anywhere with this guy without having to resort to getting officials involved.

Unfortunately that is probably going to mean a breakdown in relations with your neighbour but from the sounds of him he will continue to walk all over you in the future if you let him away with this now.

As a last resort you could tell him that you will have to go to the planners about the two issues if he doesn't reduce the levels in his garden and see what he has to say about that.

In our last place we backed onto a neighbour who gave us nothing but grief - but our other neighbour, also backing onto them, was left alone. I asked the nice neighbour why he thought this was and his reply was that he had told the nasty neighbour that if he came round again or so much as looked at him he would effing ring his neck. I tried the same approach which worked a treat. It seems that some people interpret politeness and courtesy as a weakness and a green light to bullying. Bullies are cowards, so stand up for yourself and he'll soon stop playing silly buggers.
So in my humble opinion, I'd tell him to whistle for any calculations since your wall has nothing to do with him and say that you'd confirm that with the planning dept. to be on the safe side!!

Always unfortunate when things cannot be resolved amicably.
Have you got 'before' and 'after' pictures?
If he has raised the ground level considerably then he has undertaken "Engineering Operations" which would require Planning Permission in their own right (irrespective of the fact that levels were not included in the PP or as a condition).
It seems like you are left with little option but to make a complaint to Planning Enforcement.

Your neighbour has "undertaken engineering operations regarding changing the ground levels next to your property which is allowing overlooking, and causing a detrimental impact on your privacy and amenity." or words to that effect. Unfortunately when they look into it they will also discover that the house has not been built in accordance with the approved plans (it is in the wrong place) therefore the whole planning permission is invalid.

He will have to re-apply for planning permission to regularise the situation.

Accompanying the new planning application there will be details of ground levels - mainly because in the meantime, you have submitted a formal complaint asking why no details of ground levels have been assessed, and why this information has not been secured by condition if it was not provided with the planning application.

You can then comment on the levels information submitted, and object to it in the same way as you can object to any aspect of a planning application that is a material planning consideration.
Overlooking, privacy, and amenity are material planning considerations that will have to be impartially assessed.
(structural integrity is not, this would be covered by building regs.)

Thanks all,
I am contacting the planning department over the next few days. I will keep you posted.

Posted By: windy lambjust because Gusty has a legitimate concern doesn't mean he has to be whiter than snow.

... certainly helps though!

J

Yes, good luck!

I would not bother calling him 'one last time'. He already has a history of changing his mind (OK he said his wife wanted it different - hmm) Any thing he agrees to now is unenforceable. If he says he will lower the ground to it correct level and move the house back to the right place, how long do you wait for action?? 1 week, 1 month, 1 year? IMO anything he says now will just be a stalling action.
It does not sound that there is any relationship between you worth preserving so in your place I would not bother with any more discussion but rather go to the planning dept. with a complaint.