Neighbour built on zero boundary

Hi there,

Our neighbour built on zero boundary. We built 200mm from boundary. Their builder just completed the bricks but we noticed that there's no gap in between. Ours is on the right side and you can see that their bricks are just right next to our gutter. Is this acceptable? I am worried that if there's movement, it may damage our house in the long run.

We tried to contact the builder but their site supervisor does not want to attend this issue.

We had to clean the gutter also as the trades left a lot of mortar in there.

Any advice?

Thanks

if you built 200mm from the boundary then shouldn't there be a 200mm gap from brick to your roof? I would be following this up and taking further as they potentially have taken 200mm of your land and that dont look good also in the picture.

This... I wouldn’t be happy at all.

I'm guessing your brickwork is 200mm from the boundary line but you have 200mm of eaves to the outside of the gutter.
They have built brickwork on the boundary line so they have basically met at the gutterline.
It may be that the OP is infact over.
I agree it's not great but who is at fault?

Their slab was built 50mm over the boundary 😪

Will this cause us any issues especially when there's movement? I don't think we can request them to knockdown the bricks as they have already completed. Also don't want to create more mess as their trades aren't as careful. They've damaged our driveway and killed some of our plants.

If they have built over the boundary it is 100% on their builder and will have to be demolished and rebuilt.
That is the reason builders have a survey done and have the building pegged before they start construction.

Yup exactly this. I had a friend go through a similar situation where the neighbours garage wall was 200mm into their land. The neighbour’s builder had to knock down that wall and re-do it.

Not quite sure what the process is of getting them to knock it down though...

Thanks all. If we don't proceed to knocking down their wall, will that cause an issue on our build later on?

Your guttering appears to be the type that has the relief slots in it to allow for additional drainage in very heavy rain. Those slots being hard up against your neighbours wall won't function and I'd guess that in very heavy rain your gutter is going to overflow back into your eaves.

Thanks for the information. This is really helpful.

My worry is that who should we contact if their builder is not responding to us?

Since they're on a zero boundary and if they knockdown their wall, can we not let them use our driveway space? I'm worried about the further damage that can happen.

Before you do anything I'd be getting a surveyor in to check and confirm where both dwellings sit with regards the lot boundaries.

Thanks, but it would be at our own expense 😔 If the builder next door did it right in the first place, we should not have trouble like this.

Yes, it would be at your expense and I'd expect if your neighbours builder is proven to be in the wrong that you'd have a good case to get the cost reimbursed.
At the moment all you've got is going to the builder and telling him that he's got it wrong. Without any actual evidence as to who is in the wrong I'd guess that he'll just keep ignoring you.
If you get a survey done that would at least force him to also get one done and between the two that should settle the issue.
If your neighbour isn't in the wrong though I think you'll still have an issue with that gutter which you'll need to get sorted somehow.

Althom is correct in saying that you need to get that lot boundary surveyed first.
What makes you think that the next door neighbours house was built 50mm over your boundary? Were there boundary pegs in place that you have used to ascertain that?
If you get the survey done and they have built on your property they can't argue and will have to take remedial action.

The gutter is damaged anyway, I'd also be adding the replacement cost to the bill.

Thanks all, I really appreciate all your responses and information. They are very helpful. Looks like we need to get the survey done.

It's a newly developed estate and we were the first one who built in the street. Our developer had the boundary pegs installed for us, which our builder used when they built our house.

I might probably contact the developer first.

As the others said, you need an identification survey to see where their wall is, the developer won’t be of much help. The certifier or council may be better if the pegs are still visible.

You can’t leave it like it is, your gutter will also receive wind blown rain from the adjacent wall which will overflow into your house.