Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 09, 2017 11:14 am Hi all,
Due to a comedy of errors, my house had to be pushed back 1m on the lot to get council approval. This then made it too close to the rear fence (which it had to be 3m from rear fence), so we had to re-design the rear of the house, use different building materials, put a cutout in the corner of my bedroom, and we finally made it at 3.01m from the rear fence. The slab was poured 10 days ago and I went to look at slab and it felt too close to the fence. So I measured and it was 20cm too close. I tried not to worry, and thought maybe I was measuring it wrong or something, so I engaged an independent building inspector to inspect the slab and requested he pay particular attention to the rear setback. The inspectors report has come in and said that the rear of the house is indeed 2.8m from the back fence. But that it ~IS~ 3m from my actual rear boundary. It appears the developers have built the rear fence (it's a special noise-reduction fence as I will eventually have a road behind my house) 22cm inside my rear boundary, instead of ON the boundary as I'd expect them to have done. So, I'm wondering if anyone has any idea what I should do? Should I call the council and ask if they would measure rear setback from the fence or from the actual boundary? Do the council actually care about these things or am I worried for nothing? Should I call my conveyancing lawyer and ask her advice? Should the estate have to move the fence back? Help? I'm not sure whether this is an issue that I need to look into further or do I just forget about it and move on? Any advice appreciated. Re: Advice required : rear setback vs my boundary vs estate 2May 09, 2017 12:50 pm We have a slightly similar situation, although in our case its the two side boundary fences (between us and neighbours) that are set slightly off the boundary (about half a metre off in the worst corner - against us, i.e. the fence is on our side of the boundary and we lose a little land to the neighbour), which is significant for the way we want our design sited. We've been advised that it's the official boundary that matters, not where the fence is. The siting of the fence is a matter between us and the neighbours, but the certifier will check from the boundary. I imagine that's fairly standard treatment everywhere, but it wouldn't hurt to give your council a call to confirm. Re: Advice required: rear setback vs my boundary vs estate f 3May 09, 2017 1:44 pm I kind of want to say... let it go if its in your favor, but I know if it was me I'd be worried that it'd come back to bite me, so for peace of mind probably worth asking the council. Re: Advice required: rear setback vs my boundary vs estate f 5May 09, 2017 2:09 pm aloenyx I kind of want to say... let it go if its in your favor, but I know if it was me I'd be worried that it'd come back to bite me, so for peace of mind probably worth asking the council. But that's just it, it's not in my favour... I've lost a 22cm line along the entire rear boundary as the developers built the fence 22cm inside my lot, instead of on the boundary. So when I measure the back of my house to the back fence, there's supposed to be a 3m distance there, and instead its only 2.8m... Re: Advice required: rear setback vs my boundary vs estate f 6May 09, 2017 2:12 pm I spoke to the sales guy at my builder who is the only one who ever really answers his phone, and he says the council will measure the rear of house to rear of boundary, and so the location of the fence is irrelevant. I'm going to call council to check on that, and I have sent my conveyancing lawyer a quick email to ask if she recommends I leave it or whether she thinks I should do anything different. Re: Advice required: rear setback vs my boundary vs estate f 8May 09, 2017 3:49 pm Oh, if its against you then I'd be asking them to move that fence... isn't there some rule or law, where if a situation stays that way long enough it technically becomes their land eventually? Or maybe I'm getting it wrong.. but yeah, they owe you 20cm!! They should move their fence. Re: Advice required: rear setback vs my boundary vs estate f 9May 25, 2017 10:51 pm Hi, sorry it took me so long to see this post. Here's what is ideal to resolve this situation without moving the fence in the mean time. You would need a re-establishment survey completed by a licensed surveyor to prove that the fence is encroaching on your boundary. The council will umm and ahh and essentially not make a call either way to help you. There is such a thing as the adverse possession law often referred to as 'squatters rights.' I believe in Queensland the time frame is 12 years, after such time the occupation (existing fences, walls, etc) can be taken as the properties boundaries. To guard against this, take note of the error now, have it signed off by a licensed surveyor and make sure that they are notified to move the fence. Luckily you have 12 years up your sleeve, but it's amazing how quickly time can creep up. Re: Advice required: rear setback vs my boundary vs estate f 10May 26, 2017 7:41 am As part of your build, the builder should already have done a re-establishment survey. And yes, the boundary is measured from the plot boundary, not the fence. I would be having the developer rectify, so at the very least your property boundaries are correct. Our neighbour has fenced approx ~20cm of our land, however given the blocks have been established for 80+ years, I'm not about to ask him to move it, as it was done long before both of our time - and our block is big enough as it is. Hi All, see above image. The required setback from the rear boundary in my case is 5m, as you can see the shape of the site and location of the boundary is slightly… 0 8451 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Hi everyone, My lot has just been titled and during the settlement we found that the rear pegs were not visible. We requested for a re-establishment and pegging plan… 0 18934 Hi, It’s important to keep in mind that dividing fences have thickness, so it’s impracticable to expect them to be wholly constructed within the neighbouring… 2 18377 |