My neighbours are building an extension to the rear of their property.  

They have constructed it just 15cm away from my house using concrete blocks. It does not resemble the finish of the existing home, which is rendered and painted white. 

I reached out to the council planning department, which eventually contacted my neighbors. The neighbors explained they intended to render the extension’s exterior to match their home but required access to my property to do so. 

My neighbours have not asked me for access, and I will not allow them it if they do. 

The planning department informed me that without granting access, their ability to enforce the render as planned would be weakened. 

I don’t feel I should have to comply, as it would be a major inconvenience. They would need to remove an established plant from my garden for this. If they intend to build an extension, they should ensure it is completed within their property boundaries. 

Extension wars: A Daily Mail reader’s neighbours want access to her property to finish their ugly extension (file image)

Jane Denton, of This is Money, responds: Certain works and extensions don’t require planning permission because of the rather generous permitted development rights. 

However, any construction within these rights must adhere to specific standards and criteria, which limit the maximum size of extensions or loft conversions. 

As I can see in the photo you sent, your neighbour’s new extension comes right up to the boundary of your property, and in its unfinished state, its appearance is far from ideal. 

You are under no legal obligation to give your neighbours access to your property to enable them to complete the extension and rendering.

If your neighbours choose to access your property without your permission, it would constitute trespass, which is typically a civil rather than criminal matter. 

Your neighbours could apply to a court for access to your property to finish the extension if the rendering is deemed as undertaking ‘basic preservation works’. 

You could talk to your neighbours and suggest they do what they can to complete the works from their side of the boundary. They should have considered these issues before sticking up a large extension right by your boundary. 

However, it is clear to me that you also think the current unfinished extension looks dire, and this complicates the matter. 

With this in mind, perhaps a compromise could be reached, whereby you permit limited access to your property, but only if certain conditions are met, including ensuring your established plant is not disturbed or destroyed. 

I asked two solicitors for their views on the matter. 

James Naylor, a partner at Naylor Solicitors, says: Let us set the scene. It is a Saturday. You are in the garden, minding your own business, when your neighbours, who built an extension so close you can hear their kettle boil, pop their heads over the fence. They wish to render the wall.

Naturally, this means trampling through your winter jasmine and generally treating your garden like the set of a low-budget episode of Ground Force.

You contact the council, expecting at least a degree of support, but they simply shrug and say, ‘Not our problem.’

So, what now? Are you legally obliged to allow your neighbour access, or should they have considered this before building a brick’s width from your fence?

You are under no legal obligation to grant neighbours access to your property, James Naylor says 

To be clear, in the eyes of the law, your garden is your castle – roses, weeds, gnomes, and all. 

There is no general legal requirement for you to permit your neighbour onto your land. If they clamber over the fence without your consent, that constitutes trespass. The fact that they need access to render is legally speaking, their problem, not yours.

However, because parliament cannot resist a bit of legislating, we have the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992. 

This statute allows your neighbour to apply to the court for an access order if they need to carry out ‘basic preservation works’. That includes maintenance, repair, or renewal. Rendering a wall might just about qualify, but it is not a given. 

If you refuse access, your neighbour’s only recourse is to litigate. The judge will consider whether the works are truly necessary, whether your inconvenience, and the fate of your jasmine, can be compensated, and whether any conditions, such as payment for damage or a requirement to wear those little blue shoe covers, should be imposed.

For those who appreciate their legal precedents with a side of property bling, consider a recent South Kensington case. 

Two neighbours became embroiled in a dispute over access for rendering works. The court, addressing such a case for the first time in three decades, eventually granted access, but only after imposing compensation and a list of conditions longer than the online queue for Oasis tickets.

In your case, the council is correct. If you do not grant access, their ability to enforce the rendering is, in practical terms, limited. 

Planning conditions may require a matching finish, but the council cannot compel you to open your garden gate. 

Your neighbours must either complete the work from their own side, negotiate with you, or take their chances in court. Until then, you may continue tending your garden, confident that your boundaries, both legal and literal, remain intact. 

Manjinder Kaur Atwal, director of property law at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, says:  Unfortunately, this is a common dilemma for homeowners in tightly packed residential areas, with the increasing number of rear and side extensions being under permitted development rights.

You are not legally obliged to allow your neighbour access to your land, even if they need it to complete the rendering on their building works. 

While your neighbour may have obtained planning permission or building within permitted development limits, that does not give them an automatic right to cross the boundary line or interfere with your land, including plants or fixtures in your garden.

More neighbour disputes are cropping up about extensions completed via permitted development, Manjinder Kaur Atwal says

If they request access, you can of course grant it voluntarily, possibly on agreed conditions, such as timing, compensation for any disruption, or making good any damage. 

However, if you refuse, they must either adjust their works accordingly or seek a legal route.

The most common legal mechanism for this is under the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992. 

Your neighbour can apply to a county court for an order allowing access in order to carry out preservation works, which may include rendering. 

However, the court must be satisfied that the works are reasonably necessary, cannot be completed without access and that access would not cause unreasonable interference to you.

In practice, these orders are relatively rare due to the cost and time involved. Your neighbour is therefore strongly encouraged to discuss the issue with you amicably, ideally in writing and with clear details of the access required and the duration.

Separately, under planning rules, permitted development typically requires materials to be ‘of a similar appearance’ to the existing property.

If your council has accepted your neighbours’ intention to render the extension in future, they may consider the requirement met. 

Nevertheless, enforcement is discretionary and often dependent on practicalities, such as access. 

If the rendering is never completed and the extension remains unfinished, you could raise a formal complaint with the council and potentially argue that planning conditions have been breached.

This situation also highlights a broader concern, namely how planning enforcement often has limited teeth when private rights get in the way.

If you refuse to give your neighbours access, it may indeed leave the council unable or unwilling to act, but it certainly does not mean your neighbour has a legal entitlement to cross into your garden.

You are within your rights to say no and your neighbour should have planned better or discussed the matter with you earlier.