Scaffolding has gone up next door, a skip has appeared, and the sound of drilling starts before you have finished your first coffee — yet you never received a letter from the council and cannot find any application online. If you are thinking “my neighbour is building without planning permission”, you are far from alone: it is one of the most common worries we hear from London homeowners. Sometimes the concern is justified. Just as often, the work is entirely lawful and simply did not need permission in the first place.
This guide walks through how to check what is actually happening, how planning enforcement works, why the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is a completely separate issue that may give you real rights, and how to protect your own property while the works go on. It is general information only and not legal advice; for advice on your specific situation, speak to a professional.
First checks: does the work actually need planning permission?
Before assuming the worst, it helps to know that a great deal of residential building work does not need planning permission at all. Permitted development rights allow many single-storey rear extensions, loft conversions, outbuildings and internal alterations to proceed without a planning application, provided they stay within limits on size, height and position. In some cases the neighbour may have obtained prior approval or a lawful development certificate rather than full permission, and flats, maisonettes and homes in conservation areas often have more restricted rights — a common situation in many parts of London.
So the first step is research, not confrontation:
- Search the council’s planning portal. Every local authority publishes applications, approvals and refusals online. Search by the neighbour’s address for recent applications, prior approvals or certificates of lawfulness.
- Look at the scale of the work. Internal refurbishment, like-for-like window replacement and modest garden structures rarely need permission. Two-storey side extensions, basement excavations and roof extensions facing the street more often do.
- Ask the neighbour. A friendly question over the fence — “looks like a big project, did it need planning?” — often clears things up in minutes and keeps relations civil.
Reporting to the council: how planning enforcement works
If you have checked the portal, spoken to the neighbour and still believe the work is unauthorised, you can report it to the council’s planning enforcement team. Most councils have an online form for exactly this purpose. Give the address, describe the work, explain why you believe it needs permission and attach dated photographs if you can. Reports can usually be made confidentially.
It is important to understand what enforcement can and cannot do. The council will investigate and decide whether there has been a breach of planning control. If there has, it can invite a retrospective application, negotiate changes, or ultimately serve an enforcement notice requiring the work to be altered or removed. Ignoring an enforcement notice is a criminal offence. However, enforcement is discretionary: the council will only act where it considers it expedient, and if the work would have been granted permission anyway, or falls within permitted development, no action will follow. Enforcement also takes time, and the council will not order works stopped simply because a neighbour objects to noise or disruption. Crucially, planning enforcement exists to protect the public interest, not to compensate you for damage to your property — that protection comes from elsewhere.
The Party Wall Act is a separate question — and it may give you real rights
Here is the point many homeowners miss: planning permission and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 are entirely independent regimes. A neighbour may have full planning permission yet still be in breach of the Party Wall Act; equally, work that needs no planning permission at all — a permitted development rear extension, say — may still require party wall notices before it starts.
The Act applies to work on a shared (party) wall, some works to boundary walls, new walls built at or astride the boundary, and excavation within three or six metres of a neighbouring building depending on depth. If your neighbour’s project involves any of these, they should have served you a formal notice before starting. If no notice arrived, you are entitled to raise it, and you can appoint a surveyor to protect your interests once the statutory process is under way — with the building owner normally paying your surveyor’s reasonable fees. Our team of party wall surveyors in London can quickly tell you whether the works next door are notifiable and what your options are if the Act has been ignored.
Protecting your property while the works go on
Whatever the planning position, your practical priority is making sure next door’s project does not damage your home — and that if it does, you can prove it.
Get a schedule of condition before their works advance
A schedule of condition is a detailed photographic and written record of your property — walls, ceilings, external elevations, boundary structures — prepared before or early in the neighbour’s works. If cracking or movement appears later, the schedule shows beyond argument what was pre-existing and what is new. Without one, damage claims frequently descend into one word against another. Where the Party Wall Act applies, a schedule is normally prepared as part of the award; where it does not, commissioning one independently is still a sensible investment for any significant project next door.
Monitor for damage and movement
For larger projects — basements and substantial excavations in particular — periodic monitoring surveys can track whether your property is moving while works proceed. Precise measurements taken at intervals detect movement long before it becomes visible cracking, allowing problems to be raised with the building owner while they can still be addressed. Keep your own diary too: photograph any new cracks with a date stamp, note when noisy works occur, and keep all correspondence.
Boundary encroachment: when the building crosses the line
Sometimes the concern is not paperwork but position — the new wall or foundation appears to sit on, or over, the boundary itself. Boundary lines are rarely as obvious as fences suggest: title plans are drawn at small scale and general boundaries, and the legal boundary may not follow the physical features on the ground. If you genuinely believe a structure encroaches on your land, raise it in writing promptly, because delay can weaken your position and an encroaching structure becomes far harder to deal with once complete.
Where the disagreement persists, this becomes a boundary dispute, and the evidence of a specialist matters enormously. A boundary dispute expert witness can analyse title documents, historical mapping and precise site measurements to establish where the boundary most probably lies, and present that evidence in a form suitable for negotiation, mediation or court proceedings.
Frequently asked questions
Can I stop my neighbour building without planning permission?
You cannot stop the works yourself, and only the council can take planning enforcement action. Report your concerns to the planning enforcement team, who will investigate and decide whether a breach has occurred and whether action is expedient. Separately, if notifiable party wall works have started without notice, you can seek to have the statutory process followed, and in serious cases a court injunction may be available — something to discuss with a solicitor.
What happens if my neighbour builds without permission?
If the council finds a breach of planning control, it may invite a retrospective planning application, negotiate amendments, or serve an enforcement notice requiring alteration or removal of the work. If the work turns out to be permitted development or would have received permission anyway, the council is unlikely to act. Planning breaches do not, by themselves, entitle you to compensation for disturbance or damage.
Does my neighbour need my permission to build an extension?
Not for the planning side — neighbours can comment on planning applications but have no veto. However, if the extension involves work to a party wall, a new wall at the boundary or excavation near your home, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 requires them to serve notice on you first, and you then have the right to consent or to dissent and have a surveyor appointed to protect your property.
Concerned about the building work next door?
Notting Hill Surveyors are RICS chartered surveyors helping London homeowners deal with neighbouring building works — from party wall notices and schedules of condition to monitoring surveys and boundary disputes. If something is going up next door and you are not sure where you stand, we will give you a clear, honest assessment. Request your free quote today.