Maggie Listens

Resident agony aunt Maggie Clayton

Maggie listens Looking for practical advice, relationship help or emotional support? As a mum of four, gran of eight and dear friend to many, Margaret Clayton’s years of experience make her the ideal person to turn to

Dear Maggie

My husband and I have two boys aged six and three years old and I am pregnant with our third child.

The semi-detached house we bought when we got married only has two bedrooms so because we are going to be short of space we have decided to build an extension to our present home because we like where we live and don’t want to move.

The only problem is our neighbours aren’t happy about this.

We showed them the plans for adding on another room downstairs and a bedroom upstairs and they say it would block the light into their home and they aren’t prepared to give us permission to go ahead.

I just don’t know what to do about this, can you help?

The strange thing is we’ve always got on very well with our neighbours and we just can’t understand this change of attitude. Maggie says

The first thing you need to do is take the plans you’ve had drawn up to a lawyer and check out your position legally.

Lots of people extend their homes when they need extra space but you have to take into account various practical things like the dimensions of the planned extension and what impact it has on neighbouring properties. Once you have all the facts about your legal position you can sit down with your neighbours and explain in detail what you hope to do.

If you and your family are happy where you are it makes good sense to look at the possibility of extending your present home, but make sure from the start that you are within your legal rights.

Rows between neighbours are stressful and best avoided if at all possible. So try to be straightforward and honest with your neighbours about your plans and hopefully they will appreciate that you are not intending to overstep the mark.

It’s worth staying calm, reasonable and open minded with your neighbours when you discuss this issue.

Try to see it from their point of view and understand they may just need reassurance that your home extension isn’t going to limit the light into their property.

With a willingness to have an open discussion, perhaps you and your neighbours will be able to see this project as a positive step rather than a problem.

I do hope it works out well for all of you and that you manage to get the space you need for the new member of the family when he or she arrives.