I had to pay my neighbours £230k after building my home 18 inches too close to theirs – now I've been dealt another blow | The Sun

A MOTIVATIONAL speaker who lost £230,000 after his neighbour sued him in a row over the size of his house has been dealt a second blow.

Alex MacPhail, 56, was hauled to court by neighbours Tom and Helen Gueterbock who said he staged a "land grab" when a cellar room "trespassed" 18 inches over their shared boundary.



They demanded Mr MacPhail fill in the basement – which tunnelled underneath the wall of their home – and demolish part of his house to move it a few inches away from them.

The neighbours' fight ended last year with Mr MacPhail £530,000 out of pocket.

This came after agreeing to pay the Gueterbocks £237,000 in damages and costs, with his own bills totalling about £283,000, and to fund £12,000 worth of work on the passageway between the houses.

Mr MacPhail then took the developers of the house, Henderson Court Ltd (HCL), and their insurer, Allianz Insurance Plc, to court over his losses.

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He won his claim against HCL, making it liable for his losses, but Judge Nicholas Parfitt, sitting at Central London County Court, rejected his claim the insurer should pay his damages.

Now, following an appeal to the High Court, the ruling has been upheld, leaving Mr MacPhail with a whopping £530,000 court bill to pay.

Mr MacPhail's representative Sebastien Kokelaar argued the judge had misapplied the law in deciding whether or not what happened was an "accident" and so covered under HCL's insurance policy.

But Mr Justice Marcus Smith said a claim against the insurers cannot be made because the disastrous choice to build so close to the Gueterbocks' house was "not an accident."

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The decision means HCL remains liable to Mr MacPhail, but that its insurer does not have to pay up under the policy.

The county court earlier heard that Mr MacPhail's house was built between 2015 and 2018 as part of a development to replace a block of flats.

The plan was to throw up houses similar to neighbours on posh Henderson Road in a millionaire hotspot called the 'Toast Rack" off Wandsworth Common, South London.

But Extinction Rebellion supporter Mr Gueterbock, 54, – son of Labour peer Anthony Gueterbock – and his wife later objected when they realised their new neighbour's house had been built closer to their home than they expected.

The construction narrowed a passageway between the homes to less than three feet, making it a "nuisance" and hard to access their back garden and side door.

Despite planning permission being granted for a basement directly underneath the new house, the builders had in fact extended it under the alleyway.

Developers HCL were found to have acted with a "high level of recklessness" which while not done "intentionally" was considered "non-accidental".

CROSSING BOUNDARIES

How far can you build into your neighbour’s property without permission?

If you're undertaking a big garden project like uprooting a tree or building a concrete building, you might need permission for the engineering work.

Earth-moving work considered 'major' requires planning permission, but smaller projects don't.

A Lawful Development Certificate is legal confirmation that you have planning permission for your home and garden renovations.

Only more ambitious developments require these – and they will set you back around £1,250, including a £600 application fee.

Otherwise, smaller cosmetic home renovations – that stay within YOUR land – may not require permission.

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