Pensioner, 90, furious over neighbour's 13ft 'shed' which looms over his garden

Ninety-year-old Rex Ouston is furious after his neighbour built a 13-foot mega-shed without planning permission.

Rex, from Birmingham, says his home and garden are overshadowed by the structure which his neighbour, Khawar Dar, originally put up without planning permission.

Permission has been retrospectively granted, but Rex is still fuming about the 13ft x 16ft shed.

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He said, “What he has done next door is build a ‘shed’. But it’s not a shed, it’s a brick building in double block, with insulation in between, an electricity supply, plastering and decoration.

“It’s 16 foot wide and about 13 foot high. He started on his own side but the gable is now hovering over mine.

“I feel like he is walking all over me. I let him use my yard to help get access to his garden to build, and I can’t believe I did it now.”

Dar began building the shed in September 2016 but Rex wasn’t concerned until about a month later, when he complained to the council about a white wall that now borders his garden.

Rex says that the council agreed that the ‘shed’ was too large, but no action was taken. Dar then applied for planning permission after the fact, which the council have granted. This does not allow him to use the shed as a residence, but means it does not legally have to be altered.

The only course of action for Rex and his neighbours, who he claims are similarly disgruntled, is a private court case.

“I’m 90 years old, and my wife has dementia and a lot of other health problems,” he said. “I don’t think we could go through a court case.”

The whole situation has left Rex “depressed”, he says, despite support of his local MP Steve McCabe who is trying to introduce a bill in parliament that would halt similar issues in future.

He added, “It has affected the price of my house, but it has affected [my neighbours’] even more. They are terribly upset.

“Their gardens, which are about a third the length of mine, are just looking at a back wall and a roof now.

“When the enforcement officer saw it he said the roof must come down because it’s illegal.

“But after that the council did absolutely nothing.”

“I have got planning approval. It was granted four weeks ago,” Mr Dar said. “As far as I know, the case is closed.