An artist is at loggerheads with his downstairs neighbour over claims that half of his front garden was taken in a “high-handed land grab”.
Banker-turned-multimedia artist William Savage, 45, says inventor Richard Bankart dug out part of his garden to make a sunken patio and has been “trespassing” on his land for 17 years.
But Mr Bankart, 59, chief executive of green energy tech company Solar Skin, says he had a deal with the previous owner of Mr Savage’s home allowing the terrace to be built, and the artist knew this before he moved into the flat in 2001. He argues Mr Savage has no claim to the area where the terrace is.
Mr Savage owns the flat covering the ground and first floor and the front garden, while Mr Bankart owns the £1 million basement flat, as well as the freehold of the property.
Mr Savage is seeking an injunction barring Mr Bankart from “his continued trespass and use of his front garden”, or up to £60,000 in compensation.
The neighbours in the Victorian villa in Stockwell have been feuding since the patio was created in 2003. At the time Mr Savage was living in Paris and work began to excavate a “narrow lightwell” outside Mr Bankart’s home.
Following the work, Mr Bankart sent his neighbour a bill claiming £3,533 for the works done, leading to a lengthy wrangle involving the mortgage providers and the financial ombudsman. The court heard the neighbours then clashed over service charges in a landlord and tenant tribunal in 2009, and in 2016 Mr Savage instructed solicitors to “demand reinstatement of the original lightwell or compensation”.
However, in 2017 Mr Bankart started a fresh phase of building works, to make his patio deeper.
Mr Bankart insists he has an “enforceable agreement” over the extension of the lightwell, and the artist was fully consulted and “consented” to the work. He denies all claims of trespass.
Judge Nicholas Parfitt will give his ruling on the case at a later date.
