Football Club President Ordered to Demolish 'Man Cave' After Neighbor Dispute
A lengthy court battle has resulted in an order for a football club president to demolish a 24ft garden structure he described as a 'man cave' after his neighbor deemed it an 'eyesore'.
A football club president has been ordered to demolish a 24ft garden structure, described as a "man cave," following a costly legal dispute with his neighbor. The court battle, estimated to have incurred £100,000 in legal fees, centered on the structure erected by Justin Salmon, president of non-league Sutton Common Rovers FC, at the bottom of his garden in Coulsdon, South London, in 2018.
His neighbor, Andrianna Neophytou, who is the freeholder of Salmon's maisonette and their upstairs neighbor, took Salmon to court to have the structure removed. She argued that the "man cave," which featured a TV, bar, plastered walls, carpeting, furniture, and an electric doorbell, was an "eyesore" and in breach of their lease. The lease permitted a pergola and a simple toolshed, but not the elaborate garden room Salmon had built.
Initially, Salmon had obtained permission to build a pergola in 2017. Subsequently, he added a shed and gradually developed these into a roofed garden room, complete with UPVC windows and doors, plastered walls, carpeted floors, and signs that read "Man Cave" and "The Den." After a previous tribunal ruling found the structures in breach of the lease, Salmon attempted to comply by converting the "den" into an open-sided outdoor bar on the same footprint, changing the sign to "Shed for Domestic Purposes."
Mrs. Neophytou contended that these modifications were insufficient, describing the altered structure as one long, unsightly unit. Her legal team argued that a clause in the lease prohibited any additional buildings without written permission, with the exception of a shed for domestic use.
Judge Nicholas Parfitt, presiding at the Mayor's and City County Court, ruled that the structure was not a pergola but a "garden room entertainment area" for which Salmon lacked permission. While Salmon was permitted to keep a shed adjacent to the bar area, the judge ordered the demolition of the garden room. The court also ordered Mrs. Neophytou to remove a porch she had constructed alongside the house leading to her maisonette, finding it interfered with Salmon's right of way.
The judge allowed several months for the demolition and removal work, expressing hope that the parties might resolve their dispute amicably. The decision on the allocation of legal costs is pending.
