Neighbour’s house affecting my privacy

I recently watched a video on social media of a Maasai man complaining to the Regional Commissioner (RC) about his neighbour who built a three-storey house next to his home. His main concern was that the neighbour could now look directly into his compound, making his family uncomfortable and affecting their privacy. Besides, his children started asking him to build them a similar house. Unfortunately, his pockets were not prepared for such a request. This has made me wonder, can I legally complain about my neighbour’s breach of my right to privacy? And is there anything the law can do about children’s architectural ambitions because of their neighbour?

MM, Babati

Your question is quite intriguing because the law may be able to help with the first problem, but unfortunately it may have little to say about the second one. Generally, a person is entitled to develop and use their land, provided that the development complies with the applicable planning, building and land laws and does not unlawfully interfere with the rights of neighbouring landowners. The fact that a neighbour has constructed a three-storey building does not, by itself, make the construction illegal merely because it is taller than the neighbouring house.

However, the position may be different where the construction creates an unlawful nuisance or unreasonably interferes with a neighbour’s enjoyment of their property. Issues such as overlooking, excessive disturbance, obstruction and other forms of interference may, depending on the circumstances, give rise to a legal complaint. If you are concerned that the building was constructed without the necessary approvals or contrary to planning or building requirements, you may also raise the matter with the relevant local authority so that the development can be inspected and its compliance verified. Regarding privacy concern, simply being able to see a neighbouring property from a higher building will not necessarily make the construction unlawful. The circumstances, the design of the building, applicable planning requirements and the nature and extent of the interference would all need to be considered.

Unfortunately, we cannot think of any legal remedy for your children’s request. It is something you may have to deal with at the family meeting rather than the RC’s office. For example, you may simply ask them to contribute to the construction costs at which point they may suddenly become very comfortable with the existing house!