A man who blocked out most of the natural light in his neighbour's home with a new extension has finally agreed to promptly pay almost £40,000 in compensation and costs after a lengthy legal battle.


Tariq Ahmed, of Highfield Road in Woodford Bridge, was given planning permission for the two-storey extension by Redbridge Council in November 2010, despite objections from neighbours.


But he strayed beyond the original plans and plunged the house of 51-year-old neighbour Helen Coughlan into shadow, with the breezeblock structure less than three feet away from her windows.


She argued he had breached her right to light and successfully sued him in December 2012.


However she did not receive a penny, with Mr Ahmed failing to pay an initial lump sum and then asking the court to pay the £30,000 compensation in monthly installments of £250 instead.


But today he finally relented after Ms Coughlan took him to the High Court.
She told the Guardian: "It has been really stressful, and stressful for him as well.


"It's a relief that this is now resolved. Monthly instalments of £250 and the delays were not acceptable - I'm not DFS.


"I hope it will make other people realise they need to follow the proper regulations".


Mr Ahmed, who said he built the extension to help accommodate his growing family, must now pay £10,000 towards Ms Coughlan's costs by July 1 and then the remaining £27,735 in 12 monthly payments.


Redbridge Council previously told the Guardian it was satisfied it followed correct procedure when granting Mr Ahmed planning permission.


A spokesman said that ‘right to light’ was a private law right which itself was not something councils had to consider in planning applications, but did leave applicants liable to private civil legal action.

The news comes just weeks after the government relaxed planning laws, allowing households to build extensions up to eight metres without a formal application, although they still must notify their immediate neighbours and the council.

Redbridge Council says it intends on introducing its own measures to ensure the changes do not lead to "unacceptable" over-development.

But Mrs Coughlan said she feared more residents could fall foul of over-bearing extensions.

She said: "If people start building extensions without applying properly there are going to be some cowboy builders who don't follow the regulations, and it will come back to bite everyone involved."