Short answer. Any such agreement is void. Article 673 of the Civil Code states that any stipulation permitting distances less than those prescribed in Article 670 is void. So you and your neighbor cannot validly agree in writing to a view window closer than the legal minimum distance.
What the law says
Any stipulation permitting distances less than those prescribed in article 670 is void.
Civil Code, Article 673 — Servient Owner's Building Setback. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Whenever by any title a right has been acquired to have direct views, balconies or belvederes overlooking an adjoining property, the owner of the servient estate cannot build thereon at less than a distance of three meters to be measured in the manner provided in article 671.
Civil Code, Article 673 — Servient Owner's Building Setback. Read the full provision →
What the law says
No windows, apertures, balconies, or other similar projections which afford a direct view upon or towards an adjoining land or tenement can be made, without leaving a distance of two meters between the wall in which they are made and such contiguous property.
Civil Code, Article 670 — Distances For Windows And Views. Read the full provision →
The statute says the agreement is void, in plain terms
Article 673 answers your question directly: any stipulation permitting distances less than those prescribed in article 670 is void. A written agreement between you and your neighbor allowing a shorter distance does not create an exception; the article treats that kind of stipulation as void regardless of both parties having agreed to it freely. And because the stipulation is void rather than merely voidable, it produces no legal effect at all: despite the signed document, either side can still insist on the distances the Code prescribes.
The three-meter rule this article sets once a view right exists
Article 673 also addresses a related but separate situation: whenever by any title a right has been acquired to have direct views, balconies or belvederes overlooking an adjoining property, the owner of the servient estate cannot build thereon at less than a distance of three meters to be measured in the manner provided in article 671. That three-meter rule applies once a right to the view has actually been acquired by some title, not merely claimed informally.
The distances the void-stipulation rule protects
The stipulation Article 673 voids is one that would shrink the distances Article 670 requires: no windows, apertures, balconies, or other similar projections which afford a direct view upon or towards an adjoining land or tenement can be made, without leaving a distance of two meters between the wall in which they are made and such contiguous property. It is precisely these minimum distances that a private agreement cannot validly cut down.
What this means for you and your neighbor
Even if you and your neighbor put your agreement in writing and both genuinely consent to a shorter distance, Article 673 treats that stipulation as void. Putting it in writing does not change the outcome, since the article's prohibition is not about form; it is about the substance of agreeing to distances shorter than what Article 670 prescribes for windows and views.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Sps. Tedy Garcia and Pilar Garcia vs. Loreta T. Santos, Winston Santos and Conchita, G.R. No. 228334, June 17, 2019 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 673 — Servient Owner's Building Setback
- Civil Code, Article 670 — Distances For Windows And Views