Party Walls

canyouhelp

Hi,

I am planning on having my loft converted in a few weeks. I'm in a first floor flat and have the planning permission to do this.

It seems however that I misunderstood the party wall regs. I asked the other two first floor flats either side, as I thought it literally meant I just had to ask the flats either side of the building work. One side signed the form, the other is a housing association and asked for a survey which I have had done. I also had a second one done on behalf of the freeholder of that building.

However I have just been informed that I should also have asked the two ground floor flats, below each of the ones that I originally asked, as they jointly share the party walls...

I wondered whether one of the surveys I had done for the first floor flat will also cover the flat below it? I have emailed the surveyor but if he does answer me he may err on the side of having another one done...

The problem is that the owner is a landlord who rents the flat through a letting agency. The tenants don't have his phone number and the letting agency aren't getting back to me with his details. I don't really want to pay for another survey especially as the work won't even be touching the ground floor flats.

Any help appreciated!

mart.vader

The Party Wall Act is very badly written.

e.g. It has no sanction for work already carried out - if your builder had done the work without causing damage, the fact that you did not have a PW agreement in place, is not covered by the PWA. If damage to property is then found, the adjoining owner can only go to court to get damages, not for any PWA matters.

e.g. If you don't get an agreement with your neighbours within 14 days of sending the PW notice, a dispute is automatically assumed to have arisen, whether it has or not.

e.g. Once a PW surveyor is instructed, they cannot be de-instructed, by anyone.

e.g. the PWA refers to a PW AWARD which wrongly gives the impression that the neighbour is going to get a sum of money. - this is completely incorrect. An Award is just the schedule of the current state of the party wall and when the work may take place.

However, you have already told both adjoining neighbours you intend to do the work.

A letter from your builder quoting his public liability insurance and guaranteeing to put right any defects caused by the works might be sufficient, but I doubt it.

I did much the same as you a year or so ago. I assume you are inserting steel joists halfway through the PW ? For any competent builder, this is 'bread and butter'.

In my case, the property owner on one side denies that he is the owner (presumably for tax evasion purposes) and says the owners are a company in the British Virgin Islands. His property is managed by an agency. The agency "instructed" a PW surveyor, and one of the 'bods' in the office sent me a letter written by him saying that the owners had authorised him to instruct the PWS. However the PW Act only allows for the adjoining owner to instruct a PWS, not the adjoining owner's agents. So I ignored them, carried on with the work, there was no damage, and that's the last I've heard from them.

If you or your neighbours are approached by a PWS with the initials "V B" be very very wary.

canyouhelp

Thanks, yes it doesn't seem very well thought through to me, especially the fact that a dispute is assumed to have arisen if they don't respond.

But does anyone know about how it works with flats and shared walls? Will the surveyor have surveyed the wall itself, from ground to roof, or will this not count because the ones I have had done were on behalf of the freeholder and the other flat owner?

mart.vader

That I don't know.

Here is a link for the Gov's advice

https://www.gov.uk/party-wall-etc-act-1996-guidance