Buying a House with No Party Wall Agreement

Maxi2011

Hi,

We are in the process of buying a house which has had a side and rear extension. We have been advised by the surveyor that the extension was built on the boundary line. He stated a party wall agreement should have been done - but it appears it wasn’t.

I understand the implications of not having one during building but as this was all 7 years ago, does it have any bearing now? The surveyor suggested the issue could lie with the neighbour later claiming damage to their property was caused by “our” extension but thus just seems a bit far fetched - 7 years on I can only think of structural damage and linking that to the extension must be a near impossible task I’d have thought?

So are there any potential implications? If so, what?

I suspect our solicitor will just suggest some sort of indemnity insurance, as that seems to be their suggestion for almost anything but I don’t want to pay for it (or insist the vendor does) if it’s pointless?

Doozergirl

The party wall agreement only has effect for the period of the works. It agrees, in advance, what is to be done.

There is no legal obligation to have an award drawn up anyway.

I don't believe there's even a reason for an indemnity policy. No one should have to produce a PWA to a solicitor when selling, unless your neighbour is literally in the middle of building.

TheCyclingProgrammer

As above it seems completely irrelevant to me. What is of importance is whether or not the extension wall is built *up* to the boundary line or astride it, which may depend on there being agreement with the neighbours where the boundary is. In other words, is the extension wall a party wall or not? You may need to know this if your potential neighbours decide to build an extension as they may have some legal rights under the party wall act to use that wall as part of their extension, but only if it’s a party wall.

Davesnave

Have you spoken to the potential neighbours?



I would speak to them as a matter of course anyway, but in this situation, I'd get their thoughts on the extension wall now rather than later. It's probably not any sort of issue, but it would be good to know that from the off.

Maxi2011

Thanks for the replies.

It’s definately a party wall, the surveyor confirmed this for us.

The scenario mentioned was that at any point in the future the neighbour could claim that a problem with their wall/home was caused by “our” extension - but as mentioned I suppose it just seems a bit far fetched to me as it’s been so long it seems it would be hard to prove. That is what the indemnity would be against.

I haven’t spoken to the neighbours, I saw that suggested somewhere else and thought it a bit odd I suppose as I’ve never thought to speak to neighbours before moving in but suppose it’s a reasonably good idea generally.

DaftyDuck

I've never not spoken to neighbours before buying!

zaqxsw

I understand there is an extension built 7 years ago, and that there is no party wall agreement.

It may be the case that the neighbour consented to the work, in which case there shouldn't be any issues.

If there were a dispute in relation to the extension, this can be raised at any time. For example, if there was damage caused by the extension and it was discovered 10 years later, the owner would still be liable to make good the neighbour's property or to pay compensation.

The likelihood of an allegation of damage being made 7 years after the build is probably very low. Furthermore, the act is unclear with regards to successors in title. Some surveyors believe that liabilities remain with the person who built the extension, whilst others say that as the new owner, you pick up any liabilities. The Act never made this clear.

There are plenty of other issues which are potentially more concerning than damage (i.e. trespass) but I do not think that there is a problem with the fact that there is no party wall agreement.

Good luck!

Maxi2011

Thanks zaqxsw, that’s really helpful to understand.

We sought clarification from our solicitor and her advise is that if the surveyor has confirmed the extension has been done to a good standard and is happy there’s no issues with it then we should be fine.