Extended Party wall extension with overhanging soffitt

moneytorques

TELLIT01 wrote: »

The OP has such a massive sense of entitlement that I don't believe any advice given here will be heeded, unless the advice is to confirm that he is right.

Character assassinations not welcomed here!
I do not have a sense of entitlement Im just seeking advice for alternatives around the situation of which means not physically rebuilding something at great costs, I have sought legal advice so my need for opinions is complete, thanks to all the contributed positively and negatively.

Doozergirl

What was the advice?

It's useful for people googling for answers to their own questions in the future

learningmoneybasics

What if this situation is on a property for over 20 years with different owners of both properties during that time and the issue not being raised. Can at some point it still be expected to be removed?

Aylesbury_Duck

moneytorques wrote: »

Character assassinations not welcomed here!
I do not have a sense of entitlement Im just seeking advice for alternatives around the situation of which means not physically rebuilding something at great costs, I have sought legal advice so my need for opinions is complete, thanks to all the contributed positively and negatively.

Good. The responses here have given you some information to discuss with your solicitor.

Let us know how it ends up - not least because it might help other people to avoid the same mistake.

teneighty

There seems to be some confusion here.The OP has referred to both a Party Wall Award and a Party Wall Agreement. The quote below would suggest it is an agreement as it has been signed by "all parties".

moneytorques wrote: »

The Party wall surveyor says the Plans and the Party wall document were agreed, signed by all parties and therefore that's what was signed up to be built which he believes hasn't been deviated from.

I would suggest that this will hinge on whether the Party Wall Surveyor expressly highlighted the trespass or whether the agreement was just based on the planning drawings. I would normally expect a case of raising a party wall would have a drawing showing a section through the proposed party wall and any overhangs to be clearly shown and expressly agreed by the adjoining owner.

Although I have to say it would be very unusual to raise a party wall with any overhang so it does look like the "architect" and Party Wall Surveyor have made a mess of this.

I hope they both have good insurance.

edgex

moneytorques wrote: »

https://ibb.co/Wnw2PjB

The above image does show the overhang on the plans which were not appealed, we have a Party wall agreement in place.

That image shows that the entire roof overhangs, not just some guttering.
Presumably you have built a new party wall, so if the neighbours, (which is anyone next door at any point in the future) want to build onto it they can do so.


What I don't understand, is why do you expect the neighbours to have spent longer scrutinising the plans than you have...

Aylesbury_Duck

edgex wrote: »

That image shows that the entire roof overhangs, not just some guttering.
Presumably you have built a new party wall, so if the neighbours, (which is anyone next door at any point in the future) want to build onto it they can do so.


What I don't understand, is why do you expect the neighbours to have spent longer scrutinising the plans than you have...

It is the entire roof which overhangs by 15cm, hence OP's reluctance to back down - it will cost a lot to re-do it.

The previous poster mentioned insurance. I wonder if OP's legal advice will include suggesting that the cost of re-doing the roof could be claimed from the architect and/or surveyor's professional insurance?

TheCyclingProgrammer

teneighty wrote: »

I would suggest that this will hinge on whether the Party Wall Surveyor expressly highlighted the trespass or whether the agreement was just based on the planning drawings. I would normally expect a case of raising a party wall would have a drawing showing a section through the proposed party wall and any overhangs to be clearly shown and expressly agreed by the adjoining owner

Surely though, as I mentioned in my previous post, even if there is an agreement with the current owners w.r.t. any trespass, without an entry into the title deeds I don't think the agreement can bind any future purchaser, so somebody could buy the house and ask OP to remove the trespass.

How often do we see people posting on here about informal agreements they've had with neighbours over numerous issues (fences etc.) only for disputes to arise when new neighbours move in?

teneighty

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

Surely though, as I mentioned in my previous post, even if there is an agreement with the current owners w.r.t. any trespass, without an entry into the title deeds I don't think the agreement can bind any future purchaser, so somebody could buy the house and ask OP to remove the trespass.

How often do we see people posting on here about informal agreements they've had with neighbours over numerous issues (fences etc.) only for disputes to arise when new neighbours move in?

But a written agreement is not "informal".

Whilst it would be ideal to have the agreement drawn up as a deed it is not strictly necessary (although I always get mine signed and witnessed to give them extra credibility and warn clients to keep them in a safe place, preferably with the house deeds) and would be sufficient in a simple case like this.

An agreement that involves rights and liabilities that relate to the land (not personal to the owners) have "assignability" and therefore will bind successive owners.

TheCyclingProgrammer

teneighty wrote: »

An agreement that involves rights and liabilities that relate to the land (not personal to the owners) have "assignability" and therefore will bind successive owners.

If this is the case, then I can see why the current owners would be concerned and how it may affect either the value or saleability of their property in future.

That said I would be very surprised if the PWA contains anything formal relating to this - my understanding is that party wall surveyors do not get involved in boundary disputes. I'd be willing to bet that OP is simply relying on their neighbours on having understood the plans correctly.