Party wall / boundary scenario

daveystott

Two semi-detached houses. Both houses and surrounding private land are owned by a single company. The houses have never been individually owned before but are then sold to two different private owners. 

The first house is sold a few months before the second. When the first house was sold, a wooden fence marked the boundary between the front of the properties. This wooden fence was exactly half way between the two properties.
The buyers of the first house removed the fence and erected a party wall. The wall sits fully astride the boundary. They also dug down by a number of feet within two metres of the houses.

Whilst the now owners of the second property were in the process of buying the property, the wall was under construction. All deeds show that the boundary is central.

The owners of the firs property (who built the wall) have no party wall agreement with any party.

Do the owners of the second property have any legal recourse to force the owners of the first property to move the wall so that it is entirely on their own property?
(Unfortunately, discussion between the two owners is out of the question.)

NewShadow

Neighbour/boundary disputes are ugly things that cost thousands and drag on for years - it's really not as simple as one person has a right and the other person has a duty... 

And a discussion of 'Rights' is probably unhelpful and somewhat irrelevant if you're still at the stage where you're gathering 'ammo' - given the only way you can 'force' someone to fulfil a legal duty is via the Courts... and before you do that you need the advice of a solicitor who has access to all the pertinent information/details.   

I know you've said the parties can't talk to each other - and sometimes with disputes like this, talking/writing directly isn't the best thing to do - I'm going to recommend a professional mediator...or an appointment with a solicitor. 

Let's be honest and say a dispute like this is either going to end up there, or with the CPS involved once things have escalated beyond all sanity - so why not get ahead of the curve  

daveystott

NewShadow said:

Neighbour/boundary disputes are ugly things that cost thousands and drag on for years - it's really not as simple as one person has a right and the other person has a duty... 

And a discussion of 'Rights' is probably unhelpful and somewhat irrelevant if you're still at the stage where you're gathering 'ammo' - given the only way you can 'force' someone to fulfil a legal duty is via the Courts... and before you do that you need the advice of a solicitor who has access to all the pertinent information/details.   

I know you've said the parties can't talk to each other - and sometimes with disputes like this, talking/writing directly isn't the best thing to do - I'm going to recommend a professional mediator...or an appointment with a solicitor. 

Let's be honest and say a dispute like this is either going to end up there, or with the CPS involved once things have escalated beyond all sanity - so why not get ahead of the curve  

Sound words NewShadow. I thank you.

princeofpounds

I would suggest the answer to your question is possibly and technically yes, but it would turn on details. For example, what sort of agreement (or not) existed between the original owner and the first new owner. What exactly you mean by 'fully astride'. What you can actually evidence, and whether it is worth pursuing in practice. 

What you mustn't do is assume that the line of the title plan is in the middle, so any boundary runs down the middle, and that's the end of it. Whilst that's probably true in your case given the change was made so recently (I'm assuming this given the way you talk about it), boundary law doesn't work in such a simple way all the time.

I would suggest you should visit gardenlaw boundaries forum, which is more specialist than here, and read the stickies, past threads and post your own question. Then go and talk to a solicitor. 

daveystott

princeofpounds said:

I would suggest the answer to your question is possibly and technically yes, but it would turn on details. For example, what sort of agreement (or not) existed between the original owner and the first new owner. What exactly you mean by 'fully astride'. What you can actually evidence, and whether it is worth pursuing in practice. 

What you mustn't do is assume that the line of the title plan is in the middle, so any boundary runs down the middle, and that's the end of it. Whilst that's probably true in your case given the change was made so recently (I'm assuming this given the way you talk about it), boundary law doesn't work in such a simple way all the time.

I would suggest you should visit gardenlaw boundaries forum, which is more specialist than here, and read the stickies, past threads and post your own question. Then go and talk to a solicitor. 

Thanks princeofpounds!
The wall is at least half on our side. Attachments added to the wall on our side, since the wall was built, further encroach on to our property.
Photos of the front of the houses, as they were when they were being sold, exist on the web. These photos clearly show that the original wooden fence is in the middle between the two houses.
The houses were purchased individually for the first time in 2016. This is when the wall was built.
Thanks again. I shall checkout gardenlaw boundaries forum!

Borodianne

Hi, looking for advice re damage to our property by neighbour who is renovating adjoining semi.

Scenario: no party wall agreement served by neighbour prior to building extension adjoining us, this required removal of boundary wall. 

Neighbour has partially knocked down a boundary wall to build a new wall for his extension- but only knocked part of it down as he now stated he had trouble with foundations. He has then built round the puece of Walk he left which was rendered and also moved the new wall back a width of a brick leaving us with a jagged unsightly mess which our two sets of patio doors  look onto as it’s our decked eating area. He has also damaged our decking and due to him moving the wall back from original boundary wall (and not as shown on plans) our decking no longer reaches the boundary and there is a large gap and deep hole. 

Upstairs we have a large crack appear in our newly decorated bedroom which plaster wees have said will have been caused from the vibrations of next doir removing their internal walls. 

When the neighbour needed access to our property to complete the wall he gave us a letter undated, stating he would put right the damage he had caused including rendering the unsightly wall, and repairing the decking and crack in plaster but now he will not engage with us, he’s put the  property on the market. 

He has also fixed a fence in a gap left due to the extension not being same length as original boundary wall but it is shoddy work.

We are considering taking him to small claim court and have acquired three estimates for the work requiring done (about £650). Can anyone advise if they have done similar successfully or give me any advice in the process. I have a photo of previous wall and a video and photos of the mess we now have to put up with. Can videos be used in court? 

Also the only address we have for the owner is the empty property- how can Court contact him?
please help! We can’t afford £220 an hour for legal advice and unfortunately aren’t covered in buildings policy for legal cover 

Borodianne

Hi, looking for advice re damage to our property by neighbour who is renovating adjoining semi.

Scenario: no party wall agreement served by neighbour prior to building extension adjoining us, this required removal of boundary wall. 

Neighbour has partially knocked down a boundary wall to build a new wall for his extension- but only knocked part of it down as he now stated he had trouble with foundations. He has then built round the puece of Walk he left which was rendered and also moved the new wall back a width of a brick leaving us with a jagged unsightly mess which our two sets of patio doors  look onto as it’s our decked eating area. He has also damaged our decking and due to him moving the wall back from original boundary wall (and not as shown on plans) our decking no longer reaches the boundary and there is a large gap and deep hole. 

Upstairs we have a large crack appear in our newly decorated bedroom which plaster wees have said will have been caused from the vibrations of next doir removing their internal walls. 

When the neighbour needed access to our property to complete the wall he gave us a letter undated, stating he would put right the damage he had caused including rendering the unsightly wall, and repairing the decking and crack in plaster but now he will not engage with us, he’s put the  property on the market. 

He has also fixed a fence in a gap left due to the extension not being same length as original boundary wall but it is shoddy work.

We are considering taking him to small claim court and have acquired three estimates for the work requiring done (about £650). Can anyone advise if they have done similar successfully or give me any advice in the process. I have a photo of previous wall and a video and photos of the mess we now have to put up with. Can videos be used in court? 

Also the only address we have for the owner is the empty property- how can Court contact him?
please help! We can’t afford £220 an hour for legal advice and unfortunately aren’t covered in buildings policy for legal cover 

Slithery

@Borodianne

Please start your own thread - it just gets confusing when there are multiple questions from different posters.

Borodianne

sorry I was trying to, I haven’t used the forum much but can’t work out how to delete