Neighbours new extension, How to maintain my wall

Sproutout1

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has any experience in this.

I live in a semi detached property and my new (semi) neighbour has submitted plans to build an 5metre extension to the rear of his house, our home already projects 4 metres further than the rear of his property due to an extension in the mid 70's.

His proposal rather than tie-ing into existing wall of my extension is to build a new wall with an eventual 50mm gap between our properties. 

My issue is that we have been advised by our surveyor that our wall ties will need replacement in the next couple of years. Covid has unfortunately hit earnings so I cannot afford to have this done before he will have built his extension, meaning there will be no way for me to access my wall to carry out the repair.

Does anyone have any thoughts / advice please? Can the repair be done internally, does the gap need to be wider to allow access knowing the issue with my wall ties exists, etc.

Thanks all

Doozergirl

The ideal way is to share the wall.  It would potentially be cheaper for them to repair your wall and build off it.  

There's no long term solution for a 50cm gap.  You shared a party wall for a reason and that should really be maintained when extending.   You can't demand they build it further away.  

FaceHead

Agree that it seems mad for them to spend more money creating the unnecessary problem of the gap. Is the existing 4m wall a party wall, or is it on your land? If it's on your land they need your consent to enclose on it. They may think enclosing on it isn't possible - you should talk to them, and explain the maintenance benefits of only having one wall, and point out they will get quite considerably more floor space (50cm plus the wall thickness) by sharing the wall. 

If they are concerned about noise the answer is to still use the wall but give up some of the c.75cm extra floor space by putting in 5-10cm of sound insulation. 

The deal that they sort the wall out and enclose on it sounds like a winner for everyone.

Rosa_Damascena

OP - I'm on the other side of the fence here - quite literally - and don't think you have anything to worry about.

My garage was adjoined to my neighbours' and they were both in a state of disrepair, which was not helped by subsidence secondary to deep roots. I knew that I wanted to re-build the garage from when I moved in and was clear with my neighbours about this, sharing my purchase survey with them and we thought that its something we would do at the same time and maintain the party wall.

Unfortunately they weren't in a position to do so this year so mine was taken down very carefully and their's reinforced by my builders with concrete to strengthen it (probably extending the useful life of the garage as an outbuilding). 1.4m deep foundations have been dug on the other (my) side of the wall and the wall has stayed perfect, but again a 50mm gap has been left which suits me as there is no risk of my building being adversely affected by an adjoining crumbling structure. It would seem that this is standard practice? 

Doozergirl

It might be standard practice, but it's often a lazy standard practice where builders think they can avoid the Party Wall Act by building away from the boundary.  In the long term it causes more issues than it solves. 

A 50mm gap is nothing.  Do you really mean 50mm? 

Rosa_Damascena

Doozergirl said:

It might be standard practice, but it's often a lazy standard practice where builders think they can avoid the Party Wall Act by building away from the boundary.  In the long term it causes more issues than it solves. 

A 50mm gap is nothing.  Do you really mean 50mm? 

It may not even be that wide and was something the architect seemed to be quite familiar with as I wondered whether my original plan would turn my semi into a terrace (the gap means technically it does not). Can you spell out the unintended consequences of this?

My builder explained the plan to my neighbour before the work started and the PWA was duly signed. In an ideal world we would have demolished and rebuilt both garages together (albeit to standards suited to their different purposes) and maintained the party wall, but ultimately it wasn't to be. 

Doozergirl

I presume the gap is protected from rainwater somehow?  

There's also the risk of debris building up in the gap and no real option for clearing it out easily.  

Is the intention that they eventually build off your wall? 

Rosa_Damascena

Doozergirl said:

I presume the gap is protected from rainwater somehow?  

There's also the risk of debris building up in the gap and no real option for clearing it out easily.  

Is the intention that they eventually build off your wall? 

I was worried about damp between the 2 structures but there will be an overlap between the roofs so that's not now a concern. As for the gap I was more concerned about unwanted vermin than anything else so it will be stuffed with something or the other.

I fully expect the garage to be rebuilt at some point, and when it is I cannot see the gap being maintained - rather that 50mm be reclaimed by the other side.

Sproutout1

FaceHead said:

Agree that it seems mad for them to spend more money creating the unnecessary problem of the gap. Is the existing 4m wall a party wall, or is it on your land? If it's on your land they need your consent to enclose on it. They may think enclosing on it isn't possible - you should talk to them, and explain the maintenance benefits of only having one wall, and point out they will get quite considerably more floor space (50cm plus the wall thickness) by sharing the wall. 

If they are concerned about noise the answer is to still use the wall but give up some of the c.75cm extra floor space by putting in 5-10cm of sound insulation. 

The deal that they sort the wall out and enclose on it sounds like a winner for everyone.

Sorry for the delay in replying and thanks for your input, my existing extension is right up to the boundary between our properties and is 2 storey without any party wall agreement in place. My neighbours proposed extension is going to be single storey and not touch my wall so we will have an open gap of 50mm which is a concern for damp and debris as well as how they plan to get a foundation in that close. I'll use your suggestion re the extra room though, that might be a way forward.