Question re neighbour planning an extension

andre_xs

Dear All,
our neighbours are planning a single-storey flat-roof back-extension (4m). They now have planning permission. We got quite a few unsolicited letters from solicitors/surveyors who offer to check that the neighbour's plans are according to party wall act, etc. The letters say the neighbour would have to pay for that.

We are on good terms with the neighbours, and I had a look at the plans online - looks like a pretty standard extension to me. I was wondering whether it would still make sense to get such a surveyor? We don't want to cause any unnecessary costs for the neighbours...

mi-key

If you are happy with the plans and get on well with them, then I wouldn't bother personally. It sounds like these are just companies touting for business ! They probably go through all the planning applications and send them out to any neighbours

Ectophile

The Party Wall Act is intended to protect you from damage to your property by builders next door.  It applies whenever there's work on a shared boundary.  You can get a surveyor, who your neighbour has to pay for, to check for any problems (e.g. cracking walls on your side).

Whether or not you should trust a company that cold calls you touting for business is another matter.  You want as little disruption as possible, a bad surveyor will try to drag things out for as long as possible to maximise their fees.

twopenny

That sounds like an unpleasant way to take money off people. I guess there are enough agrivated neighbours who would enjoy doing this.

It you are happy with the plans and they don't intrude on your life in any way it's completely unnecessary. They rely on sending the letters making people feel insecure.

matty_bram

If you have any concerns whatsoever I would talk directly to the neighbour and ask them to talk you through the plans etc. 

Keep it civil. 

That just sounds like dirty companies trying to make some money. 

We had similar. We signed a party wall agreement with our neighbour who we got on with well (just based on a template, no solicitors involved). Then we got these very 'cleverly' worded letters through the door which made it sound like our neighbour had appointed them to deal with it and that we needed to pay them to deal with the paper work etc. 

They rely on you not actually talking to your neighbour. 

I knocked on their door to ask and they said they had got the same letter that made it sound like we had appointed them. 

All very naughty. Should certainly be done for it. 

ThisIsWeird

As said above, Andre.

These folk are ambulance-chasers in terms of this practice. PWA surveyors can be useful on more complex builds, say where the extension will be built on to the side of your property, or where the neighbour has been cagey about their intentions. In essence, tho', you are already protected against any damage being caused - if they damage your house, they need to sort it - end of.

Has your neighb come round to talk about their plans? If not, that would be disappointing, as it's the obvious thing to do to set folk's minds at rest, and to ask if you understand what's going to happen, how it may impinge on you, and whether you are ok about it all.

Their plans are online. Have a good look at them, and check for things like any shared walls - how will it affect you? How they will deal with rainwater - where do the gutters lie? Any encroachment of this build over the boundary line, say at roof level? That kind of thing.

If the actual design is ok, and the neighbs friendly, then I personally wouldn't put the requirement of a surveyor on to them, but I would keep an eye on the construction to ensure it follows the plans.

ThisIsWeird

If you wish, you could post their plans on here for folk to have a look at - ID redacted, of course. There are knowledgable folk on here who should be able to point things out to watch for, such as "Check that overhang...", or "Ensure that the rainwater goods are fitted to X...", or "Keep out of your kitchen when they shove that steel beam through the wall."

casper_gutman

As others have said I'd only consider using a PWA surveyor if the proposed extension seemed fairly likely to have an impact on my property - e.g., building onto my side wall etc. Even then, I'd talk to the neighbours first and would be happy to use the same surveyor as long as they were someone reputable. 

andre_xs

Thanks to all of you. To answer some of your questions/comments:

- Yes, we constantly chat with the neighbours, and they told us about their plans well in advance.

- Their extension will not 'touch' our house. there's an alleyway between the houses (for access to rear gardens; above the alleyway is their house), and they will keep the alleyway and access to their garden free. So that their extension will be at least 1 metre or so away from the fence/boundary.

- If so, I wouldn't have gone with one of the companies sending the cold-call letters, but would have looked for a local well known company. But I took the letters just as a 'reminder' whether we may need to do this. First time we are in such a situation, so I don't know what's common practice.

Below are screenshots from the planning application. Our house is viewed from rear on the right (next to alleyway), and viewed from front on the left (on the floorplan, we'd be on the left). They are very roughly north of us, so they won't block any sun.

Based on your comments, I don't think we need a PWA surveyor...

maurice28

As you say, it looks like you won't be impacted that much by the extension itself. Looks like the bigger impact would be on the neighbours to the other side (if there are any?).

We have a very similar layout but would live in the equivalent house of your neighbours. We had an extension built last year (similar size and structure) and I'd say the biggest impact on you would likely be during the build itself. Will they be using the alleyway you share for taking equipment and building materials to and from the build? We had to ensure the tradespeople working on ours kept the alleyway clean and clear at all times, so if that is the case for you hopefully your neighbours and their builders will keep on top of that.