Party wall

dongiovanni

To cut a long story relatively short; our property has a garden wall at the bottom, about 7 ft high,  that separates it from the  car park at the rear of a block of some 10 flats. 
A couple of years  ago the wall at the front of the block of flats fell down, the wall itself was a relatively modern structure..and totally unconnected with our wall.  As a consequence of this the freeholder of the building had a surveyor make a survey of all the walls bounding their property. The survey concluded that certain walls needed some work, condition varied, some had a lean, cracks, whatever.

One such wall was the boundary wall at the bottom of our garden, which was built around 1870, of stone, and being in the curtilages of a listed building is itself listed.  

The freeholders of the block of flats instructed a firm of engineers to prepare schematics for the complete demolition of our wall and a rebuild with foundations, the wall is some 150ft long with a couple of bends.  We were told that we would be expected to share the cost of this building work.

The planning application by the freeholder  made no mention of the fact that the wall was listed, in fact prior to applying for planning permision an attempt was made by them to apply for a certificate of lawfulness which was rejected by the council concerned.

At no point have alternatives to wholesale destruction of the wall been considered, and the brief by the freeholder to the engineers was just to scope for complete rebuild not for any form of repair , buttressing or similar. Neither has the condition of the wall ever been monitored over time, it's condition could be stable or worsening..nobody knows.

I'm aware of party wall agreements etc. but my main question is:  Can a party wall joint owner force the other owner to accept their solution and expect that other owner to pay an appropriate share when no other alternatives have been considered.

Thanks for any advice.

Brie

I can't see how you can be made to pay for something that has not got planning permission or ignores the listed status.  To do so would make you complacent in doing something "illegal".   

sheenas

If there is need to repair the wall, then yes they can. It would be up to you to provide a cheaper estimate from another engineer. That way the cost would be considered unreadable. 

dongiovanni

Thanks for input. They are now in the process of applying for planning permision, which will likely be refused on the grounds that the works  (on a listed structure in a conservation area) are disproportionate to the issue . I would think in which case it would be for them to come up with a more pragmatic solution. Yes, there might be a need to repair the wall, as the surveyor suggested, but not pull down a complete structure and rebuild

Doozergirl

Are you sure this is a party wall and not just your wall? Is yours the listed property, not the flats?   

Presumably they are applying for Listed Building Consent and not Planning Permission as you've said?  

I think you should talk to the conservation officer independently of the flat owners and get their take on what should happen to it.  

dongiovanni

Thanks for commenting. Ours is the listed property, but it is definitely a party wall...or to use the legal definition a Party Fence Wall (since it's not part of a building, rather dividing land)

Doozergirl

In some ways that is better if you're sharing the cost but not if they're demanding that you pay for more than is needed. 

Conservation officers are a law unto themselves but I think that they will opt for a lighter touch than a full rebuild, given a choice.  Hence I think you're better off talking to them separately and getting their opinion.  They may turn out to be your best ally.