Problem with retaining wall on property boundary

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This discussion was created from comments split from: Retaining wall.

em6

Is anyone able to help me please? I have a garden boundary brick wall with a neighbour. They are uphill from me. The land is about 6 metres higher on their side than on mine. According to the deeds, when it was built, it was a party wall and the land was almost level on both sides. They built up their side and the wall was not designed to take that kind of weight. The wall was declared unsafe in 2013 and we told them to repair it, as it is retaining their land. They refused and now part of it has fallen down. They did a Party Wall procedure, and the surveyor said it's 50:50, which seems to be manifest nonsense to me. We are currently paying for scaffolding on our side to hold up what remains of their wall. Our tenure is leasehold. We are refusing to pay a penny, but our freeholder, who is named in the Party Wall Award, says it's up to us to pay 50%. We aren't even mentioned in the Award. Why would it be up to us to pay for a wall holding up someone else's land? Please can someone help? We've now been arguing about this for over a decade and I'm tired and broke.

grumpy_codger

6 meters?! That's hard to believe.

Regardless, if it was they who raised the soil level, I personally wouldn't pay anything on principle even if the fallen wall and moving soil caused me inconvenience.

Let them try forcing you to pay.

ThisIsWeird

em6 said:

Is anyone able to help me please? I have a garden boundary brick wall with a neighbour. They are uphill from me. The land is about 6 metres higher on their side than on mine. According to the deeds, when it was built, it was a party wall and the land was almost level on both sides. They built up their side and the wall was not designed to take that kind of weight. The wall was declared unsafe in 2013 and we told them to repair it, as it is retaining their land. They refused and now part of it has fallen down. They did a Party Wall procedure, and the surveyor said it's 50:50, which seems to be manifest nonsense to me. We are currently paying for scaffolding on our side to hold up what remains of their wall. Our tenure is leasehold. We are refusing to pay a penny, but our freeholder, who is named in the Party Wall Award, says it's up to us to pay 50%. We aren't even mentioned in the Award. Why would it be up to us to pay for a wall holding up someone else's land? Please can someone help? We've now been arguing about this for over a decade and I'm tired and broke.

Hi Em6.
Could you tell us what - exactly - it says in the deeds, along with the deeds map? And, importantly, how do you know - how can you evidence - that the land was 'nearly level' on both sides at the time?
There are some basic rules about who has ownership of, & responsibility for, a retaining wall, and what it says in the deeds has a large bearing, but - from what you describe - this wall was never designed to 'retain', and if one party has built up the land level on their side since it was built, then they will almost certainly have full responsibility for any resulting damage.
Your property is leasehold? Do you have Legal Protection included in your insurance policy - this might only be a 'contents' policy? Ditto for the 'buildings' policy - do you know if LP is included there?
Oh, and could you clarify the '6m' bit? Just how tall is this wall, how high has the land on their side been increased by?
(I don't know if it's too late for you to start this thread afresh - it's confusing when it continues from an existing one.)

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've split @em6's question into a new thread

FlorayG

6m is 20ft. This can't be right. Not least because nobody builds a 20ft high wall around a property unless they are the Ministry Of Defence
Does the OP mean 6ft?

david29dpo

I had a similar problem many years ago at my old house.
My boundary wall, not a retaining wall. 
Next-door piled soil against it and over the years bowed the wall 
Next door not interested so when the wall fell down i replaced with the flimsiest fence i could find.
Problem solved.