What do I do if my neighbour starts building a large extension without my permission?
The purpose of this article is not to provide a comprehensive over view of the law on party walls, but to produce a guide for those who find themselves in a similar situation to the one outlined in this title.
If your neighbour is commences building works and they fall within the scope of the Party Walls Act, then you may have the right to prevent your neighbour from building their extension.
For example, the Act will cover boundaries which are deemed as party walls, being walls which fall on the boundary line between two properties and any excavation, construction or connective work which may affect the neighbouring property’s foundations or structure.
The first issue arising is whether the works your neighbours are carrying out fall within the Act. If the works directly affect the party wall or other party structure then this will be included in the Act. If your neighbours are excavating close to your property and the works are likely to compromise the foundations of your property, or are constructing a new wall at the junction of the properties, these works are likely to be caught by the Act.
If the works are caught by the Act, your neighbour must serve a Party Wall Notice on you, two months before the proposed works are to begin, in order to gain your consent to begin the works.
You may serve a counter notice setting out any reasonable requirements or conditions you require the works to adhere to.
However, if you do not respond, this will be taken as dissent to the works and your neighbour must appoint a jointly agreed surveyor or a surveyor must be appointed on behalf of each party, in order to come to an agreement about the works needed to be carried out.
Once this has been agreed, the Surveyors will make a ‘Party Wall Award’ which in essence, determines the right to execute any works, the time and manner in which the works must be carried out and resolving any other issues arising from such works.
This Award can be appealed by you, but there is a time limit of 14 days in which to do this. A Court will make a decision on whether to rescind the Award and will award costs at its discretion.
Once the Award has been made, works may commence and reasonable costs in relation to making and obtaining the award, in relation to reasonable inspections of work and any matters arising from the dispute will be payable by the party determined by the surveyor.
However, your neighbour can also retrospectively serve party notice in order to obtain the necessary award if they have completed works without an award. However, if you can show that damage has been done to your property, you are likely to be able to sue for breach of statutory duty, damages and injunctive relief in order to relieve damages done to your property and costs.
Maya Bhatiani is an Assistant Solicitor in the Litigation Department at Darlingtons