Friend of mine lives in a terraced house in london and his next door neighbour is going to have a basement. naturally he is quite worried that his foundations will be affected. I assume you need planning consent and definitely building regs. The work is about to start soon and he has received nothing from the council about this, what should he do?
Basement
- Thread starter newt
- Start date
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bjm
Naturally different
I would assume this would be covered under the Party Wall Act and your friends' neighbour should have informed all parties affected?
Brian
Brian
RogerS
Established Member
He should contact Building Control asap to check to see if the neighbour has applied for the proper Building Control involvement.
Far better to nip it in the bud pronto otherwise he/she could have a whole lot of grief downline if it all goes pear-shaped.
Far better to nip it in the bud pronto otherwise he/she could have a whole lot of grief downline if it all goes pear-shaped.
Between the above, there's not much to add. Planning permission isn't normally required - but might be if they are adding a lightwell or something.
The Party Wall Act is very useful in these circs - that gives your friends a means of controlling what the neighbours do by having to have surveyors appointed by each party agree appropriate safeguards and construction details (at the neighbour's expense).
If they start work without the Party Wall application (assuming they are digging out and not just converting a cellar without changing the floor height), it's unlawful and in theory your friends can get an injunction to stop them (the cost would probably put them off, but on the other hand, bringing it up will stop the contractor in their tracks as they won't want to go there once they realise the work is unlawful).
The Party Wall Act is very useful in these circs - that gives your friends a means of controlling what the neighbours do by having to have surveyors appointed by each party agree appropriate safeguards and construction details (at the neighbour's expense).
If they start work without the Party Wall application (assuming they are digging out and not just converting a cellar without changing the floor height), it's unlawful and in theory your friends can get an injunction to stop them (the cost would probably put them off, but on the other hand, bringing it up will stop the contractor in their tracks as they won't want to go there once they realise the work is unlawful).
Not exactly the same thing but check this one out.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sho ... l?t=974115
Get your friend to act quickly and in any case before the work is started. He may feel very alone if work starts without the correct authority and all starts to go wrong.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sho ... l?t=974115
Get your friend to act quickly and in any case before the work is started. He may feel very alone if work starts without the correct authority and all starts to go wrong.
RogerS
Established Member
Jake":ispjqqwf said:
Hollow laugh..... :wink:
skipdiver
Established Member
My understanding is that the council cant do anything on work that MAY be carried out.They can only act on work being done.In other words there has to be a contravention of the rules for them to do anything.
bluezephyr
Established Member
www.gardenlaw.co.uk may be a good place to ask
