Party wall agreement with crazy neighbour and surveyor

[Richard_C]

What is the work and can it be done differently? I have only one experience, not my current house.
Neighbour asked me for party wall consent which I was happy to give, he was building a single floor kitchen extension which would terminate on the party wall. I recall he explained that we get a pre and post work survey, he pays, so it's all clear. To be honest he is such a thorough planner and fastidious guy I would have said just do it. Nothing much happened so I asked him a few weeks later, he said he had another think with his builder and a redesign so it didn't attach to the party wall - not because of any difficulty from me but it suited his needs better.

So one question is, can you avoid party wall issues with a design tweak?

 

[Blackswanwood]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...e-party-wall-etc-act-1996-explanatory-booklet
Paragraph 19 covers unresponsive neighbours.

 

[johna.clements]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...e-party-wall-etc-act-1996-explanatory-booklet
Paragraph 19 covers unresponsive neighbours.

The first post stated this. But it costs money.

 

[Blackswanwood]

The first post stated this. But it costs money.

Yes, which needs to be factored into the cost of doing alterations that will impact the wall of a neighbour so as to avoid being potentially open to much larger legal costs later on.

 

[alex4564]

Just to clarify, the neighbour is not a nice human being. She parked the car blocking the road once because someone parked in front of her house, fire brigade came by knock her door and she didn't answer, she fills wheelie bins with water and leave them on the road to avoid people parking anywhere near the boundaries or her house, she had 2 SORN cars abandoned around to block other people parking

 

[johna.clements]

Just to clarify, the neighbour is not a nice human being. She parked the car blocking the road once because someone parked in front of her house, fire brigade came by knock her door and she didn't answer, she fills wheelie bins with water and leave them on the road to avoid people parking anywhere near the boundaries or her house, she had 2 SORN cars abandoned around to block other people parking

Doesn't make much difference if you are legally in the wrong.

If as you state she is not a nice person what happens if she responds in not nice ways.

You glue bits of paper to her door. She scraps it off with a stick without looking at it and kicks the paper out into the street.
Then she writes on your car windscreen not to stick stuff on her door with lipstick. You can not drive your car until you find a way to remove the lipstick (you need more than soap and water).
You call the police who do nothing because you started it.

 

[Blackswanwood]

Just to clarify, the neighbour is not a nice human being.

IMHO all the more reason to stick to the letter of the law.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

If you ignore her interests or ignore the normal dispute resolution process, there is a high probability that she will react. She apparently takes pleasure in making the lives of others more difficult.

Her reaction may cost you time, money, or further aggravation. Possibly all three at a cost substantially exceeding the cost of following the right process.

As one poster has already noted, could the project be redesigned to avoid party wall issues. But if you are intent on going ahead you should accept the costs of resolving things properly. Amateur cheap solutions which are not dispute resolution compliant are not solutions!

 

[GweithdyDU]

Will the access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992 provide possible solutions? I haven't looked at it for years, but seem to remember it gives right over a neighbour's land if access is required to maintain and repair your own land.

Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992

 

[alex4564]

ok, back to paying to surveyors then, I'm going to get a few quotes. Personally I think there is far too much overhead with something that could be much simpler. Money down the drain, but I guess there is no way around it...

 

[AJB Temple]

I used to do property development and have some experience with unresponsive neighbours with party walls. Sure, Para 19 enables you to appoint a surveyor on her behalf. Good luck with finding one willing to take on this annoying job without a very premium price.

Go round to your neighbour in super charming mode, armed with chocs, flowers and so on. Or...if that fails, save yourself a shed load of cost and built 15cm inside the party wall line and brief your builders accordingly.