Good Fences Make Good Neighbours …

‘They can’t do THAT, can they?’

‘That fence has been there for 7 years pal therefore the land is MINE’.

‘I’ll just ram the beam into the wall while the neighbours are at work. They won’t even know’.

We have taken several calls lately from property owners lost in the labyrinth of party wall matters and the same issues keep cropping up again and again: confusion, misinterpretation of the Party Wall Act, failure to realise the Act applies to the building scheme until it’s late-on in the project and having to haul things back, shock and dismay at the rights and obligations required by the Act, and the inability to swallow pride when one side has to concede to another. A lot of these cases are not as confusing as they seem and the solutions are often simple and clear; but if you’re reading the Act wrong, or have assumed your position without taking proper advice then you’re potentially in line for some humble pie, and you may have to pay for the privilege of it. Taking your Party Wall advice from the MumsNet or MoneySavingExpert forums isn’t a sound approach so the best you can do is speak to a Chartered Surveyor with years of experience in settling these issues, and doing so before you shove a spade in the ground.