Party Wall Casebook

It may seem counter-intuitive that the Party Wall Act should allow a building owner to construct a wall for his own use (e.g. in order to enclose on his ground floor extension) partly on his neighbour's land. If you are an adjoining owner reading this, you my be pleased to hear that the Act only allows it in only very specific situations and then only with certain caveats. It is worth noting that even where the building owner does not have the right to build a wall straddling the boundary line, there is nothing to stop him from sending the adjoining owner a notice requesting permission to build such a wall. Where the right does not exist, the adjoining owner need not even reply as there is deemed dissent. So when, you may ask, does the building owner have the right to construct such a wall (following notice) even with the dissent of the adjoining owner? The answer is - 'where there was a pre-existing wall in that position'. For example, there is an existing garde...

So what are the rights of an adjoining owner who has just received a Notice with regards proposed works to be undertaken by his neighbour ('the building owner)'? Can he simply refuse to allow the works to go ahead? The answer to that is not as straightforward as it may first appear. Listed below are various possibilities: Q 1) The building owner has served notice to build an extension with the wall to be built wholly on the building owner's land but has stated in his notice that the foundations will straddle the boundary line. The adjoining owner is concerned about damage to the lawn of his back garden should the proposed wall be built. A 1) The adjoining owner cannot prevent the wall being built wholly in the building owner's land, however he can usually insist that the foundations do not straddle the boundary line but rather, are constructed as 'eccentric' ones wholly on the land of the building owner. Only where the building owner can show ...