Taylor Mitchell Blog

In recent years, the RICS have tried make life easier for homebuyers by insisting that members benchmark their survey reports. Every report must be allocated a Level between 1 and 3. The RICS have produced a set of templates but members are also free to use their own as long as it is clear to clients which level of report they are ... Read more >>

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 sets out a framework to facilitate works that have the potential to affect shared structures or adjoining properties but seeks to ensure that such works are undertaken without adjoining owners and occupiers suffering unnecessary inconvenience. This balance is achieved by requiring the party intending to undertake ... Read more >>

In the previous post, we looked at the rights of access enjoyed by building owners where such was necessary to undertake works falling within the scope of the party wall act. Unsurprisingly, that access is subject to conditions and the most significant of those is the requirement to serve notice. The requirement is confirmed in Section 8 ... Read more >>

Building owners often complain about delays and additional expense caused by the party wall act but there are benefits and the most obvious is the right to access adjoining properties where such is necessary to undertake the works. The alternative would rely on the owners coming to an agreement and any surveyor that has been tasked with ... Read more >>

One of the more frustrating aspects of providing party wall advice is having to tell an adjoining owner whose neighbour has commenced work without serving notice that their only formal remedy is an interim injunction. The purpose of this post is therefore to provide some guidance to owners who find themselves in that situation and look at ways of ... Read more >>

I’ve previously written about owners’ concerns when their neighbour exercises their right to appoint a surveyor of their choice. As I explained in that post, the surveyor acting for the adjoining owner is not required to confirm their fee before they are appointed but must ensure that it is reasonable. In this post I will be looking at how ... Read more >>

Prior to undertaking works falling within the scope of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, owners have an obligation to formally notify the owners of affected adjoining properties and obtain their consent of go through the Act’s dispute resolution procedure. But what can an adjoining owner do if their neighbour fails to comply with that statutory ... Read more >>

I finished the penultimate post in this short series by explaining that, having assembled all the necessary supporting documentation, an adjoining owner should present the details of their damage claim to the building owner for consideration. I always recommend that the adjoining owner includes a date after which they will consider the claim to be ... Read more >>

Where an adjoining owner suffers damage as a result of works notified under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 they will generally have a choice between allowing the building owner or, in reality, the building owner’s contractor to make good and receiving compensation. In my experience, adjoining owners prefer to receive a payment then let the ... Read more >>