PARTY WALL MATTERS

Party Wall Matters

Party Wall Matters

The law relating to party walls is a relatively self-contained area being found largely in the Party Wall Act 1996. The Act is complex and technical and often advice of specialists will be needed, for example, from surveyors who practise in the area.

Where a feature is party mutual rights of support arise. However, these rights are negative in character. Therefore in areas that were not covered by local legislation (everywhere other than London and Bristol), in the absence of a right to do so in the deeds, neither neighbour could remove the support derived from the other's structure. However, neither party was under a positive obligation to repair the structure in question.However, it is often difficult to tell precisely where the boundary is in the absence of an express declaration to the effect that dividing structures are party. Remember that in registered land the title plan shows only the general boundary.

Beware of assuming that the wall follows the line of the paper title if this can be identified. As the Court of Appeal recently indicated in Palfrey v Wilson [2007] EWCA Civ 94, it is possible for a feature that appears to be party in fact to be a boundary structure by operation of the law of adverse possession.

A wall may be party for part of its distance and boundary in another part, e .g. where it provides essential support to a building at ground floor level but no support at first floor level it will be party up to first floor level.

The Act seeks to provide a comprehensive code for the conduct of work to structures of the types covered by the Act. One does not therefore need to consider rights of support that arise at common law. This is because the substantive rights that exist in the party wall continue but are suspended as long as the Act is complied with (see s.9 (a)).

he Act has a code of notices and counter-notices, the effect of which is that there will be deemed to be a dispute between neighbours if the adjoining owner (the neighbour who is not intending to carry out work) does not consent to the work. This applies both to new building work and proposed work to existing party walls. Where new work is proposed, however, the building owner may carry out the work proposed provided he builds the wall or structure wholly on his own land (save for the footings) even if there is an objection by his neighbour. However, for work to be within the Act the work must be begun within a certain period of the service of the notice.

As has been stated the Act provides a comprehensive code for the resolution of disputes. The predominant view is therefore that there is no scope for ADR or arbitration. The role of the county court is only as a forum for appeals, although there is some scope for challenging awards on the grounds of bias and ...