Party Wall Guidance

Party Walls or Party Structures are defined as one of the below:

• A wall that ‘straddles’ the boundary line between two premises is a party wall, even if it has not been built against and does not form a part of the neighbour’s building.
• A wall that divides two premises and forms a part of the structure of both is a party wall. This applies even if only part of the wall forms a part of the structure.
• A flank wall of a building that has been built against is a party wall to the extent that both premises use it. This means part of the wall can be a party wall, and part might not be. This would be the case even if the enclosure was done after the building was originally built.
• A garden wall straddling the boundary is called a Party Fence Wall — repair costs will be shared under the Act.
• Other parts of a building may be party structures and need similar processes and notices — for instance, the floor between two flats is a party structure.

A party wall is described as: 

• A wall that ‘straddles’ the boundary line between two premises is a party wall, even if it has not been built against and does not form a part of the neighbour’s building.
• A wall that divides two premises and forms a part of the structure of both is a party wall. This applies even if only part of the wall forms a part of the structure.
• A flank wall of a building that has been built against is a party wall to the extent that both premises use it. This means part of the wall can be a party wall, and part might not be. This would be the case even if the enclosure was done after the building was originally built.
• A garden wall straddling the boundary is called a Party Fence Wall — repair costs will be shared under the Act.
• Other parts of a building may be party structures and need similar processes and notices — for instance, the floor between two flats is a party structure.

A party fence wall is a wall which stands on the land of different owners and is used for separating adjoining lands but does not form part of a building. For example, if you live in a semi-detached house and the centre of the wall is also the centre of the two adjoining properties it is most likely to be a party fence wall. It is not usually a fence.

You must find out and check whether your work is covered by the Party Wall Act.  Your local building control and planning departments will not tell you. You might want to check with your architect or designer.

If you’re considering chimney breast removal, or looking to carry out building work in one of the following categories, you must correctly notify all affected neighbours by sending a Party Wall Notice:

• Work on an existing wall or structure shared with another property.
• Building a free-standing wall of a building up to or astride the boundary line.
• Excavating near a neighbouring building

As specialist Party Wall Surveyors, we offer a professional and bespoke personal service to residential and commercial occupiers and owners affected by Party Wall matters and can advise on the need for Party Wall Notices, Party Wall Agreements or Party Wall Awards.

If you have received a Party Wall Notice, we can advise on the best method of response and negotiate and agree a Party Wall Agreement for you.

If you’d like to see an example of our Party Wall services, take a look at our Case Studies.

If your work is very straightforward, you might be able to serve your own Party Structure Notices. We have a set of free party wall forms and notice templates that you can download.  but you must be careful.

You can issue your own notices and the Party Wall Act is specific about the information they must contain. Get it wrong, and the notices will not be valid. Although you can send a letter, standard forms are usually used. These are available on our website. Make sure you get the information on the notice correct. You may also need to serve different notices for different sections of the Party Wall Act.

Remember to serve a notice to all neighbours with an interest of longer than 12 months. If you have a block of flats next door, this may mean each flat and the freeholder. Check you are giving the required (in most cases) two months’ notice before you start work.

For more help, you could engage an experienced RICS Chartered Surveyor like us. Remember if the notices are wrong, or do not contain the right information they will not be valid. If you have to start again, the two month notice period also starts again. If your neighbour dissents from your notice you will have to appoint a party wall surveyor. The Act says you cannot act as your own party wall surveyor. If you do not appoint a surveyor then your neighbour can do this for you.

You have to serve a party wall notice two months before you plan to start work. You should not expect to begin work before the notice period has expired.  BUT, so long as your neighbour (the adjoining owner) agrees, in writing, to work starting earlier and there is a Party Wall Award in place, you can usually get underway. You can begin any work unrelated to the party wall and work somewhere else on the site.

Don’t ignore it! The party wall notices will tell you that your neighbour is planning to carry out some building works that may affect your property or boundary walls.

Within 14 days, you must reply in writing to confirm whether you agree to the work stated in the notice, or dissent from the notice. If you don’t, you will automatically have dissented and within a further 10 days you must appoint a surveyor. If you do not, then your neighbour will appoint one for you. You may be able to agree with your neighbour to use just one surveyor to act for you both.

If a dispute has arisen and the neighbouring owner refuses or fails to appoint a surveyor, you can appoint a surveyor on their behalf. That surveyor will then work with your surveyor to put an Award in place. If your neighbour refuses access, or to cooperate, the surveyors will serve the Award regardless.

You should take advice. It may well be that you will need to obtain an injunction preventing work from progressing until a notice is served and an Award agreed. This can be expensive.  Contact us if you need help.

A party wall is valid for one year. Because of this, it’s important not to plan too far ahead, however you need to make sure your agreement is reached before you are due to start work. We suggest you deliver your party wall notice at least two months before your project is due to start.

Your neighbour has 14 days to respond from the date of delivery of the party wall notice, not the date they opened it. They must reply in writing and either agree to the work or dissent from the work. If 14 days pass, the neighbour is deemed to have dissented from the works and so should appoint a party wall surveyor.

The Act does not change the ownership of any existing party wall, party fence wall (shared garden wall) or party structure. Neither does it change the position of any boundary. Boundaries can still run through the centre of a wall, and each owner will technically own part of a wall each — usually half.

BUT, if two neighbours agree that one can build against the flank or garden wall of another, then that part of the wall used will be considered a party wall in the future. This does not alter the boundary position, so the boundary may still run along the face of the wall. It does mean that a neighbour will acquire rights under the Party Wall Act to that part made use of.

No. The Act does not contain any provision, or means, to settle a boundary line dispute.

Such disputes can be resolved through the courts or sometimes using alternative dispute resolution procedures (which may be more straightforward, quicker and cheaper)— for example, mediation, decision by an independent expert, or arbitration.

Be warned — boundary disputes can be long, bitter and very, very expensive.

Approach with care.

Yes, but only in relation to works covered by the Party Wall Act.

The Party Wall etc. Act grants your neighbour various rights. If your neighbour is building within those rights, you cannot use the Act to stop your neighbour’s building works. If you don’t like the size or design, then you will usually have an opportunity to object when a planning application is submitted.

No. If the planned work is authorised by the Party Wall Act, your neighbour cannot refuse. But they can insist on a party wall award being prepared. Each neighbour will need to appoint a party wall surveyor to draw up the award between them. Both party wall surveyors will nominate a ‘third surveyor’ who would be called in to arbitrate if both wall surveyors cannot agree.  

As an alternative, both parties can appoint jointly what the Party Wall Act calls an ‘agreed surveyor’ to draw up a ‘party wall award’. This is one surveyor acting for both sides. It is the quickest and most cost-effective way of getting an Award in place.

In all cases, surveyors appointed to negotiate and prepare an award or party wall agreement must behave impartially and consider the interests of both neighbours. They do not act as advocates for each side. For more details about disputes, see ‘Resolving disputes’.

Yes. It overrides your other common law rights in relation to works covered by the Party Wall Act. Either side has 14 days to appeal to the County Court against an award. Sometimes, if the work changes or you do something different, the surveyors will need to agree to a further ‘Award’ to cover this. However, once everything is agreed you can proceed with your work.

If a neighbour simply refuses to reply to a party wall notice, then after a period of time you can appoint a surveyor to act for them.  Contact us if you need help.

It isn’t about making the party wall award invalid, it’s the process. Errors in your party wall notices, failure to follow correct timescales and procedure, leaving works off the notices, irregular appointments, can all invalidate the party wall process and mean that any agreement is invalid and cannot be enforced. If this happens, you will have to start again, which may mean suspending your building works while you sort it out. That is why it is recommended that you use a surveyor.

When you receive a notice you can either consent to the work in which case there is no requirement for a party wall agreement, or you can dissent from the work. When you dissent, that starts a “party wall dispute” that will need surveyors to be appointed and a party wall agreement put in place.

If you and your neighbour cannot agree on the party wall work, or if they agree but want a party wall agreement, they may be willing to jointly appoint what the Party Wall Act calls an ‘agreed surveyor’ to draw up a ‘party wall award’. Ideally, the agreed surveyor should be independent and not be the same person that you intend to employ to supervise your building work.

Alternatively, each neighbour can appoint a separate party wall surveyor to consider the work and agree to a party wall award between them. 

In all cases, surveyors appointed to negotiate and prepare an award or party wall agreement must behave impartially and consider the interests of both neighbours. They do not act as advocates for each side.

The Party Wall Act grants statutory rights to work on a party wall or near to your property, so providing these are adhered to, you cannot use the Party Wall Act to stop any works. Instead you will need to object on planning permission grounds. You can appeal the Party Wall Award in the County Court within 14 days of it being served.

As an adjoining owner, you have the legal right to be notified of work that will affect a party wall. If you are not notified, the works may be progressing unlawfully, and you have the right to object.

When you receive a party wall notice you must respond correctly. 

If you do not agree to party wall work then a party wall dispute arises and there is a specific process to follow; you must appoint an agreed surveyor. You cannot stop work from taking place if you simply don’t like your neighbour’s works. The opportunity to make comments was at the planning stage.

If you are in a dispute with your neighbour over your garden wall or fence, this may not be something that can be resolved with the party wall act. In fact, fence work does not fall under the party wall act at all. 

With garden walls that are built along the boundary wall there are some ways the party wall act can help resolve disputes, for example, when: 

• Demolishing a wall on the boundary.
• Taking down a neighbour’s fence to build a wall

It can’t help with:

• Painting the face of a wall owned by you that is on the boundary and faces your neighbour.
• Responsibility for fence replacement, or other fence disputes

For a simple piece of residential work, you should expect to pay between £700 and £1200 plus VAT for a party wall award. If you are doing the building work, then you are also liable for your neighbour’s surveyor’s fees. Sometimes, other professionals are called upon to advise. For instance, structural engineers sometimes need to check complex structural calculations and proposals when the work is complicated. This often happens when a basement is planned. The surveyors will decide who pays the fees and include this in the party wall award. Again, it is usually the person doing the work who pays these costs.

The surveyors will decide who pays the fees for drawing up the award. Usually, the person who undertakes the work will pay all reasonable costs associated with drawing up the award. So, in a nutshell, you are most likely to pay.

You don’t need to pay for the agreement, but you will need to pay the surveyor, or other professional’s fees, if they need to get involved.

You don’t need to appoint a party wall surveyor to serve a notice. You could complete one of our templates and follow the correct process through to agreement if you have the capacity. However, if any dispute arises, you will need a professional chartered surveyor involved to get the party wall agreement finalised.

No, but you can serve your own notices. We have a set of Party Wall forms and Notice templates that you can download. You would not be classed as a ‘surveyor’ though; you would simply be undertaking the administrative task of putting notices in place. You will need a professional surveyor if your neighbour objects.

Party wall surveyors will issue notices on your behalf if you are carrying out works. If you are next door to building work, the surveyor will ensure that you are properly protected either by responding correctly on your behalf to a party wall notice, or by contacting your neighbour.

No, you must serve party wall notices to your neighbour if the work affects a party wall, boundary, or involves excavation close to your neighbour. If your neighbour agrees to this, no award is required.

No. A party wall agreement is only for building works affecting a party wall, but if you come to sell and a surveyor thinks there should have been a party wall award this might cause a delay.

To understand if you need a party wall agreement, you must check whether your work is covered by the Party Wall Act. Your local building control and planning departments will not tell you. You might want to check with your architect or designer.

If you intend to carry out building work in one of the following categories, you must correctly notify all affected neighbours by sending a Party Wall Notice:

• Work on an existing wall or structure shared with another property.
• Building a free-standing wall of a building up to or astride the boundary line.
• Excavating near a neighbouring building

No, not if you are simply replacing your roof tiles. However, if you are having work done to the structure of your roof, or you are having a loft conversion and the supporting beams are near or on a party wall, then yes, you will need a party wall agreement.

Any work that can impact the above. Loft conversions and extensions, basements, rebuilding or repairing a boundary wall; excavation within three metres of your neighbour’s property, which could include new drainage (even if you are not attached to them); building on, or up to the boundary between neighbours.

No, there is no right to make use of a wall that is not a party wall, party structure or a party fence wall.

But, you can ask for your neighbour’s consent to use their wall, but they do not have to give it. If they do not give consent, you will need to build your wall next to theirs. If the new wall needs a foundation, you will probably need to serve a notice for adjacent excavation. The act does grant a right to cut a flashing into your neighbour’s wall, and if you intend to do this, you must serve a party structure notice.

Be aware that if you agree to your neighbour using your wall, then that wall will become a party wall where it has been used, and your neighbour will have acquired further rights over that section that has been enclosed upon.

Yes, a neighbour can make use of a party wall. If the wall has not been built against, then the person doing the building work may have to pay a compensation sum to next door for using the wall. This is to reflect the cost-saving made by using the wall that was constructed at the expense of next door. The Party Wall Surveyors will usually calculate and agree on the figure, and this will be included in the Party Wall Award or Party Wall Agreement.

The survey itself doesn’t take a great deal of time, but writing the notices, the administrative tasks, confirming agreement, etc, will usually take between five and seven hours for a simple party wall agreement. If there are more challenging circumstances, or the neighbour refuses to give agreement, then it can take much longer.

Under the Party Wall Act, if you are planning building work, you must formally notify and receive the consent of your neighbours if the job includes:

• Work on an existing wall or structure shared with another property (section 2 of the Act)
• Building a free-standing wall on the boundary with a neighbouring property (section 1 of the Act)
• Building a party wall astride the boundary with a neighbouring property (section 1 of the Act)
• Excavating near an adjacent building (section 6 of the Act)

It is your responsibility, not the Local Authority’s, to determine whether the work falls within the Act and whether you need a Party Wall Agreement, properly known as a ‘Party Wall Award‘.

If it does, you must correctly notify and receive the written consent of all affected neighbours.

The Party Wall Award will detail how any damage is to be made good. The surveyors will agree to the work and liability and your neighbour can do the repair works. Alternatively, you can ask for a payment in lieu so that you can carry out the repair works.

Not usually, but if your neighbour uses a part of a party wall that was built by you, he may have to compensate you for the cost of building it.