I'm not surprised.
Nothing has really changed from my post #17. Do trial holes from your side, you will know where you are then. If you need to upgrade foundations - or rebuild - you will definitely need to serve PW Notices. Take it from there.
Issue with neighbour over 'party wall'
- Thread starter Why-me
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What can be done about the neighbour enclosing on to my wall?
"I need to stay on good terms because the builder said scaffolding will need to overhang over their property for the extension, so I don't want it to seem I am threatening them with costs." the lean to does make this a party wall, therefore whether your neighbours like it or not, you can erect the required scaffolding if you follow the party wall framework (this doesn't involve the appointment of a party wall surveyor).
"so I don't want it to seem I am threatening them with costs." why is this threatening them with costs, you need to form some boundary on the relationship with your neighbours as well as the physical ones.
"What can be done about their lean to? They've built it right up against the wall, so shouldn't they have notified me or something?"- Yes,
You need to ask them if they have any documentation, agreement related to the wall, do they have a party wall reward for it? If not then it is trespass.
You need to discuss these issues with your neighbour. The situation is that you could demolish their wall for your works given their is no agreement for it. Off course you won't do that, but they will need to pay for the reinstatement of their own structure, or as above Alternatively, you can offer them an alternative, if unnecessary party wall surveyors can be avoided, you would be willing to ensure that your builder takes care of the necessary steps. If not then make sure they paid for the work you need to do on your side because of their trespass.
"so I don't want it to seem I am threatening them with costs." why is this threatening them with costs, you need to form some boundary on the relationship with your neighbours as well as the physical ones.
"What can be done about their lean to? They've built it right up against the wall, so shouldn't they have notified me or something?"- Yes,
You need to ask them if they have any documentation, agreement related to the wall, do they have a party wall reward for it? If not then it is trespass.
You need to discuss these issues with your neighbour. The situation is that you could demolish their wall for your works given their is no agreement for it. Off course you won't do that, but they will need to pay for the reinstatement of their own structure, or as above Alternatively, you can offer them an alternative, if unnecessary party wall surveyors can be avoided, you would be willing to ensure that your builder takes care of the necessary steps. If not then make sure they paid for the work you need to do on your side because of their trespass.
Assuming the interpretation is correct and the wall is now a type B wall, there's nothing you can do about it at this stage. You want to get on with your build and you need to know if you can build on top of your existing foundation, if you need to upgrade the foundation or if you need to demolish the wall and start again. I would establish that before you get bogged down with a load of technical PWA stuff that you may or may not need. When you know the situation you will have a much clearer idea of how to proceed. Do the trial holes.
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Why dont you reduce the size of your extension by the width of a brick? Build a new wall for your extension and leave the existing wall standing. Then the neighbours can retain their ramshackle lean to and you can move on with you're extension.
I totally agree with your advice but I would just add that I took a closer look at the photo in #26 and the neighbours "lean-to" actually looks like it is freestanding structure not attached to the OP's flank wall. It appears to have freestanding support posts so possibly not a Type B party wall after all?
I agree, I'm not convinced this is a party wall for the reasons you outline. As you know, for a type B wall to come into existence, the adjoining owner would need to be making use of the wall, which they don't appear to be doing.
However, the foundation needs to be investigated and either ruled in or out. If unsuitable, everything changes anyway.
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