Party Wall Act - help required please.

[luisdesign]

Whilst the party wall act certainly will not apply they may be able to gain access under the 'Access to neighbouring land act'.

Effectively the PWA has this access allowance built in but where it does not apply (as here) then the access act allows the neighbours to present the case at the county court and have access court ordered. Under this route it is likely that (if granted) rights of access gor future maintenance will also be pre approved and written into the title deeds. The idea being to keep this matter out of court in future.

You should note that if the neighbour can demonstrate that his deeds already grant him this right then you must allow him access.

Now, the access act only normally applies to certain works. These cover maintenance of the property but not new developments. I would not consider adding windows ti be 'maintenance'.

However if they remove the windows and then add new ones from their own side then they could claim access to maintain those windows (ie complete the works by sealing them).

As for the external insulation this may or may not be considered applicable work under the access act (unfortunately im not very experienced with this act to advise regarding case law).


One thing to note is that the access act allows the courts to order the neighbour to pay reasonable compensation where it can be demonstrated that granting the access will cause unreasonable inconvenience and the neighbour will gain a financial benefit. Installing insulation would certainly do this as it would lower energy bills, whilst adding windows may add property value.

Of course, the courts may equally say that access would not cause any inconvenience!?


You really do need to seek proper legal advice for this.

Until then just remember that if they access land without permission they are trespassing.

 

[jeds]

Linus, just for clarity, as woody has clearly said; the PW act does not apply in the case you state and even if it did it would not allow access to do this work. And the access to neighbouring land act doesn't apply either. The Access act does not apply to building works - it only applies to maintenance work. So you do not need to quote legislation (there is none) if you don't want them on your land just tell them they are not allowed on.

Having said that, if you have no reasonable objection to the insertion of the windows, I can't quite understand why you wouldn't let them do the work. All you need do is draw up a basic agreement as to when they do the work, how they do it, how long it takes and what measures they will take to protect your parents property. It is pretty simple work which shouldn't take more than a few days.

 

[Linus]

Thank you to all of you for your responses, they have been very reassuring.

I have already thought about getting legal advice but just needed some views from forum members to get a basic view view of where we stand.

I will add that these windows are for a bathroom which is being moved from the rear of the property (no other properties in the cul-de-sac have had this done) to the middle (flank wall) of the property; this will obviously require silage, water, and general drainage dispersal.

Therefore, they will require drain access, gutters and extensive digging to my parents' side.

So along with the PWA 'agreement' that has been requested and Access to Neighbour property Act I think we can all sleep safely from the stress.

Thanks to Woody and those above for your help, further advice will still be greatfully received.

 

[vv2806]

How old are your parents? Do you really do them a favour straining the relationship with their neigbours?

 

[kingandy2nd]

Have you seen the plans and know what they're planning to do regarding drainage, gutters and all?

At least with two bathroom windows they will be obscured so not like your parents will be overlooked, and given that 'no other houses in the cul-de-sac' have this arrangement I assume their development will have minimal impact on your parents house - as they won't have any windows that overlook this flank.

Yes, this work may be mildly inconvenient for your parents in the short term, but taking a sensible approach as has been previously suggested about agreeing how work is done and how your parents property can be protected will surely be better in the long term for your parents and their neighbours.

The advise that people have given on there regarding access is correct, but it's a crappy thing to do to interfere with the hopes and dreams of the people next door and how they want to use their home without good reason to.

 

[Linus]

How old are your parents? Do you really do them a favour straining the relationship with their neigbours?

In their late 60s.

The strain is already there with some clever yet bullish tactics to perform the improvements as mentioned above.

 

[Linus]

Have you seen the plans and know what they're planning to do regarding drainage, gutters and all?

At least with two bathroom windows they will be obscured so not like your parents will be overlooked, and given that 'no other houses in the cul-de-sac' have this arrangement I assume their development will have minimal impact on your parents house - as they won't have any windows that overlook this flank.

Yes, this work may be mildly inconvenient for your parents in the short term, but taking a sensible approach as has been previously suggested about agreeing how work is done and how your parents property can be protected will surely be better in the long term for your parents and their neighbours.

The advise that people have given on there regarding access is correct, but it's a crappy thing to do to interfere with the hopes and dreams of the people next door and how they want to use their home without good reason to.

Your point is accepted, however they should have thought of that before deciding to move the bathroom... and no, the plans drawn up do not refer to any method statement in relation to gutters, drainage etc.

There aren't any available, but I am straying away from the original point about the PWA which I think may have been covered by some of the posts above. Thanks for your reply kingandy.

 

[mattylad]

Could they be planning on taking the drainage vack through the house to its original exit point?
Windows can be fitted from inside, however making the holes is going to be a lot harder without external access.

If they gave you an agreement and lodged a substantial sum with a 3rd party (your solicitor) to cover any damage not rectified then would you/your parents fell better about that?

Nothing they do should encroach on your property period.

Do any of these planned windows look into your parents windows?

 

[Linus]

Could they be planning on taking the drainage vack through the house to its original exit point?
Windows can be fitted from inside, however making the holes is going to be a lot harder without external access.

If they gave you an agreement and lodged a substantial sum with a 3rd party (your solicitor) to cover any damage not rectified then would you/your parents fell better about that?

Nothing they do should encroach on your property period.

Do any of these planned windows look into your parents windows?

1 - I very much doubt it - these are well-built houses from the 1930s

2 - My parents would prefer no access or disruption as they have not got any problem with the rear extension that has been approved, just the side windows. They would feel better ONLY if it came down to it from a protective view. but what would be 'a substantial sum'? Are we talking 10 or 20 grand?

3 - The proposed windows look directly on to the side of my parents' house which has two windows, one at ground floor and one at first floor.

 

[vv2806]

It is up to your parents of course but I found out from experience that a good relationship with neighbours could be invaluable. My partner's late mother suffered from Alzheimer during the last years of her life. We lived at about 30 minutes drive away. Several times we had phone calls from some of the neighbours during the night - she had bad dreams, thought somebody broke into the house and run out on the street. The neighbours took care of her until we were able to arrive.

My point is you never know what could happen in your life and who might be in a position to help you.

 

[Linus]

It is up to your parents of course but I found out from experience that a good relationship with neighbours could be invaluable. My partner's late mother suffered from Alzheimer during the last years of her life. We lived at about 30 minutes drive away. Several times we had phone calls from some of the neighbours during the night - she had bad dreams, thought somebody broke into the house and run out on the street. The neighbours took care of her until we were able to arrive.

My point is you never know what could happen in your life and who might be in a position to help you.

The relationship with the neighbours is and always has been positive and I am not taking an emotional view, simply a legal and logical one that can be justified in minimising disruption in their daily lives.

As I said above, the question was in relation to the PWA.

Thank you for your reply.