Party wall agreement or lack of some time on

[Rachaelf*]

Hi, so there was no party wall agreement between me and my new neighbour who had a lot of work done in 2020 before they moved in. At the time I had a young baby in hospital who was ill and it was obviously lock down. ( It's a 360 year old terrace house).


At the time I didn't want to take the matter any further and fall out with my new neighbour. However the work they had done was at 7am until 9pm at night and damaged the party wall at the front of my house, particularly the upstairs. They never consulted on the work with me or got me to sign anything like a party wall agreement but this was obviously a good few years ago now. There are cracks in the wall all the way down, on the horizontal, quite bad ones that appeared after they did the work. However I didn't take photos of beforehand as I didn't expect any damage.

Do I have any come back as it was quite a while ago? How should I approach this?

 

[johnny2007]

Too late imo.
However, speak to a solicitor and see what they say.
But be aware that some (most) solicitors promise you the world and then you end up losing a ton of money.

 

[DR007]

One of many reason I could not live in anything other than detached....
Can't you do it the old fashioned way, invite them for a cuppa and show them?
I suspect It'll be due to chases for wires/pipes too deep into the wall.
If on thier side you see sockets or radiators approximately where your cracks are that'll be a clue.
At best it'll set you back a plaster skim. At worst rebuilding a section of wall if they've gone excessively past the 1/3 & 1/6 depth limits.

 

[jj4091]

Contact or check with your home "buildings" insurance company if you have a policy that covers subsidfence and tell them you think you may have a problem with your property sinking. If it is caused by the neighbours ( but don't volunteer that information ) they may pursue it . It may also give you legal expenses cover.

 

[mrrusty]

I agree. Too late to prove cause and effect. If, at the time, there was damage becoming apparent, the lack of a PWA would have meant they would have to prove they didn't cause the damage, whereas with a PWA you would have to prove they did.

Pragmatically, just get it repaired. If by talking to them, they feel like making a goodwill contribution that would be a bonus but I wouldn't fall out about it.

and don't mention subsidence unless you are sure there is a good chance it is, because you risk tainting your property.