loft extension and party wall act

[Brugmansia]

Just wondering if anyone could give any advice on this.

We are about to embark on a loft extension. We have planning permission and the lift company have capacity at the moment to start as soon as we want. The current blockage is getting the partywall stuff dealt with.

Both our neighbours' houses are council owned and I can't find out who within the council I need to liaise with on this. I have tried contacting various people within the council, eg general enquiries, and asked them to point me in the right direction and they have either not replied or passed my queries onto the wrong people who have then said it's not a council matter. I presume I need the people responsible for the general management of the council's property portfolio but their contract details are not easy to find.

Our builder reckons we could just risk it and go ahead. DP's happy to do that but I'm inherently more cautious than him. From my own research though there aren't really any penalties for non-compliance. In theory if the council found out while the work was going on they could get an injunction and stop the work temporarily. if we knew there was a risk of this we'd be ready to stop voluntarily anyway. Once the work's completed there's nothing they can do.

My bigger worry is long term unforeseen consequences. What could they be?

[LivesInJeans]

Write a letter giving whatever notice you have to. Get it delivered by recorded delivery? Address to property manager stating that it needs to go to whoever is responsible. If they ignore... It's their choice

[digerd]

But surely you will need building control, and a certificate that it has been done properly. Building control is in the council offices and is separate from planning permission dept.

[lalalonglegs]

Deliver a letter to someone (including the tenants as anyone with more than a year's interest in a property also has to be consulted) then wait for prescribed period and if no one responds, your party wall surveyor will look after your neighbours' interests.