Retaining Wall - any advice?

[AC2022]

We’re having a debate with our neighbours. Their house was built a few years before ours and the wall between us retains their land, as we live on a slight incline. A few months ago they came to ask if a builder could come into our drive to price a new wall and we agreed. The wall is slanting and needs work but it’s been like that for twenty years. We presumed it was our wall ( because we’re unlucky that way) but presumed they knew that it was their wall because they had taken advice. We tried to help them and as my husband is a surveyor we helped them find a trusted builder and structural engineer.

A few months later they sent us an email saying that they thought the wall was jointly owned and we should pay half. They showed us their deeds which showed they were jointly responsible for their other boundary and presumed the same applied to us. We spoke to our solicitors in general terms and they said that if it’s not in the deeds it’s usually joint. We went to see them and said that we’d go halves but we wanted to use a trusted builder. All was well until they started suggesting last week that we were completely responsible for the wall that retains their property and a letter from their solicitors will confirm this. Deeds say absolutely nothing.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of dispute? How can we be responsible when there is nothing written to say this

Its a difficult situation because we’ve always got on but now it’s just strained and they obviously think we’re lying. We’re still happy to split the cost.

Thank you

Does the brickwork match their house, or their other walls?

I would assume that they own the wall in its entirety as their house was built first.

What is the level of the pavement? Do they appear to have raised the level of their land or has your level been lowered?

Neither of you can copmel the other to repair the wall unless is is a party wall and the provisions of the Party Wall Act are followed. If the deeds are silent then it is often presumed to be a party wall, but a presumption can be rebutted with evidence.

Hi @Collaborate, thanks for replying!

Although the cladding matches half of the wall at the front, at the back the wall returns and holds up their patio. It’s a bit odd in that it looks like our wall but their house benefits. I’ve asked our solicitor to look at our deeds to confirm but we only bought the house five years ago and neither of us can remember. What I’m not sure of is, what do they know now that they didn’t know before when they were going to pay for all of the wall!

I would simply say, you dispute the fact it’s your wall and you can either pay half each or it’s not going to be replaced.

@AC2022
Have you seen the quotes for rebuilding the wall? I suspect they have quotes and they are terrifyingly high! Hence the change of mind.

Obviously the house on the higher land has to be retained. Yours benefits from not having their land in your garden. Or vice versa. As your DH is a surveyor, did you not have this info when you purchased the house. Unless there is proof in the deeds re ownership, it should be joint.

If the wall is retaining their land, then they should be responsible fir its repair. That is the standard position for retaining walls.

If the wall was built before your house was built surely it belongs to the neighbour

This post is unclear.

However if the brickwork matches your house and not the neighbour's house it is quite possible that your land was lowered, as the wall may have been built at the same time as your house. Whist you say in your OP it benefits the neighbour, it is there to comply with your legal duty to not allow their land to slip in to your property.

Usually the land owner has a duty not to keg their land to slip onto other properties. As DH is a structural engineer, you don’t expect a householder to design a wall to stop a neighbour slipping into them. When it’s a public pavement below it’s the landowner who is responsible for the safety and security of their wall or building. Therefore further investigation is needed. It could be the op’s house was built on land formerly owned by the neighbours house. It could have been levelled and the wall put in then. I would see a solicitor but I definitely wouldn’t pay for it’s 100% replacement cost.,