Party wall/House sale

[Dicey2]

My neighbours have asked me to sign a Party wall agreement for a loft conversion. I’m moving home and due to complete next week. I’ve no concerns re signing but timing not great and I don’t want anything to delay completion.

Do I
a) sign agreement and do nothing else
b) sign agreement and let solicitor know
c) don’t sign it
d) something else

I would speak to your solicitor, if you have exchanged, you might have no right to sign it

I would not sign it. I would delay and let the new owners do it. It’s going to affect them. It’s also going to be their wall. Ask your neighbours to delay it for a bit. You should never ever sign it without appointing your own surveyor either. You should always say you don’t agree and get a surveyor for yourself at the neighbours expense.

Steve, the party wall surveyor here, party wall agreements are personal and do not run with the property. So your neighbours will need to get a new agreement with the new owners, especially if the work has not started.

I would imagine the timing of them handing it over now (assuming they know you're about to move) means they want it signed and sorted before the new people move in, however as stevenway1 says they'd need to do it with new owners anyway, so there's no point you signing. I do think there's an obligation to tell your solicitor though.

Thanks all very much for your replies. Much appreciated @Hadalifeonce @MiniCooperLover @TizerorFizz @stevenway1 Good to know they’ll need a new one anyway when I move

You should make it clear that you do not give your consent to the proposed works. In the absence of a response it is assumed that you don't give your consent, but given they're trying to pull a fast one it makes sense to leave no doubt.

This happened to us when we were buying our house. The seller made her solicitor aware who then made us aware. We signed the agreement once we'd completed and moved in