Party wall issues

[Wonderbug81]

I live in a flat. My downstairs neighbour is having various work done including:

Chimney breast removal (mine would stay)

Internal wall removal (it's a supporting wall and mine is above)

Knocking down of external walls that support mine above to build an extension

He says his surveyor said this doesn't need a party wall surveyor. Three surveyors I spoke to said the chimney breasts at a minimum do.

Is there specific law I can quote on this?

And if not, what do I do next?

(Flats are leasehold, he has permission from themfor external work, not sure about internal). He doesn't have planning consent for the chimney or internal walls.

He needs building regulations approval. Speak to your council immediately. If the work affects the floors between you it needs a PWA. The problem is enforcing it. If they don’t do one, I would speak to the owner. I would certainly require structural calcs to be done. You could consider getting your own advice but with a PWA, if you object to theirs, they pay for your surveyor. But you need to do something.

Thank you. He doesn't have regs for the interior wall or chimneys as I called this week so they said I could report him but I don't want to do that unless a last resort as I still have to live with the neighbour afterwards. He already had one from the previous owner for an extension.

I was thinking of involving the freeholder and yes perhaps I will have to engage a surveyor in the meantime.

Is the chimney shared between both flats? Removing any part of a shared chimney is notifiable.

Demolishing the external wall though, may not be. Perhaps that is why they said that? But they would obviously need to get the permission of the freeholder anyway.

But anything that affects your floor (their ceiling) is also notifiable.

You can only make use of the Party Wall Act while building work is underway and has not been completed. It is too late if you wait until they have finished.

I would suggest that you probably need to speak to an experienced party wall surveyor promptly and get them to write to your neighbour.

If that doesn't work then the only way to actually get them to stop work is to get an injunction from the court.

But that injunction only applies to the notifiable work (eg the chimney and possibly the internal walls). If they have already knocked down the chimney by the time you can get a solicitor and go to court then there is no point in an injunction as the relevant work has already been done.

If the notifiable building work has already been completed then any damage caused to your property you will need to go to court over.

"...and yes perhaps I will have to engage a surveyor in the meantime."

I think this is probably the best course of action.

Thank you, this is so helpful. He is knocking down two chimney breasts at his level which directly sit under my own e.g. yes it's all one chimney.

I did wonder whether the external walls wouldn't count, but was fairly certain the chimneys and internal wall (which is supoorting and therefore needs a beam in the ceiling/my floor) would.

The first time I spoke to the neighbour he tried to suggest party walls only covered actual walls and not ceilings but I understand they fall under party structures where shared between flats.

Luckily the surveyor who did my original purchase survey is a party wall specialist!

Seriously a major issue to remove the chimney breast and leave the one below! Tell the builder when you see them that there is no party wall agreement in place and tell the neighbour you are appointing a surveyor at his expense.

Thanks, the builder and the neighbour are the same person! He won't pay but I'll speak to our freeholder, the council and a surveyor myself if necessary.

The freeholder would be mad to agree to this. Your chimney is likely to be unsupported and unsafe. Tell building regs! That’s what they are there for. They can halt work if it’s unsafe.

Thanks yes, I think it's getting to that point!

He doesn't have a choice about not paying though. Ibstruct your surveyor and get them to serve a party wall notice. Definitely get the freeholder and council involved.

If he had done this properly and given you notice then you would either both appoint a joint surveyor or you are also entitled to appoint your own surveyor.

Where the notified works are solely for his benefit and to enhance his property then he is responsible for paying the surveyor/s (including yours if you appoint a separate surveyor).

You would only be expected to pay a share of the surveyor's fees if the work being done by the other person would also improve the value of your property. But that isn't the case here.

But all of this procedure can only start after he sends you notice.

You may have to pay a surveyor to send him a letter saying that he should give notice before starting any work. Hopefully, that will work and after that point all the costs will fall on him.

The much more expensive is route is, as I mentioned above, to get a court injunction.

The first step is to send a letter before action. You can do this yourself so it won't cost anything. This says basically that, unless he ceases work on the chimney (and possibly the internal walls), then you will apply to the court for an injunction and give him time to reply.

This may also work and persuade him to do things properly.

If not, and you do decide to get an injunction then you should search for a specialist solicitor that deals with this area. Just google something like "party walls solicitor".

Even if you decide not to go the injunction route, if he carries on with the work without giving you notice, it would probably still be worthwhile to get a surveyor to prepare a detailed schedule of condition as soon as possible. So that you have evidence if any damage is later caused.

This is perfect, thank you! I like the idea of sending a letter before action which also at least tries to maintain some civility before I have to go nuclear!

Check your lease. It will probably say something like
"3) (i) Not at any time during the said term without the licence in writing of the Lessor [freeholder] first obtained such consent not to unreasonably withheld:
(a) make any structural alterations or structural additions to the demised premises or any part thereof (whether to interior or external party walls or principal or load bearing walls or fences or timbers thereof)
(b) remove any of the Lessor's fixtures and fittings
(c) construct any gateway or opening in any of the fences bounding the building
(d) do or fail to do any act or thing which might adversely affect the support repair or maintenance of any other flat"
Your neighbour's lease will contain similar provisions and the works you describe are very definitely covered by them.
I'm not a lawyer, but my brother and I are in the process of selling our late sister's flat (the wording comes from her lease) to a buyer who intends to do some structural work so have been looking at the wording with our solicitor as we (as executors) are also co-freeholders.
The freeholder is your first port of call. They will be keen to protect the value of their reversionary interest.
Additionally, the house next door to our (mine and husband's) own house (terraced) has recently been sold and the buyers are having a back-to-brick refurb which includes taking a three storey adjoining chimney breast out and a side return extension. Some underpinning is required. We have a detailed party wall agreement which sets out methods (e.g. no percussive tools). We appointed our own party wall surveyor who was paid for by our neighbours.

Thank you. The lease actually says we can't make any alterations to the property at all, but he had paid for a licence and got permission from the freeholder. I suspect this is just for the main external extension though, will ask the freeholder this week.

Interesting point about percussive tools as well! Very useful.

Yes. The PWA can agree noise, working hours, reinstatement, cleaning up etc. It cannot, though, ensure a chimney is safe where part of it has been removed. This must be reported to the council.