Party Wall Agreements - how nasty can it get?

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

So we had plans drawn up and submitted for loft conversion / extension and submitted for permitted development / building control on 31 Jan.

We've been away and I got copies of the plans done today to give to our neighbours for party wall discussions. However, next door neighbour banged on the door this afternoon with a letter. It turns out some chartered surveyor firm has seen our PD app on the local authority site and sent him some scare marketing letter promoting their services for party wall agreements. He wanted to know what the hell was going on and didn't like the fact that a third party had notified him before we did. It put me on the back foot and he had a huge number of questions that I can't answer - not being a builder or architect.

So I now have drafted up an official letter of notification and a copy of party wall regs and am hoping a bit of soft soap will bring him down off the ceiling. I can see his point of view and why he's a bit neurotic but seriously, all we're talking about is a joist in the party wall. I'm not selling it to a railway company or turning it into a asbestos factory.

Does anyone have any experience of managing the neighbours when it comes to party walls?

NB: I'm not naive and am fully expecting to pay for their surveyors and agreement but I don't want to agree any more than that.

my latest complaint is that ds's room smells of smoke .

oh elibean, I nearly mentioned your name when I read this thread because I thought, Elibean is the expert!

Poor you, I cannot beleive you have to go through it all again :-(. I really hope you don't get fleeced.

hoxton, that's awful! I can't believe they'll want their house smelling of smoke either! I would definitely say something if I was you.

it's grim isn't it. i keep going in there & sniffing dementedly....

Poor Hoxton - ugh. We used to get that in dd2's room when the neighbour booted her boyfriend outdoors to smoke in the garden - very unpleasant.

Oh dear, Foxy, we seem to have made names for ourselves in party wall matters Are you loving your loft, though? It sounds fab! Yes, we will be fleeced, though she's not after fleecing us particularly - she just wants to stop us making any changes because she's totally paranoid. I do understand her stress, tbh, to a point...but she's clearly got some sort of persecution complex, and almost convinces us each time that we're doing something heinously dreadful and inhuman to her

dh actually came home twice with the PW notice unserved - ! Surveyor got strict with dh, and now its served - through the letterbox, with polite letter attached. That was yesterday...

Thanks for your advice and anecdotes everyone. Went round to both neighbours yesterday and had a nice chat. I grovelled and apologised and explained how important it was for us to keep them happy as we were building our family home in such a nice street full of lovely people.

They seem fine - they are more worried about the noise and disruption than any specific party wall concerns. So I've assured them that is a priority for me.

I am going to pay for their PW surveyor - which is fine and what I budgeted for. Fortunately they are going to use the same one it seems. Serving the notices tonight.

Wow Elibean I didn't know a party wall notice was like a bond or something - according to the law they can't refuse it can they?

We were really lucky in that our neighbours both signed and were happy just to have a phoro survey done.

We have offered to clean our neighbours windows when the builders leave which they were happy about.

When looking into party wall matters I did discover soemthing shocking, if you don't do it, nothing happens, at all, its not enforceable

Hurrah Tondelay, well done! Glad your neighbours are reasonably reasonable after all

No, its not like a bond - she just had such hysterics that dh agreed to hold back 'till her loss adjusters had been' (she's having work done herself, supposedly as a result of cracks in ceilings which are probably our fault though if they were our fault, her insurers would refuse to pay of course!). And the second time, 'because she was in such a state and wanted me to hold off'.

He's just soft. And gets shocked by her belief that he's a dreadful, abusive villain (he's actually in a caring profession, thoughtful, soft, and as unintimidating as they come!).

Actually, going by last time, she will stay in a state until its done - then she will realize the sky hasn't fallen on her head and settle down. And blame us (rather than the giant plane tree 10ft from her door) for any cracks