No response Party wall notices?!

[Getitdonet]

Hi All

Recently bought a semi- detached & want to do a rear extension. As part of the process I sent PW notices to both neighbors re the 3/6m rule for the excavation for the extension, along with proposed planning drawings. (It is a 3m extension)

It has now been over the 2 weeks since i sent it using the gov template & I have not heard anything from either neighbors. I should add that I have already verbally informed 1 before hand who was quite nice & welcoming & verbally agreed. The other I have been unable to get hold of when I knock on her door.

I have tried to knock on both doors since friday & I have heard nil back & I am starting to get worried as technically this means a dispute but I am hoping it is more 'busy schedule'. Either way I would like to speak to them to find out either way before making things more official as I am new to the area (not even officially moved in), & want to be sure if there is an issue before incurring further cost/hassle.

Has anyone been in a similar situation or have advice on how to proceed? Should I give them this week (It is half term so they might be on holiday??? )

How did you send it? Seems odd that neither have responded.

I think you have to assume the works are not agreed and go on to appoint a surveyor. You'll need to notify them and then try and gain access to their properties so an award can be drawn up.

I sent it recorded delivery. Even if i am to appoint i need them to agree & the issue is i am not getting a response?!

Were you advised you needed a PW notice? I find the whole thing really confusing. We are doing the same extending our semi detached out 3m. I asked both my architect and builder if I needed one and they both said no. Now I'm worried I do 😩

(sorry not helped answer your question at all)

rica that's odd that you don't need one. We're doing the same and needed PW agreement with the attached neighbour (she refused so we've had to appoint surveyor). The other neighbour was also going to refuse but luckily we are building far enough from her foundations that we don't need her agreement.

Also not helped OP sorry - going around there again, push notes through, and if still no response then you may have to assume they're not signing and a surveyor is needed.

We had a letter from the council.
They'd sent us a letter about work taking place next door but we didn't get the letter. The next letter they then sent said they'd assumed we'd dissented and we had to appoint our own surveyor within ten days. We quickly returned the agreement form.
Maybe they need a prompt.

@Pink what is the distance between the other neighbor that made it not relevant pls??!! I have better hope with neighbor 1 who I have actually engaged with & whom I am attached to, plus hoping that the fact that they have done extensive works would make them more easy.
I have not seen neighbor 2 since I bought the property.

@Toffee I think you are right.
Do I send the dissent letter asking them to find a surveyor or agree to mine, first or appoint a surveyor first then get them to handle it?? Also what is the average cost to appoint pls?

Steve the Party Wall Surveyor here -

No response - if there is no reponse after 14 days it is deemed dissent. you need to send a letter asking them to appoint a surveyor within 10 days. If they do not then you can appoint one for them. BUT you cannot appoint an agreed surveyor (one to act for both of you) because, of course, your neighbour cannot agree to it. You will also need to appoint your own surveyor.

Do you need a notice - simply put there are 3 situations that need notice

1. if you are building on the boundary line where no building has been before

1. if you are doing work on an existing party wall - inserting a steel, cutting away a chimney breast or underpinning it for instance.

1. if you are excavating within 3m of your neighbours foundations AND your excavation is deeper than the bottom of their foundations. So if you have 1m footings and theirs are 600mm you need a notice, if theirs are 1m you don't.

You might need to serve notices for all of these scenarios and often this is the case for a rear extension.

Happy to respond to any other PW queries.

Very happy to hear from you Steve.
Defo option 3 applies. There is a fence between mine & the attached neighbours conservatory so I think that fence is on the boundary wall which i will be building up to. With the other neighbours i think as i have not measured it is within the 3m to her property.

I do have a feeling that neighbour 1 may have just forgot about it as prior interaction gave no indication she would have a problem as she even recommend her builder. However due to the time one has to assume...
I also suspect that they may be away this week.
Can i wait a little as i have not commenced work anyway to see if i can interact with them to rule out absentmindedness?

If you can go and see them, do. Hopefully they can sign it and back date it have already signed it and forgotten to return it.

I'd budget £500 for a party wall surveyor per neighbour. (this would include a condition survey of their property). Do what ever you can to try and get and agreed surveyor that you appoint / negotiate the price with. If they appoint one, you pay so the price is not deemed to be so important, hence all the "ambulance chaser" style letters less honourable surveyors send to neighbours after sweeping planning application / building control databases.

Whilst the party wall act seems to be a piece of legislation primarily aimed at employment for surveyors, a condition report could be useful if you have difficult neighbours.

I’m in London in a terrace and ours was closer to £1500 per surveyor (ours/neighbors on one side) thankfully the other side just signed.so price is dependent on location, I had higher quotes too : (

eek that is a lot. I'm outer London / Twickenham and paid 500 for an agreed surveyor for one neighbour who was broadly happy but wanted the condition report just in case - haggled down from 650.