Party wall agreement planning permission

[Daddylonglegs1965]

Our adjoining neighbours have fairly recently been given planning permission for a fairly large ground floor extension across the back of there house living room/kitchen etc.
We returned from holidays this weekend to find what looks like an unsightly bonfire in there front garden (a massive pile of old wood from there old decking) so I don’t think it will be long before work starts.
There is a fairly high, fairly recent joint fence between our properties. Which we both paid for as they have two big dogs and they kept escaping through the old hedge into our garden.
The plan drawings don’t show our existing extension which has been in place for over 20 years but it looks like they are planning on building right up to the boundary or extremely close to it. He is an awkward man and he didn’t bother to discuss his extension with us before or since we received the letter. DH tried to discuss things with him calmly and reasonably and received comments like his opener ‘our extension has got nothing to do with you’ and ‘yes we are building right up to the boundary (as we want a massive kitchen) and it’s got nothing to do with you’. DH raises concerns about drainage, maintaining drainage and foundations and this was ignored.
We put in an objection to the council on there advice and received an email from them saying that they would recommend neighbours had a party wall agreement drawn up but this couldn’t be legally enforced.
What do we do here please?

Anyone? He’s been banging inside his house with a hammer since just after 7.30am this morning so I think they will be planning to start work very soon without consideration or a party wall act agreement in place.
He also works shifts so I can imagine his builders working around his shift pattern. They also have three cars parked permanently next door most of the time his, hers (parked in the drive) and DD’s outside then there is her boyfriends car and other visitors so I can’t imagine building work vehicles won’t be obstructing access to our drive or parked considerably either.

With no party wall agreement I think you have to apply for an injunction to stop the works

Thanks so do I/we wait until builders arrive and do you know how I/we apply for an injunction.
I can try to get DH to try and speak to NDN again to see if he is considering getting a 3rd party wall agreement in place (which we also suggested in our online objection). But I can imagine he will have the attitude that he thinks he can do whatever he likes and wouldn’t spend anything to prove it.
The NDN isn’t a reasonable man and is likely to get arsey.

The planning and Party Wall processes are completely separate so the Local Authority are not able to get involved. Once a contractor is on site you would need to get an injunction which I think is fairly expensive and probably best done through a solicitor. Other than an injunction there is no other way to force compliance under the Party Wall Act.

You could try asking a Party Wall surveyor to write to him (some will, some wont as you have no authority to act without a Notice being served). Or you could try writing to your neighbour yourself and asking him formally to serve a Party Wall Notice to ensure your property is protected. Gov.uk have some good information/resources if you google it.

If you were feeling charitable you might suggest that you would be willing to agree one agreed surveyor (which will minimise his costs). I do not recommend going with one of the 'ambulance chasing' surveyors that write to adjoining owners using local authority planning lists - you'll probably have a few dropping through the door soon if you haven't already. Once appointed they can pretty much charge what they like to your neighbour and often use delaying tactics to maximise their billable hours. I recommend choosing a local firm instead.

I also recommend taking a thorough photographic survey of your property (all areas nearest the excavations on all floors) and sending a signed and dated copy to your neighbour. You then have basis to fight for a claim of damage in Court if it comes to the worst.

You should be able to work out from the plans where your house is in relation to their extension. I would be posting them a copy of the party wall act pamphlet (available on .gov) and saying that they need to serve a notice of doing any work that falls within its remit.

If they do start work without a notice then you can get an injunction, but that does involve going to court and spending money. You'd also want to make sure that the work definitely did fall under the act.

Thanks both. On their plans our existing extension doesn’t even feature even though it’s been in existence for 20 plus years. It looks like they intend to build right up to the boundary fence and NDN said he is building right up to the boundary.

Our extension is what could potentially be affected (potential damage to foundations, drainage over hang onto our extension etc.

The planning drawings should show how close he is building, and they should show the boundary. There is no right for him to have overhanging eaves or gutters. Makes sure that you know exactly where the boundary is so that he doesn't take down the fence and then shift it afterwards.

From what you've said I would have thought that the party wall act would apply. He'd be stupid not to get an agreement because it gives him protection as well. Without an agreement you could take out an injunction to stop work (a faff for you but I think he would be liable for the legal bills), but also if there is any damage to your property the onus would be on him to prove that it is not due to their building work (which from his point of view is a big risk as you could try claiming for existing damage and he would have to prove that it wasn't which isn't the easiest thing to do).

Can you find a local surveyor you can show the plans to just to make absolutely sure the PWA will apply? Or speak to someone at the council in Building Control maybe? Other than that, as Twotinydictators said, make sure you get as many records as you can.

How will he build right to the boundary without trespassing on your property?

I would write to him setting out your concerns and any proposals. Have it recorded delivery. If he doesn't answer then try a solicitors letter. After that you are into civil proceedings and will be paying £300 an hour so get your cheque book ready