Loft conversion from next door coming through to us!

[Spicybeanburger]

We live in a terrace built around 1900. Our neighbours are having their loft converted and we have just noticed that the joists (I think this is the name for supporting floor wood) have been pushed through the party wall in the loft. It's caused some dislodging of bricks which are just scattered around the timber /hole.

I'm really not experience with building work at all. But from a quick Google I think they perhaps should have had a party wall agreement although I'm not sure. They did notify us of the work and we have a good relationship so we don't want to be too dramatic. But equally it's our home. Can anyone advise on what I should do or how we should handle this?

Ask them for the party wall agreement and let them know of the damage. Good neighbours will want to put the damage right instantly.
Similar happened to us, only it was our builder, he realised pretty much straight away and went round and fixed it within a day. The neighbours were tenants so we also let the landlord know who was fine so long as it was put right.

I am slightly worried that the builders are cowboys as perhaps they should have told my neighbours they needed an agreement?

call your building insurance and let them deal with it.

Can you look on the council planning portal and see exactly what it says there?

the danage on your side needs to be repaired and your neighbour needs to pay.

Take photos before you get them/their builders round or clear up. You may need these as proof of damage in the future.

I have some experience with a similar issue, and unfortunately it's not good. You should put it in writing to the neighbours that you do not consent to further works until you have a party wall agreement in place. This should have included a survey to establish the state of your property prior to works beginning. The builders need to stop what they're doing immediately. Have they informed the planning department what they are doing? Is the work being checked by building regs at various intervals? And have they also informed their home insurance of the works?

I have no idea about any of this! I'm suspecting no on the planning as there's no notice up anywhere and no letters through the door!

If it's a loft conversion it may be done under permitted development so no planning application needed. However you absolutely should have a party wall agreement in place before the works start.

It is unlikely they need planning fir a loft conv. They usually fall under permitted development

There should definitely have been a party wall agreement and you should have been able to choose the surveyor. Also planning permission and building control inspections. I agree with pp, take photos, call your insurers and follow their advice.

We had a loft conversion in our terraced house and we made sure we had all the relevant documentation including a party wall agreement. We let the neighbours know at planning stage and shared the plans with them and talked it through, including scaffold position and timescales. I’d like to think that we’re good neighbours. IIRC the building company also issued a note saying that any damage to neighbours would be covered under their insurance and repaired, to provide assurance.

if you have a good relationship with the neighbours then speak to them but nothing stopping you notifying the builders directly too and insisting on repairs!! I’d be very annoyed that they had damaged your house and not even said anything!

We have to get a party wall agreement from neighbours on both sides and give them advance notice of when work would start. We had to delay by 5 weeks due to a neighbour's exam timetable.

We also had each various stages of the loft conversion signed off by the council to inspect the builders work.

It's true that many loft conversions fall under permitted development. However, a good builder will ensure their customer knows about the Party Wall Agreement (it is a legal requirement) and will also submit plans to the council and have building regs involved at each stage. Ultimately your neighbour is responsible for any damage the builders cause, which is why I asked if they have informed their insurers. The builders will hopefully be registered and have their own insurance too, but I would ask your neighbour to check, and that's why I would insist that the builders down tools and don't do anything else until it's resolved. Otherwise, it's quite possible you'll find your neighbours house looks all lovely, fresh and new, and ripe to go on the housing market, whilst yours might be full of damp, leaks, cracks and other problems, and you could potentially have a massive (and expensive) headache on your hands through no fault of your own...

You don't need planning permission for a loft conversion, but you do need to notify the council so the work can be inspected at certain stages.

When we had our loft converted, we had a party wall agreement with next door, and a copy of their professional indemnity insurance policy.

Council inspector came out 5 times, the one time he spent most time was when the steel joists went in as this is what makes the conversion structurally sound.

I'd be making sure these builders stop work immediately and get it sorted before they cause lore damage x

Yes, they need / ed a party wall agreement and all that goes with it.

Get this sorted OP, if you sell your house the buyers solicitor will want to see it.

Explain to your neighbours what has happened and say you didn’t know it would affect your property but you now realise a PWA was needed, and obviously the damage will need to be made good. Say you realise it is the builders at fault but you hope they understand that work needs to stop until this is sorted!

When we looked into doing a conversion in a previous house, none of the builders would start work until a party wall agreement was in place.

Read what the government website has to say about party walls here: https://www.gov.uk/party-walls-building-works

Loft conversion needs party wall agreement. You need structural surveyor to take a look if you have bricks dislodged then I'd take it up with the insurance but it needs inspecting op

Our neighbours are removing the chimney breast from their back room. We have a party wall agreement but they have refused to give us a copy. Their builder has broken through to our back room where our log burner is. They are now saying it is our fault because we removed the bricks so our log burner could go back further. This is completely incorrect. We now cannot use our log burner as the liner has been exposed and I am concerned they may have damaged it. I have arranged for our chimney maintenance man to come and do a camera inspection to ascertain there is no damage, this will cost us upwards of £100. We do not have central heating so we are relying on electric fires. My husband has Parkinsons and is nearly 70. They have stated that we will have to have a proper brick wall put up on our side which will mean moving the log burner forward which will require us extending the brick fireplace out into the room which is going to be a major expense. Has anyone had issues such as these. The house is a 1930s semi detached.

Did you sign the party wall agreement without appointing a surveyor? A surveyor could have been appointed at the cost of the neighbour doing the work. Read the link above about party wall awards. If a surveyor was appointed, the surveyor should provide you with a copy of the award.

We didn't realise all the ramifications of not having a surveyor. My son has told us saying we should not be so trusting. We have been in the house over 40 years and never had issues like this with the previous owners. They are refusing to tell us about surveyors or anything else. We phoned the local council and they informed us the neighbours have opted for a private building control contractor.

You mentioned the builders seem like cowboys. It's not the builders obligation to do a party wall act notification, it's the owners ie your neighbours who need to follow due process.
We once had a neighbour who took the opportunity of our own building work (for which we notified, then paid £5k toward surveys and agreements to get them inside) to do their own renovation.

One Sunday I came down to see daylight through the party wall because of actions on their side, for which they'd issued no party wall notice. Some people don't know they have an obligation, and others just ignore it willfully, or assume the builder knows what is allowed. The builder was a minimum wage labourer from Eastern Europe who of course wasn't versed in part wall act. In our case we got the architect and surveyor we'd done the party wall act negotiations with to send emails on our behalf to stop work.

As others mentioned, go in strong on this. They are in the wrong..