Neighbours solicitor has contacted us for info

[Hazeymarie]

We found out our neighbours are selling their house, we are currently renovating, structurally it's complete and planning permission approved.

We have recieved letters and emails from a solicitor on behalf of either the neighbours, estate agents or potential buyers (they are not clear) saying surveyors have concerns. They have asked us for a party wall award, we don't have one as their was no dispute over the party wall and we served notice and an agreement was signed and a copy given to the neighbiur.

They have now asked for our signed agreement which we cannot actually locate, our evidence of gas membrane being laid and removal of contaminated waste and more like when our rendering will be completed, etc

We are just perplexed why we need to provide all those information when we are not selling our property?

We have had a double extension and loft conversion. All structural work is complete. Just need to render before building control will sign off.

Any advice would be great as its getting quite stressful having to provide all this evidence when we aren't selling our house.

I expect it is the potential buyers that want this information but it’s likely the sellers will (your neighbours) will require it if you stop their sales from going through.

I’m not sure if they can demand the info, however I’d just reply giving the answers you have done in your original post. Most sales create loads of queries and if you don’t know or can’t find the piece of paper just let them know that.

We are just perplexed why we need to provide all those information when we are not selling our property

Seriously? Have a guess.

Don’t be obstructive. Provide what info you can, explain that you don’t have anything you don’t have. It’ll take you half an hour at most.

So selfish.

Well you can only give them the information that you have. I do wonder though whether you would be required to come up with the documents should ever need to sell.

Reply with the name of your legal representative. They can contact this person with their concerns. At least you’ll know the reason for the request and they will get the information they are entitled to receive.

If you’ve done everything above board then no reason at all for it to be stressful to provide the information. As previous poster says it’s obvious why they are asking

You will have an idea when your rendering work will be done - so can reply along the lines of “rendering works will commence during the month of x, subject to dry weather conditions and is expected to be completed within approx x weeks - presumably.

We had this last year. We were the sellers and next door were doing a complete renovation and extension which was very close to our wall. They refused to exchange until we provided the building regs certificate. We kept telling them we couldn’t get that unless our neighbour was kind enough to provide it and they were under no obligation. It also couldn’t be obtained until the work was completed, which was months! Luckily our neighbour was very co-operative. We provided the architectural and engineer drawings and details of all works. Still no joy until it was complete. It took 6 months! Very very stressful. So please be a good neighbour and help where you can!

Yes we have done everything above board, we replied to the first email, we then got another with more different questions, we answered that's, we now have a third asking for more to do with gas membrane and contaminated land. Everything is on the planning portal. But yes we have misplaced the signed party wall agreement, as there was no dispute and the structural work is now complete, we honestly thought we didn't need it any longer, and the neighbours have out their house on the market and we didn't know which is obviously fine but the solicitors letter was a surprise

We are providing everything requested, but also all the information isnpublically available to the solicitor.

Sorry- but pretty obvious isn’t it. It affects their property so is relevant. Have you got anything to hide? Would you want someone to be helpful if you were in their position? Just provide what you can. That’s alI anyone is expecting really. Whether the sale falls through or not, you’ll be neighbours with someone who thinks you and unhelpful PITA if you don’t at least TRY to be helpful.

Then literally direct them to whatever is publically available. Job done, no biggie.

I'd just ignore it to be honest and continue with your works. If they're still stomping their feet once it's done then direct them to the planning portal. You're not legally compelled to provide random strangers with any info re: your property beyond what is available on the portal.

Then it will become a neighbour problem (because they are likely to be annoyed that their sale fell through) which means it’s not an issue with random strangers at all.

If my sale fell through because of a lack of evidence to demonstrate the work was correctly carried out and completed, I would take legal action to ensure correct copies of anything impacting my property were held. This could end up with bigger repercussions and expenses for the neighbour.

Since you've misplaced your copy of the signed agreement, I think I'd direct the estate agent back to the seller, who also had a copy. I'd also ask a solicitor to clarify what your obligations are. Best to cover yourself legally.
I'd also say that information is available on the portal, which should answer their questions - presumably your work couldn't get signed off if there was any negative impact to your neighbour? You do have to ensure that this remains the case though and nothing you've done can cause them a problem down the line.

I suspect the buyers will pull out anyway because this work has made them nervous.

When we sold, we provided our copy of the party wall agreement to our solicitor. The neighbours should have one they can send.

As for the rest: YABU. It's perfectly reasonable to want to k ow when building works will end- whether it is weeks or a year.

Yes, the approach could have been better, and your neighbour could have asked you directly, but it's all stuff that impacts their property. Your neighbours have lived through the stress of your extension (and having had an attached house do one, it is horrific..one of many reasons we moved to a detatched). The least you can do is help them with this. It's all paperwork you should have on file if you ever need to sell anyway.

You really need to keep all bits of paper for when/if you decide to sell. You will be asked for every single piece of paper by your prospective buyer.

@Hazeymarie

just say its all available online & you don't have the time or inclination to do their job for them.

There's a few different things going on here. Some of the things they are asking appear to be reasonable and others don't.

As pp's have said, it's a pity that the signed Party Wall consent has gone missing but as others have already said I would also suggest the solicitor speak to the sellers to look at their copy.

It would help a lot if you could find it.

The thing about a party wall consent is that the neighbour then loses the rights they had under the Party Wall Act if there is any damage to the neighbouring property.

I think it would have been reasonable for your neighbour to come and ask you when the rendering would be finished and (if they had mislaid their copy) a copy of the notice and consent.

That is all perfectly reasonable.

"We are just perplexed why we need to provide all those information when we are not selling our property?"

What is not reasonable is all the extra stuff the solicitors are asking for. You do not need to or are required to provide anything at all. You can choose to provide this if you wish out of the goodness of your heart but it's entirely up to you.

This - I needed to produce the party wall agreement when I sold my house

Also, if you have planning permission, everything is available on the council website - tell them to go look it up!

Update - I have found our copy. So will provide this to them. Every time I provide them with something they keep coming back for something else, that is what is frustrating.

Thankyou! I have actually found our copy this morning. I know as soon as I send this they'll ask for something else, they want all our details for how we removed our contaminated waste and such, who we used to approve our gas membrane etc. It's just alot to actually keep providing, when we have planning and a building inspector. Obviously we will not getnsigned off if we don't follow our planning!

If you've found the party wall award, I'd make a copy of it then give that to your neighbour and ask them to reply via the usual channels.

May I suggest just sending a polite note along with the party wall agreement saying something like:

Dear Annoying Solicitors,

Please find enclosed a copy of the signed Party Wall agreement. I am providing this as a courtesy for my neighbour Mrs X and will not respond further to any more requests that I receive from you.

and then don't respond further.