Chimney Breast Removal – Worth It? Neighbour Concerns

[LexiMia]

Hello everyone,

I’m hoping to get some advice from those with experience in this area. We’ve recently moved into a 1930s house that needs a full renovation—rewire, re-plumb, new windows, boiler, the works.

We’ve had structural drawings and calculations done as we’re planning to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room. Ultimately, the kitchen will be moved into the current dining room. To make the most of the space, we also want to remove the chimney breasts up to loft level—they take up a lot of room and limit the layout options.

We’ve found a builder who’s experienced with this kind of work, and we’re currently in the process of serving a Party Wall Notice. However, our neighbours have expressed strong concerns and will likely reject it.

Before we move forward, has anyone here done this sort of work? Was it worth it in the end? Did it cause any issues with your neighbours, even if done properly and with all the correct structural support?

Would really appreciate any advice, experiences, or lessons learned!

The neighbour can’t reject the party wall notice or refuse the work, all they can do is appoint a surveyor (at your cost) and work with your surveyor to come up with the agreed terms.
But it’s not something I would be bothered with, it’s could easily £1.5-2k for all the survey work. A chimney breast is such a small area, can you not work with it?

How much space do you actually save by having them removed?

My friend's neighbour had them removed to loft level. It caused my friend a few issues which cost several thousand to put right and remedy. The neighbour regretted it because for all that cost, hassle and relationship issues (friend and neighbour got a bit edgy with each other at times), she only gained floor space equivalent to a small bookcase.

And what about the 'feel' of the place? To me, a 1930s property with no chimney breasts would be really odd.

We have the chimney breast removed to loft level and have been happy with that. Our house is not huge and it’s given us extra space but most importantly it’s made the walls less awkward and allowed us more options to place the furniture how we liked it. Never had any issues.