Thanks for your comments on my previous thread. Unfortunately things with the 'unfriendly' neighbours seem to have accelerated/worsened, so I'm hoping a party wall expert/surveyor can help, please.

Just to quickly recap/update: We served a Party Wall notice on both our neighbours recently (incl copy of plans), having told them beforehand that we are planning to build an extension, and having received their verbal agreement that they had no objections. One set of neighbours returned a negative acknowledgement of the PW Notice, expressing their legitimate concerns about the relocation of a rainwater drain that we share, and we have instructed an Agreed Surveyor to act on both our behalf.

The other set of neighbours, however, has admitted they were 'miffed' (their words) that we hadn't shown them the plans prior to getting them approved, and have written back to say that although they have no objection in principle, they have decided to instruct a surveyor 'due to lack of any proper prior consultation or communication'. They hadn't given us the option of proposing to use an Agreed Surveyor, but have already sent a copy of the letter to 'their' Surveyor. They have also just informed us that they will be on holiday during the building works. We had already assured both sets of neighbours that any damage to their properties would be rectified by us, so we are at a loss why they've taken this course of action.

My questions are (1) are their reasons for instructing a Surveyor legitimate (or do they need to be)? (2) are there any arguments we can use for them to use the same Agreed Surveyor as the other neighbours? (3) can we object to their choice of Surveyor if their fees are too high? (4) what counts as 'reasonable costs' and can we object to paying anything over and above those? (5) would this dispute need to be declared if they want to sell their house?

Hope someone somewhere can advise!

I'd also appreciate comments from anyone else who has been/is going through the same.

Many thanks (again) in advance.

(PS: The works are due to commence 1st July, as 'friendly' neighbours' son has exams).

I’m not an expert on this, but I get the impression that two completely different things are becoming entangled: building the extension; and doing work on any ‘party’ structures.

Are you proposing to do to something that is (for the purposes of the PW agreement) owned jointly by you and the ‘awkward’ neighbour? Or even proposing excavations that might undermine their building? The PW agreement is really only about resolving these sort of things.

Hi phugoid

I think he PWA also covers excavations within three metres of neighbours' foundations. Even though we don't need special foundations (which could possibly undermine their building), the actual extension would be within 3m of the party wall fence.

Hi Jray - Yes, a PW issue if your excavations would be within 3m of your neighbour’s foundations (but not simply the boundary) and go deeper. ODPM booklet, 26.

I see what you mean about keeping a lid on the costs, given that your neighbour has gone for separate surveyors, but, as you say, you could appoint the other (joint) surveyor to draw up the award jointly with theirs. The problem is that you have no control over the fees passed on by their surveyor, and if they are unduly high, you would need to decide whether to have a third surveyor award the fees, but then it would be a gamble as to who picked *his* fees.

jray, I think you said previously you have an architect involved on the project. Can't he advise on this? I know he's not a PW surveyor but I would have thought he had come across similar issues before.

Thanks, velvet and phugoid. Just spoken to the architect and he wasn't able to offer much guidance really, except suggest we ask the Agreed Surveyor to act on our behalf with the other surveyor (as phugoid had suggested). He also said that fees can vary enormously because there's no set 'scale'. If we want to challenge this surveyor's fees, then we'd have to appoint a third surveyor, so I guess we'll end up having to just cough up through gritted teeth. It's a real shame, really. I'm trying not to react/think negatively and to focus on the nice house we'll have at the end, but have to admit I'm struggling a bit at the moment. (Mustn't stay long at this pity party though!)

(I'd just like to clarify to any others who may be reading that I'm actually after guidance and opinions rather than anything that would legally be regarded as 'advice').

Can anyone confirm, please, whether this PW dispute would be regarded as a neighbourly dispute if they decide to sell their house?

Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by jray:
Can anyone confirm, please, whether this PW dispute would be regarded as a neighbourly dispute if they decide to sell their house?

When we sold in spring 04 and were given the form to fill in it had questions about disputes as you would expect but it also asked if the neighbours had ever complained about anything we had done and if we had ever complained about them. I think this is a new question to avoid people missing things out as they didn't regard them as disputes.

I don't have the paperwork to hand but it was a standard form so you could try searching for it.

So assuming this is now standard I would expect they would have to declare it as a complaint they have made about you. I doubt it's a dispute (yet).

Thanks Fran Tick

I guess the anger and panic has started to subside a bit, and we're resigned to paying out. We just need to try to make sure they don't inconvenience us re access when they go on holiday.

jray - we're going through exactly the same thing at the moment. Our neighbours are confusing the PW agreement with planning - so they think by delaying signing, they will put us off building (but we already have planning permission). It will happen in the end though...

You may find something on this forum or may be able to post a question.


http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/index.php?showforum=9

lee

Thanks for the link, lee33. I'll be having a good look soon.


LMF, we've now got two Agreed Surveyors - one for each party wall. The panic has died down, and we're resigned to the delay the surveyors may bring. We've been told that both awards should be pretty straightforward, so we hope we'll be able to start in July now. I think the surveyor for the 'awkward' neighbours has realised that they just don't want change, but never mind. We're just keeping the focus on the end product! So yes, they may delay it slightly, but thankfully they can't stop it!


Just getting the builders' quotes through now!


All the best with yours!

thanks jray!

Oh dear!

It appears our 'awkward' neighbours are really being awkward now. Received notification that our Agreed Surveyor had 'got his cases mixed up' and our neighbours want him to act for them alone. Oh well, c'est la vie, but we're sure that 'what goes around comes around'.