Searching for a Party Wall surveyor in London? The team can assist with whatever disputes or altercations you may be facing with your neighbours as regards any renovations or developments you may be contending with. Our panel of surveyors cover London and most of the home counties, including Surrey.
Appointing a London party wall surveyor enables you to:
What projects require a party wall surveyor?
Most London Party Wall Surveyors quote a fixed hourly rate for all work. It can range from £150 to £300 depending on who you use and how urgent the work is. The building owner is charged for the time that the surveyors spend on the party wall matter, including notices, schedule of condition and award. On average the cost of a party wall survey tends to be between £1,000 and £1,500, but this can vary based on factors such as:
They are surveyors appointed by statute under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, which will apply if you are planning the following:
Building works, extensions and alterations can greatly increase the value of your property, but working on or close to party walls may require you to tell your neighbours. The law requires you to notify adjoining owners. You so not need their approval if the works are permitted by the Act, but you will need to appoint a surveyor if a dispute arises or is deemed to have arisen.
Our panel of Party Wall Surveyors in London will attend your project and take you through the process by preparing the Service of Notices, Schedules of Condition, Party Wall Awards and possibly Licences to Alter.
Most importantly, they can make party wall matters as straightforward and simple as possible, taking the most complex jobs out of your hands and act on your behalf as your experienced party wall surveyor to limit disputes and costs.
Even if you consider it unnecessary, it’s always helpful to have a friendly chat with any adjoining neighbours who might be affected by your planned works. Regardless of how well you’re going to get on with the neighbours, it’s always ideal to keep a friendly line of communication.
You could therefore talk to your neighbours about the works you’d like to do to your property. They may then agree and be happy to carry on with the process, which means you won’t need a party wall surveyor. You would still need to formally serve notice and it is best to do this via a party wall surveyor to ensure it is valid, otherwise you may make a mistake and have to start again.
Even if agreement is reached, disputes can still arise. For this reason both owners should use a surveyor to check, photograph and report on the condition of their property before the building work starts in case they need to refer to it later.
By law, you will need to appoint a party wall surveyor to resolve a dispute if one arises.
This will depend on the notifiable works you intend to carry out as described under the relevant sections of the Act. Generally, you would have to serve notice if you excavate within 3-6 metres of your neighbour’s building (section 6), build a wall up to or astride the boundary (section 1) or do any work on a party wall (section 3).
It is best to appoint a surveyor to do this for you. Key information needs to be included such as:
In order to serve a party wall notice, which involves working on the shared wall, it’s a minimum of 2 month period before building work can start. It must be served on the legal owner and leaseholder of the property (their registered address). All the necessary details required in the Party Wall Act must be included in the notice.
The notice can be served regardless of whether planning permission is in place and can even be served up to a year before the work is planned to start. You therefore have up to a year to start work once the notice has been served.
After the Party Wall Notice has been served on the adjoining owner, they then have 14 days to respond to the notice and either appoint a surveyor if required, or dispute the notice. If the full period of 14 days elapse and the owners haven’t accepted or disputed the notice, your surveyor will then serve an additional 10 day notice to give them more time to respond. If they do not, then a dispute is deemed to have arisen and another surveyor must be appointed for them.
If you intend to carry out any of the works mentioned in the Party wall etc. Act 1996 then you must notify the adjoining owner(s) of your intentions if the works are to or in the vicinity of a party wall. An agreement will then be drafted according to what type of works are to be carried out. Our panel of chartered surveyors can draft the agreement ensuring it is a fair agreement all round as well as being in the correct format, saving you worry about how exactly the procedures need to be carried out as far as the legislation is concerned. As London Party Wall Surveyors, they can act for you, the adjoining owner or agree to act as Agreed Surveyor.
Our panel of London party wall surveyors can help to make the process of party wall easier and help you keep within the law to reduce the risk of costs and delays. They can assist if you are a homeowner, leaseholder, landlord or investor with some free initial advice.
The team of London Party Wall Surveyors can help to protect you from any problems or disputes if you are planning to make changes to your property that may impact on your neighbour’s building, including party walls, boundary walls and excavation work within 3-6 meters of their property. Get in touch today!
