How much does a party wall agreement cost?
Short version: serving the notice yourself is free, and if your neighbour consents that's usually the end of it. Costs only appear if they dissent and surveyors get involved — and the building owner pays both sides.
New to all this? The Party Wall etc. Act 1996, explained covers what the law actually requires, before the money.
The short answer
The honest one-line answer is anywhere from nothing to several thousand pounds, and which end you land on is decided by one thing: whether your neighbour consents.
Consent costs £0, and most neighbours consent. Dissent brings surveyors in, and a single agreed surveyor runs roughly £1,575 to £3,375 depending on the project — a surveyor each, £1,800 to £5,400. Those are per neighbour, which matters more than most pages admit. Everything below breaks that down.
Step by step: where money can appear
| Stage | Typical cost | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Serving the notice yourself | Free | Just postage. Our free checker tells you which notice you need. |
| A ready-to-serve notice pack | £39 | Pre-filled notices from the official templates, your neighbours' reply forms, and serving guides. |
| A firm drafting & serving for you | £65–£150 +VAT per neighbour | The traditional route the pack replaces. London and premium firms charge more. |
| Your neighbour consents in writing | £0 further | Most cases end here. Keep the consent letter. |
| They dissent → one “agreed surveyor” | ≈£1,575–£3,375 | One impartial surveyor for both sides — usually the cheaper dissent route. See the project table below. |
| They dissent → a surveyor each | £1,800–£5,400 | Each side appoints their own; the building owner normally pays both. |
If surveyors are appointed: typical totals by project
Published 2026 averages for a single agreed surveyor:
| Project | Typical total |
|---|---|
| Loft conversion | ≈£1,575 |
| Rear or side extension | ≈£2,025 |
| New build | ≈£2,475 |
| Basement | ≈£3,375 — and always a case for professional advice from day one |
Surveyors themselves charge roughly £90–£450 an hour (£150–£200 is typical). London: £750–£1,800 per neighbour is commonly quoted, so multi-neighbour London projects add up fastest — the detail is in party wall costs in London.
The number people forget: fees are per neighbour
Every figure above is for one adjoining owner. Surveyor fees multiply per neighbour, not per project — so a mid-terrace loft conversion with attached neighbours on both sides can double the total, and a flat next door often means two owners to serve (the leaseholder and the freeholder) from a single building. Count your neighbours before you budget, not after.
Is VAT included?
Usually not in a quoted figure. Surveyor fees are normally quoted plus VAT, so a £1,500 quote settles nearer £1,800. Worth asking outright, along with whether the fee is fixed or hourly and whether it covers the schedule of condition as well as the award.
What the fee actually buys
A single "party wall cost" is usually three things bundled: the notice (free if you serve it yourself), the schedule of condition — the dated record of your neighbour's property before work starts, not required by the Act but universally advisable — and the award itself, usually the largest line of the three. Knowing the parts is what lets you compare two quotes that look different.
What if the fee looks too high?
The Act says the building owner pays reasonable fees, not any invoice at any rate, so there's a route. Raise it with the surveyors first — fees are one of the things the award decides. If that fails and there are two surveyors, either owner or either surveyor can refer the question to the third surveyor, acting alone. Beyond that lies an appeal to the county court within 14 days of the award being served on you, which carries its own costs risk and deserves advice first.
Who pays what, and who actually decides
| Cost | Who pays |
|---|---|
| The building work itself | Building owner |
| The neighbour's reasonable surveyor fees | Building owner — the neighbour's protection is free to them |
| Extra works the neighbour asks for (counter-notice) | The neighbour, for that extra work |
| Work fixing a defect the neighbour is responsible for | Shared — the neighbour contributes |
| Using a wall later that the builder paid for ("enclosing on") | The neighbour contributes then |
The mechanics behind this table — including the security a neighbour can ask for before big digs — are in who pays for a party wall surveyor?
More detail on how the process plays out is in our guides, and if a neighbour has served you a notice, start with what it means for you — responding costs you nothing.