Party wall guides
Plain-English answers to the questions people actually ask about the Party Wall Act — written from the official guidance, no jargon without a translation. New to it? Start with the Act explained end to end.
You've received a notice
What the letter means, your options, and your protections.
Can I refuse a party wall agreement?
You can dissent — you can't veto. What refusing actually triggers, and why it usually costs you nothing.
Neighbour digging foundations next to my house — my rights
The 3m and 6m rules, the drawings they owe you, and what to do if no notice arrived.
My neighbour started building without a party wall notice
Not criminal — but courts have stopped un-notified work. Your leverage, and the calm first moves.
What is a party wall award?
The document that settles a dispute — what it can decide, what it costs, and the 14 days you get to appeal it.
My neighbour's building work damaged my property
What the Act entitles you to, compensation versus making good, and the four things to do today.
Can my neighbour come onto my land? Access rights
For Act works only: entry with 14 days' notice, during working hours — and the one refusal that's an offence.
You're planning building work
Which notices your project needs, and how to serve them properly.
Scaffolding on a neighbour's land: party wall rights
When you can stand scaffolding on next door's land, when you need a court order, and the common case where no statutory route exists at all.
Who owns the fence? Where the Party Wall Act stops
The posts-and-rails rule, the left-hand rule, T-marks — Land Registry says there's no legal foundation for any of it. What actually decides it.
Do I need a party wall agreement for roof works?
Re-covering your own roof slope isn't party wall work. Cutting into the shared wall for lead flashing is — and that's where most roof disputes start.
Do I need a party wall agreement for a loft conversion?
Steel beams into the shared wall mean section 2. The clocks, the costs, and the mistakes that invalidate notices.
The official notice templates, explained
Every official letter is free from gov.uk. Which fits which project, and where DIY notices go wrong.
Do I need a party wall agreement for an extension?
Extensions usually engage two or three notices at once — the boundary wall, the dig, and sometimes the shared wall.
How to write your own party wall notice
It's free and legal to DIY. The validity checklist, the six mistakes that void notices, and how to serve it.
Party wall rules for flats and leaseholds
One flat next door can mean two owners to serve — and the floor counts as a party structure too.
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996, explained
The whole Act in plain English — the three triggers, the clocks, the award, and the questions it pointedly doesn't answer.
Do I need a party wall agreement to remove a chimney breast?
Almost always, if the breast projects from a shared wall — plus the support question the Act doesn't answer.
Knocking through: do you need a notice for a steel beam?
It depends where the RSJ lands, not on the wall you're removing. The test, the flats trap, and the case nobody can answer cleanly.
Basement conversions and underpinning
The most notice-heavy project there is — plus the right your neighbour has that almost nobody mentions.
The jobs that usually don't need an agreement
Decking, a patio, solar panels, a fence — mostly not party wall work. The test, and the three things that bring the Act back in.
What is a party wall? The definitions, in plain English
Party wall, party structure, party fence wall, line of junction — and why fences and hedges don't count.
Is my garage wall a party wall?
It depends whether the wall is shared or on the boundary. Plus the rules for garage conversions and new garages.
Retrospective party wall agreements: what's actually possible
There's no backwards mechanism in the Act — the Court of Appeal was blunt about it. What each side can really do.
The money
Who pays what — it's mostly written into the Act.
How to choose a party wall surveyor
The Act sets no qualification at all — a surveyor is just someone who isn't a party to the matter. What that means, and what actually separates a good appointment.
Party wall costs in London
Why the capital runs £750–£1,800 per neighbour, and the three things that keep the bill down.
Who pays for a party wall surveyor?
The building owner, almost always — including the neighbour's surveyor. The exceptions, explained.
Moving house
When party walls meet conveyancing.