Last updated: 21 July 2026
The questions everyone asks first
What actually is this letter? A formal notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 — your neighbour plans work on or near something you share (a wall, a floor, the boundary). It protects you both. It doesn't mean anything is wrong, and it isn't planning permission.
What are my options? Three: consent in writing (most people do — you keep every right the Act gives you); dissent and appoint your own surveyor; or dissent and share one "agreed surveyor" with your neighbour, which is usually cheaper and faster.
What if I just ignore it? For a section 2 or section 6 notice, after 14 days silence counts as dissent (section 5). A dispute formally exists and surveyors are appointed — doing nothing doesn't make it go away, it just takes the choice out of your hands.
Will this cost me money? Normally no — the building owner (your neighbour) pays both sides' reasonable surveyor fees. Strictly, the surveyors making the award decide who pays what, and where the works are solely for your neighbour's benefit that normally means them. Curious about the numbers? See what a party wall agreement costs.
Your three options, in full
1. Consent in writing. Fine when the works are minor and you trust them. Consenting is not signing your rights away: the Act's protections — compensation for damage, no unnecessary inconvenience — still apply, and if damage appears later the dispute process reactivates. Take dated photos of your walls first, or better, agree a schedule of condition (a written and photographed record of your property before work starts — the evidence that settles arguments later).
2. Dissent and appoint your own surveyor. Someone in your corner, checking the plans and recording your property's condition — and your neighbour pays their reasonable fees. Protection that normally costs you nothing.
3. Dissent and share one "agreed surveyor". One impartial surveyor acting for both sides. Cheaper for your neighbour, binding for both of you — the middle path.
Doing nothing is not a fourth option. On a section 2 or section 6 notice, 14 days of silence counts as dissent and the process starts anyway; on a section 1 notice the consequence is different, as the table below sets out. Either way, better to choose. Wondering whether you can simply refuse? Read can I refuse a party wall agreement?
The 14-day clock — three clocks, actually
"You have 14 days" gets said a lot, and it means different things depending on the notice. Worth being precise:
| If your notice is about | The clock means |
|---|---|
| Works to a shared wall or structure, or digging near you (sections 2 and 6) | You have 14 days to respond. Silence counts as dissent and the dispute procedure starts (section 5). |
| A new wall astride the boundary line (section 1) | The 14 days is a consent window — the wall can only sit across the line if you agree in writing. Say nothing and it gets built wholly on their land instead. |
| A party structure notice you want changes to | You can serve a counter-notice within 1 month asking for reasonable extras. Your neighbour then has 14 days to respond to that. |
One more clock: a notice is only valid for 12 months. If the works haven't started within a year of the notice being served, it has lapsed and must be served again.
Check the notice is actually valid
Some notices arrive with real defects. A defective notice doesn't make your neighbour's plans wrong, but it may need re-serving — and courts treat this strictly: an award built on an invalid notice is void (Power & Kyson v Shah, 2023). Red flags worth raising before you respond:
- It's about excavation but came without plans and sections showing where and how deep they'll dig — those are mandatory for a digging notice.
- It doesn't name every owner — both of a couple, or the freeholder as well as the leaseholder of a flat.
- The start date is too soon — inside the one- or two-month notice period the Act requires.
- It's unsigned, undated, or doesn't say which section of the Act it's served under.
- It arrived by email without your prior agreement to be served that way.
- It's over 12 months old — lapsed, and must be re-served.
Will they need to come onto my land?
Sometimes, yes — for works under the Act, the law gives your neighbour's workmen and the surveyors a narrow right of entry, with 14 days' notice, during working hours, for those works only. It's more protective than it sounds, and knowingly refusing a lawful entry is actually an offence, so it's worth understanding before anyone knocks: party wall access rights, explained.
If the digging is the worry
Notices about foundations and excavation have their own rules — the 3-metre and 6-metre tests, and the drawings your neighbour owes you. We've written a full plain-English guide: neighbour digging foundations next to my house — my rights.
And if the work has already started and no notice ever arrived, that's a different situation with its own guide: my neighbour started building without a party wall notice.