In this week’s property surveying party wall blogpost topic, we are going to be discussing party wall surveying, in particular enclosure costs and when they are due from a building owner to an adjoining owner.
Under the Party Wall etc Act 1996, if you are planning on undertaking works to your property, you are formerly known as the Building Owner.
If you are the neighbour whose property adjoins the construction works, then under the Act you are formerly known as the Adjoining Owner.
Section 11 11 of the Party Wall etc Act 1996 confirms:-
“where use is subsequently made by the adjoining owner of work carried out solely at the expense of the building owner the adjoining owner shall pay a due proportion of the expenses incurred by the building owner in carrying out that work; and for this purpose he shall be taken to have incurred expenses calculated by reference to what the cost of the work would be if it were carried out at the time when the subsequent use was made”.
Putting the legal preambles aside, what this effectively means is that if a wall has been built by one owner in the past, and then the neighbouring owner comes to use the wall as part of their proposals and extensions at the current date, then under the Party Wall etc Act 1996, the owner who is gaining the benefit of the wall must compensate the owner whom constructed the wall.
The logic is relatively simple really, the use of the wall, effectively means that the proposed works will be slightly cheaper, as the person undertaking those works will not physically need to construct the wall in question. Therefore, it is only fair for them to compensate the neighbours for the cost saving in doing this.
The reality of this type of scenario arising is when a wall has been built at loft level, usually in raising the party parapet wall, or a wall has been built on ground floor level, usually the flank wall of a proposed extension.
While the Act does give an owner the legal right to use the wall, they do have to compensate the neighbouring owner for the use of that wall, as that effectively legally ensures that one owner is not gaining the benefit of another owner’s wall without the cost or expense of constructing it.
Enclosure costs are one of the most misunderstood and unknown sections of the Party Wall etc Act 1996, if you are reading this, it is likely that you may be liable for an enclosure cost, or may be lucky enough to shortly be receiving one.
If you would like to discuss enclosure costs with our team of qualified and experienced party wall surveyors here at Stokemont, give us a call today and we will be more than happy to assist and advise you.
