Who owns party wall

Typically, a party wall agreement requires the owners to maintain their portion of the wall consistently and harmoniously. For instance, an agreement might say that both parties can hang pictures on their respective sides of the wall. The agreement might also stipulate, however, that for one party to make structural changes to the party wall, it would require the consent of both parties. Real Estate Investing. Personal Finance. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia.

At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Your Money. Your Practice. Popular Courses. Party Walls According to Section 38 of the Law of Property Act if " a wall or other structure is or is expressed to be made a party wall or structure, that structure shall be and remain severed vertically as between the respective owners, and the owner of each part shall have such rights to support and user over the rest of the structure ".

With terraced and with semi-detached houses it is reasonably safe to assume that the boundary between the houses runs along the centre of the party wall. At left is an example of a party wall running along the centre of a cavity wall. Also, all of the chimneys are located to the same side of the boundary as the house that they serve.

If the chimneys have some other arrangement, such as in the example at right, then it is best to ask a chartered building surveyor who will understand the structure of the building better than any other type of boundary demarcation surveyor exactly where the boundary runs. There are examples where the boundary runs along one side, rather than along the centre, of the party wall.

This is more common in city centres and arises when a building is built right up to the boundary line and a second building is butted against it some years after the original building was constructed, as in the example below. It is necessary to exercise care when transferring the location of the centre of the party wall from the interior to the exterior face of the building.

On one Georigian terrace see below I encountered protruding masonry apparently marking the positions of respective party walls. The exterior decorations paint of each house within the terrace were certainly applied as far as the centre of the protruding masonry on each side.

When two neighbours fell out with each other, it soon became clear that the garden fences did not align with apparent boundaries observed by the external paintwork. Careful investigation showed that the fences were aligned to the actual boundary rather than to the apparent boundary.

Occasionally, the position of the centre of the party wall is readily apparent on the exterior of a building. The party wall projects through the roof of this terraced house left , and can also be seen on the first floor front elevation where its front end is used as external decoration.

More often, it is necessary to carefully measure its position as demonstrated in the drawing below. If you have access to both properties, then measure along the inner face of the exterior wall, from both sides, the distance between the nearest door or window aperture and the party wall. Then re-measure these distances from the same apertures but along the external face of the same exterior wall. Place two marks on the outside of the building to represent the two faces of the internal party wall.

The boundary is midway between these marks. With access to only one property you can mark on the outside the position of only one face of the internal party wall and must make an allowance for half of the width of the internal party wall in order to mark the position of the boundary on the exterior of the building.

Slightly confusingly, the Act refers to a ' Technically, under the Act, a party fence wall can also be a boundary wall by the fact it sits on the boundary. In reality, a boundary wall can also sit on just one owner's land and define the boundary line. Where the wall is completely on your land, the outer face of the wall that faces the adjoining owner usually marks the boundary line.

In these circumstances you are at liberty to do what you want as this is your wall and your neighbour has no right to touch it, not even to knock a nail in. Get advice about the notice you have been served from a Party Wall Surveyor:. Get in Touch Please leave blank:. If you live in a flat, you will share your walls, and possibly floor or ceiling, with other property owners and the Freeholder — these are all classed as party structures.

The Party Wall etc. Act of was designed to prevent disagreements over party walls and structures, as well as resolving any disputes that arise. It also defines specifically what a party wall is. The Party Wall etc Act was most recently updated in According to the terms of the Act there are three main types of party walls:.

The Act also includes a related concept referred to as a party structure. This is defined as a structure that separates buildings or parts of buildings owned by different people, such as in a flat.