It's my party

Published 04 July 08 04:17 PM

Last week one of our Chartered Surveyors Simon Coates received an enquiry from a member of the public who was losing patience over a party wall dispute She was renting a flat and her neighbour was busy doing work on their property.The work involved the Party Wall etc Act 1996 and surveyors had been engaged. She was upset because her landlord wasn't keeping her up-to-date with what was happening with the neighbour's works . There was no necessity for her to receive copies of any of the notices under the Act. Simon talked her through the procedures and what happens. Simon's asked me to blog this enquiry to get comments from Chartered Surveyors out there who deal with party wall matters to find out how you handle this and to get you to debate how the Act can be improved to avoid a tenant (like his enquirer) feeling that they're getting a bad deal!

by Hilary Oakley

Filed under: legislation, help, enquiry, enquiry service, keep up-to-date, landlord and tenant, disputes, party wall surveyors, party wall etc act 1996, neighbourhood disputes: party wall, party wall disputes

Comments

# Michael Cooper said on July 11, 2008 12:06:

I am involved in Party Wall matters, in fact it is 90% of my work.

Firstly I would say that tenants even sub-tenants are entitled to notice if their lease is greater than 1 year, so I assume in this case she had a short term let. In that event she would not be entitled to notice, but, being a nice friendly surveyor, there is nothing to stop you letting the tenant know what the works are or even copying them the award. afterall it is the tenant who will be living with the noise, vibration, dust etc. Not only are you being nice but you will also be being helpful to your appointing owner or their agents, afterall they will be receiving all the complaints most of which would be mitigated by information provision.

I certainly don't think there is a risk of breach of client confidentiality, but I would be careful in handing out Condition surveys including photographs. I would welcome other views on that.

So in conclusion, be helpful, let tenants know what is happening and in return when you try to get access at the end to re-check condition surveys you are likely to be rewarded with instant access, a smile and a coffee.

Regards

Michael Cooper

Director

Savills Commercial Limited

25 Finsbury Circus

London EC2M 7EE

Direct Dial +44 (0) 207 877 4617

Direct Fax +44 (0) 207 454 1333

Mobile Ph +44 (0) 7972 000 146

Email:    [mailto: mailto:mcooper@savills.com]

Website: www.savills.com

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About Hilary Oakley