Will neighbours loft conversion affect structure of my house

[ClarenceBeeks74]

Hello

House next door to us has been empty for nearly a year after the owner sadly passed away. She didn’t leave a will so it was sold at auction.

I got a notification from the council that the new owner has applied for permission to add another story and they’ve given me two weeks to object/approve/do nothing. Its a standard one storey London terrace.

I assume its a standard loft conversion but cant be sure because we dont know who the new owners are and the drawings arent up on the council planning permission website yet.

When we purchased our house 5 years ago we took a bit of a gamble - there were lots of large cracks and sloping floors and a couple of structural engineers disagreed over whether they were the result of settlement or subsidance. Anyway - no movement or new cracks in this time has reassured us but we're still paranoid about the 'structural integrity of the house'.

I'm concerned that next doors loft conversion might affect this. Will our party wall be load bearing for example? Will it place pressure on our side of the house and cause new cracks and movement etc. Obviously we dont know who's going to carry out the work and I don't know how loft conversions are typically built.

Our house has an inverted V shaped roof - I'm not sure what the technical name is!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Static]

An inverted V roof would be a standard pitched roof.. a V roof is often called a butterfly roof..

Anways before they comense works your neighbour should get a party wall agreement in place if they are doing any structural works on/near the party wall.. you then get your party wall surveyor to check over plans etc to make sure all is good (at their cost)..

 

[ClarenceBeeks74]

Thanks Static - great help.

Any other members have any thoughts?

Ta in advance.

 

[^woody^]

It would be very rare for the actual work to cause structural problems, unless its an outlandish design

Normally, issues arise while work is in progress (eg knocking into walls) or quality issues later (eg resealing the roof)

As there is past movement and cracking then this needs to be monitored and so it is imperative to ensure that a proper party wall agreement is in place and this should include a pre and post condition survey, along with the necessary design checking and precautions of how the work is to be done and completed

The PW agreement must be in place before work starts and notice served weeks before the planned start date

 

[Mrdjc]

Write a letter of good will that in principle you agree with their application.

However you want to be assured it won't have any adverse affects on your property (Means they need to get a structural engineer to look at the whole building) and if the building starts moving, its their responsibility.

If you still have the original structural engineers reports you can use these as an attachment to highlight your concern and prove to them that although stable at present, there has been history of subsidence in the past.

 

[johnny2007]

Write a letter of good will that in principle you agree with their application.

However you want to be assured it won't have any adverse affects on your property (Means they need to get a structural engineer to look at the whole building) and if the building starts moving, its their responsibility.

If you still have the original structural engineers reports you can use these as an attachment to highlight your concern and prove to them that although stable at present, there has been history of subsidence in the past.

Agree!
Make them pay for a pre and post survey and sign a legal document (with a solicitor) making them responsible for any problem due to their conversion.
Move fast making an objection with reserve to the council.
If you don't they don't have to consider your requests and once they get planning permission they will go ahead.
If something goes wrong than you need to take the long road to civil claim court.
Get things done in writing, they will have to pay for it.
Oh, and before you sign with their solicitor make sure he/she is a real solicitor and not dave, the guy from the pub who speaks with a posh accent.
Good luck

 

[^woody^]

Write a letter of good will that in principle you agree with their application.

.

Agree!
Make them pay for a pre and post survey and sign a legal document (with a solicitor) making them responsible for any problem due to their conversion.

The Party Wall Act covers all of this, and it is a legal obligation for the building owner to follow it

 

[ClarenceBeeks74]

Great stuff. Thanks all. I've already spoken to the case officer at the council so I'll also check with him about how to progress with the party wall business.

 

[^woody^]

PW issues are unrelated to the council and planning and b/regs. You need to deal with the building owner ..... and be careful that he does not just turn up one morning and start work without serving a valid notice

 

[ClarenceBeeks74]

Ah - brilliant, thanks Woody. Given that the house is currently unoccupied and I dont have any contact details for them, does anyone have any advice as how I can ensure they will go through the correct and proper channels before work starts.

The first I heard about the loft conversion was through a council letter - they could have easily knocked on the door or left a note with their number on for me to contact them and discuss. I'm not entirely confident therefore that they wont just start the work. Which presumably would mean I would have to start involving solicitors etc to get them to stop the work at my expense?

 

[ClarenceBeeks74]

I've just spoken to the case officer and he's confirmed that party wall act is not under their jurisdiction.

Does anyone have any advice as what to do if works go ahead without a party wall agreement? Will I have to shell out for a solicitor etc out of my own pocket?