We live in a very small terraced house in North West London built in 1936.
The house adjoining ours next door with a shared dividing wall to us has
been up for sale for a while and recently someone arrived and said in a
not too friendly way, " prepare for some banging and we are taking away
the fireplaces".
I assume he might be a developer since he didn't show any interest about
anything else that we might have been able to tell him, if he wanted to
live here himself.
The House walls construction are of single brick thickness and the
fireplace vertical as it extends into the rooms on ground floor and
first floor extend by 14"(36cm) by 47" (120cm) in both front and back
rooms, upstairs and downstairs, on this shared dividing wall.
The houses are not built to very good standards judging by the quality
of the wooden floors and roofing timbers. Also the cement seems rather
crumbly, as if it has too much sand in it.
Now what if he suddenly starts knocking away the bricks. We do worry
since we don't know how structurally crucial this might be.
Talking to another neighbour she says that she thinks he needs
permission from us to do this work. But what if he just goes ahead with
it anyway?
She also mentions an 'injunction' to stop him, but we don't know how to
go about such a thing, or whether this is the best way to go?
Grateful for any advice. Thanks.

john west wrote:

Talking to another neighbour she says that she thinks he needs
permission from us to do this work. But what if he just goes ahead with
it anyway?

You can't stop him doing the work, but he has to go about it the correct way

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523010/Party_Wall_etc__Act_1996_-_Explanatory_Booklet.pdf

On 2018-06-18, Andy Burns wrote:
john west wrote:

Talking to another neighbour she says that she thinks he needs
permission from us to do this work. But what if he just goes ahead with
it anyway?

You can't stop him doing the work, but he has to go about it the correct way

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523010/Party_Wall_etc__Act_1996_-_Explanatory_Booklet.pdf

It might be worth checking if he has a mortgage - as they will also
insist that he follows the correct process.

Also talk to your buildings insurer. They will care. Even if he takes no
notice of what you say, he might listen to them.

At the end of the day, you cannot stop it happening. But you can insist
that it's done safely and reasonably and so ensure that the value of
your house doesn't suffer as a result of botched work.

On 19/06/2018 08:16, Tim Woodall wrote:
On 2018-06-18, Andy Burns wrote:
john west wrote:

Talking to another neighbour she says that she thinks he needs
permission from us to do this work. But what if he just goes ahead with
it anyway?

You can't stop him doing the work, but he has to go about it the correct way

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523010/Party_Wall_etc__Act_1996_-_Explanatory_Booklet.pdf

It might be worth checking if he has a mortgage - as they will also
insist that he follows the correct process.

Also talk to your buildings insurer. They will care. Even if he takes no
notice of what you say, he might listen to them.

At the end of the day, you cannot stop it happening. But you can insist
that it's done safely and reasonably and so ensure that the value of
your house doesn't suffer as a result of botched work.


Also talk to the council's building control: unclear to me if he is
taking out the fireplaces (which isn't a matter for them) or the chimney
breasts (which is very much a matter for them).

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

Robin wrote:

On 19/06/2018 08:16, Tim Woodall wrote:
On 2018-06-18, Andy Burns wrote:
john west wrote:

Talking to another neighbour she says that she thinks he needs
permission from us to do this work. But what if he just goes ahead with
it anyway?

You can't stop him doing the work, but he has to go about it the correct way

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523010/Party_Wall_etc__Act_1996_-_Explanatory_Booklet.pdf

It might be worth checking if he has a mortgage - as they will also
insist that he follows the correct process.

Also talk to your buildings insurer. They will care. Even if he takes no
notice of what you say, he might listen to them.

At the end of the day, you cannot stop it happening. But you can insist
that it's done safely and reasonably and so ensure that the value of
your house doesn't suffer as a result of botched work.


Also talk to the council's building control: unclear to me if he is
taking out the fireplaces (which isn't a matter for them) or the chimney
breasts (which is very much a matter for them).


agreed fireplace is no big deal at all, but the chimney breast in that type of house could be a really big problem

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