HAVE YOU BEEN THREATENED WITH A PARTY WALL (ACT) INJUNCTION?
What is a Party Wall Injunction? A (Party Wall) Injunction is a court order that (usually) instructs a building owner to stop their work until Party Wall procedures are put in place. An injunction will usually cause delay (months) and come with a claim for legal/court costs (in the £1000’s).
If you receive an (Party Wall) Injunction order but fail to follow it, you could be punished by being fined and possibly imprisoned. So, given the potential for very serious consequences associated with a Party Wall Injunction, early and decisive action is advised.
What should you do to prevent a Party Wall Injunction? Our standard advice is that building owners should ensure that they meet all of their obligations under the Party Wall Act. Where the Party Wall Act 1996 (“the Act”) is applicable a building owner should provide the appropriate Party Wall Notice to the relevant adjoining owners well before works are intended to commence. In doing so, there cannot be any threat of a Party Wall Injunction.
NOTE: Where a building owner has ignored or failed to properly follow the Act, judges can be very sympathetic towards any such complaints which could make a Party Wall Injunction more likely to be granted.
What if you make a mistake? If an appropriate Party Wall Notice has not been served and you commence the relevant work, your goal should be to reassure your neighbour of your good intentions moving forward and to avoid excess fees that various external advisors may try to generate. These can come in various forms - the most expensive being the threat of a Party Wall Injunction.
Slow action/responses can lead to months of delays and considerable additional costs. So, as soon as anyone mentions a Party Wall Injunction you should take immediate action to mitigate your risk.
If you have been threatened with an injunction contact us today to obtain practical, low cost and effective advise.
We have a 100% success rate with preventing/defending injunction applications.
