My neighbour is tearing down my garden wall for their extension – I’ll do anything to stop them
A HOMEOWNER is stuck in a bitter row with her neighbours over a garden wall and says she’ll do anything to stop them.
Susan Lee, 71, has been disputing with Vanessa and Andrew McVickers since the couple decided to extend their London home.
But the fight doesn’t centre around the extension – it revolves around a brick wall that runs between their two gardens.
The couple in their 50s made the call to enlarge their three-bedroom home, which meant they had to rip down and rebuild the wall that separates the neighbouring properties.
Lee did not give consent for the pair to knock down the wall, but her neighbours relied on a Party Wall Award last year which they claim gave them the green light.
The 71-year-old is now fighting her neighbours in court, saying the wall is on her land and therefore the award is invalid.
Lee’s barrister Nicholas Isaac KC argued the award should have never been granted as the wall is hers.
He told the Mayors and City County Court: “She had made it clear on numerous occasions that she considered the garden wall separating the two properties to be hers, an assertion supported by the report…which had been supplied to the appointed party wall surveyors prior to making their award.
“The wall is effectively a continuous physical feature around her garden which she and her predecessors in title have been responsible for maintaining, both of which facts lead to the reasonable inference that the wall was erected on her land.
“This is consistent with the fact that on any reasonable basis of measurement, the majority of the wall stands on [her] side of a line forming a continuation of the centreline of the internal party wall.”
For the neighbours, barrister Andrew McKie slammed the way Lee had fought the case.
He said: “She appears to have sought to fight this litigation at all costs to avoid these works.
“She said she would ‘fight like a tiger’ to get her way.
“She has consistently tried to get opinions of new experts to support her views, where the opinions of earlier experts have conflicted with her own.
“This attitude of Mrs Lee has led to significant costs being incurred by Mr and Mrs McVickers and has caused them considerable distress and delay to the award that was in their favour.”
The case continues.
A legal expert recently gave advice on how neighbours should deal with fences – and working out what belongs to who.
It came after concerns were been raised over who exactly owns the boundary between two properties – and who has the right to maintain and decorate it, especially on their side.
What is a Party Wall Award?
A Party Wall is simply a wall forming part of building which stands on the lands of different owners.
According to Novello Surveyors a Party Wall Award is the final documentation in the party wall process and ensures that the Adjoining Owner(s) are adequately legally protected in the event that damage is caused resulting from the works.
The Award is commonly known as a Party Wall Agreement.