Party wall surveying in Westminster

You do wherever your work touches a shared wall or excavates near a neighbour — which covers most loft conversions, side and rear extensions and all basements on Westminster's stucco-fronted georgian and victorian terraces around Bayswater and Pimlico. It is separate from planning permission: you can have full permission from Westminster City Council and still be legally required to serve a party-wall notice. Our free assessment confirms whether the Act applies to your specific project before anything is served.

You expose yourself to real risk. A neighbour can seek an injunction to stop the work, and without a schedule of condition you have no agreed record to defend a damage claim, so you may end up paying for pre-existing cracks in their stucco-fronted georgian and victorian terraces. Serving valid notices first protects you as much as the neighbour. If you have already started a Westminster project, we advise on the quickest lawful way to put it right. Westminster City Council is the decision-maker.

Build the notice period into your programme: a line-of-junction or excavation notice needs one month, and a notice for works to the wall itself needs two months, before work can start. If the neighbour consents quickly the process ends there; if they dissent, agreeing an award typically adds a few more weeks. Starting the party-wall route early in your Westminster project — especially on the dense streets around Maida Vale — keeps it off the critical path, and we flag the timing at the assessment. Westminster City Council is the decision-maker.

As a rule the building owner — the person doing the work — pays the reasonable surveyors' costs, because they are the one benefiting from the project. That usually includes the adjoining owner's surveyor's fee where the neighbour dissents and appoints their own — common on the shared party walls around Pimlico. The award itself sets out who bears what. We are clear about the likely cost structure of your Westminster matter at the outset, with no surprises later. Westminster City Council is the decision-maker.

A schedule of condition is a dated, photographic record of the adjoining property's state before your work begins — walls, ceilings, existing cracks and finishes — particularly valuable on the older stucco-fronted georgian and victorian terraces common in Pimlico. It protects both sides: if the neighbour later claims your Westminster build caused damage, the schedule shows what was already there, and it reassures the neighbour that genuine new damage will be put right. We prepare it thoroughly before any work starts, whether or not the neighbour has dissented. Westminster City Council is the decision-maker.

We price each Westminster matter individually, because the number of adjoining owners, whether they consent or dissent and the complexity of the work all vary, and give a clear indication after the free assessment. A simple consented notice with a schedule of condition is modest; a dissented award with surveyors on both sides costs more, and the building owner usually bears the reasonable fees. Call 020 7864 7245 to start. Westminster City Council is the decision-maker.