Garden wall attached to property

W

Walledoff

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Firstly, I hope I am posting this in the right section.

Not too sure how to describe this one but I will do my best. Basically, my friend lives in an end of terrace which is built further out at front than all the other houses. The front of the house next door is built some three-foot back from the front of his house although both front gardens are at the same level on the footpath. The neighbour’s front garden is therefore three foot bigger then my friends. The pathway leading up to the neighbour’s front door is up the side of my friend’s houses and my friend has a little pathway to his front door. There is a small wall separating the two pathways but this wall is completely attached to my friend’s property from his house to the pathway. Basically the edge of the wall is at the edge of my friends house and the wall is built inwards towards my friends door. Does my friend own this wall or is it a joint wall? Very hard to describe this without drawing a diagram!!
 
In order to answer this your friend should consult his land registry map which should give him some indication. If it is unregistered it may be very difficult to ascertain.
 
Thanks for your reply Vanilla, I shall let him know what to do. He only bought the house about two/three years ago so hopefully if will be registered or if not his solicitor should have a copy.
 
This is a slightly odd one. Intuitively, it looks like it is on your friend's property, because it is all on his side of the line of his house (i.e. the line described by the edge of the the gable wall of his house). However, it only looks like 'his' house gable wall for the three feet by which it protrudes forward of the building line. Once it becomes the wall separating the two buildings, it would be properly regarded as a party wall. If the deed map shows a straight line for the boundary, then it is very likely that the whole thing is indeed a party wall.
 
Not at all a simple issue. So what you are saying MOB is that if the boundry line on the map is not staggered after three foot, then it is a shared wall all the way. My friend would really have no problem sharing the wall as he get on with his neighbours providing his neighbours respect this also.
 
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Correct; Of course, even if the mapped boundary is a straight line, my analysis presupposes that the wall itself is a straight line all the way: it is perhaps possible (though unlikely) that the internal party wall is thicker than the external gable wall - I suppose it would depend on construction methods used.

It is also worth pointing out that boundary maps are not always drawn with precision, and that the position adopted by people will usually depend on context and circumstances. For example:

1. Your friend goes to knock garden wall, neighbour says 'don't touch it, it's a party wall and I like it'

2. Your friend finds a crack in the external gable wall, asks neighbour to pay half the cost of fixing; neighbour says 'it's your wall, nothing to do with me'

It would be perfectly possible for the neighbour to form either of these views in good faith (but not both simultaneously....)
 
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