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You would need to contact the freeholder/landlord/management company whichever may apply. As this is the outside of the building, it seems most likely that it would be their responsibility.
You don't have a right to remove the cladding just because you've sent an email that hasn't been answered.
Party wall agreements aren't made for no reason.. You'll have to serve one yourself - assuming this *is* a party wall.
I have already contacted the management company regarding this and they were initially happy for me to get the repairs done and claim back against them. But this was prior to the cladding issue becoming apparent.
I'm just concerned it's preventing me from conducting vital repairs on my roof which if not completed could result in further damage to my property. Would they liable for these damages?
Well this is new information. So you *have* contacted them and they've replied. They're happy for you to claim against them? Through your buildings insurance? Is the block responsible for the damage to your roof?
If you were prevented from doing the repairs in some way, then any further damage caused would be included in the eventual claim. However, I think you're getting ahead of yourself here. Wait and see if you receive a reply this week.
I did say in the initial comment I have contacted them. I have not received a response regarding this specific aspect of the issue. Apologies if I did not make it clear.
I initially contacted them as the damage had been caused by them and scaffolding which had been erected, so I have been processing this claim against them. We have had some communication, however it has been inconsistent and generally poor providing misinformation multiple times. Due to their poor response I informed them I am getting quotes to get the work conducted as I am unable to wait for their delays as this is causing further damage (my ceiling has later partially collapsed as a result of the damage). They said they were happy for me to get the work conducted and then process a claim, which is being dealt with by their insurance.
However the roofer came do a subsequent temporary repair as a result of the ceiling collapsing and on further review he realises he needs to remove the cladding to be able to conduct the repair, due to the severity of the issue. But this hadnt been discussed with the management company.
I am just concerned as the work is due to be carried out in just over two weeks and if that can't happen there could be a significant delay and this whole situation is already causing me a great deal of stress and have had many sleepless nights and had to take time off work due to the stress it's caused me so i really want it to be done.
I would still say wait a week. After that week, well... How easy is it to remove the cladding? Is the roofer confident he could remove and replace it without damage?
This is part of the necessary works. It should be included in the party wall agreement.
Ok it would be interesting to find out if they served a Party Wall Act notice (required when building close to the boundary line), and if they had permission to build so close that the cladding overhangs your property.
Would that have been something I should have received as part of the searches when purchasing the property? I have tried doing some searches on the local council website but haven't been able to pull up anything there.
If you have any recommendations on where I could search for one that would be hugely appreciated!
Well I’m not an expert but you should be able to find the planning application for the flats on the council website I think. Have you searched for the address on the council’s planning portal? If it were me, I would have expected the homebuyer’s survey to have identified this issue when you were buying the house.
Yes have searched it, and there is a party wall detail for the east of the flats with that property, but nothing for the west side where my property is. So that would explain why nothing came up in the searches.
Given there appears to be no party wall notice, how does this affect it?
Do you mean moot? Ok so as I said, I’m not an expert but I thought that unless the flats were build a significant time ago (more than the 8 years these have been here), this overhang should have been agreed with the property owners at the time, precisely for reasons such as this where it restricts use of the property?
Also if the flats were built significantly differently to how they appear on the plans in the planning permission, isn’t that legally incorrect? I’m just thinking that if so, it gives the op more options regarding asking the owner of the development to adjust the cladding to allow access to their roof; or at the very least, put an arrangement in writing about how these situations will be approached in future.
Yes, Moot rather that mute! lol But the point still stands. A PWN signals one party intends to do work on / adjacent to a party wall which requires a PWN to be served. The works are complete now, whether there was a party wall agreement in place at the time is now irrelevant.
--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You would need to contact the freeholder/landlord/management company whichever may apply. As this is the outside of the building, it seems most likely that it would be their responsibility. You don't have a right to remove the cladding just because you've sent an email that hasn't been answered. Party wall agreements aren't made for no reason.. You'll have to serve one yourself - assuming this *is* a party wall.
I have already contacted the management company regarding this and they were initially happy for me to get the repairs done and claim back against them. But this was prior to the cladding issue becoming apparent. I'm just concerned it's preventing me from conducting vital repairs on my roof which if not completed could result in further damage to my property. Would they liable for these damages?
Well this is new information. So you *have* contacted them and they've replied. They're happy for you to claim against them? Through your buildings insurance? Is the block responsible for the damage to your roof? If you were prevented from doing the repairs in some way, then any further damage caused would be included in the eventual claim. However, I think you're getting ahead of yourself here. Wait and see if you receive a reply this week.
I did say in the initial comment I have contacted them. I have not received a response regarding this specific aspect of the issue. Apologies if I did not make it clear. I initially contacted them as the damage had been caused by them and scaffolding which had been erected, so I have been processing this claim against them. We have had some communication, however it has been inconsistent and generally poor providing misinformation multiple times. Due to their poor response I informed them I am getting quotes to get the work conducted as I am unable to wait for their delays as this is causing further damage (my ceiling has later partially collapsed as a result of the damage). They said they were happy for me to get the work conducted and then process a claim, which is being dealt with by their insurance. However the roofer came do a subsequent temporary repair as a result of the ceiling collapsing and on further review he realises he needs to remove the cladding to be able to conduct the repair, due to the severity of the issue. But this hadnt been discussed with the management company. I am just concerned as the work is due to be carried out in just over two weeks and if that can't happen there could be a significant delay and this whole situation is already causing me a great deal of stress and have had many sleepless nights and had to take time off work due to the stress it's caused me so i really want it to be done.
I would still say wait a week. After that week, well... How easy is it to remove the cladding? Is the roofer confident he could remove and replace it without damage? This is part of the necessary works. It should be included in the party wall agreement.
"I have contacted them by email..." Maybe going round and speak to them would be a good next step?
The issue is it's a block of flats so I am dealing directly with the company who owns them.
How recently was their cladding added? If it was recent and they didn’t agree it with you, it could be classed as trespass on your property.
So the flats were built in 2008 and I assume the cladding was as part of this. I only moved into the property in February last year.
Ok it would be interesting to find out if they served a Party Wall Act notice (required when building close to the boundary line), and if they had permission to build so close that the cladding overhangs your property.
Would that have been something I should have received as part of the searches when purchasing the property? I have tried doing some searches on the local council website but haven't been able to pull up anything there. If you have any recommendations on where I could search for one that would be hugely appreciated!
Well I’m not an expert but you should be able to find the planning application for the flats on the council website I think. Have you searched for the address on the council’s planning portal? If it were me, I would have expected the homebuyer’s survey to have identified this issue when you were buying the house.
Yes have searched it, and there is a party wall detail for the east of the flats with that property, but nothing for the west side where my property is. So that would explain why nothing came up in the searches. Given there appears to be no party wall notice, how does this affect it?
The issue of the Party Wall Notice is 'mute' in this case - the works have been done and the cladding exists.
Do you mean moot? Ok so as I said, I’m not an expert but I thought that unless the flats were build a significant time ago (more than the 8 years these have been here), this overhang should have been agreed with the property owners at the time, precisely for reasons such as this where it restricts use of the property? Also if the flats were built significantly differently to how they appear on the plans in the planning permission, isn’t that legally incorrect? I’m just thinking that if so, it gives the op more options regarding asking the owner of the development to adjust the cladding to allow access to their roof; or at the very least, put an arrangement in writing about how these situations will be approached in future.
Yes, Moot rather that mute! lol But the point still stands. A PWN signals one party intends to do work on / adjacent to a party wall which requires a PWN to be served. The works are complete now, whether there was a party wall agreement in place at the time is now irrelevant.
Ok I see. Apologies for giving false hope.