Q&As

Where there is a party wall between two pieces of land, and the land on one side is putting pressure on the wall causing it to crack, who is responsible for the repair costs? Would this be different if it wasn't a party wall?

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Produced in partnership with Lawrence McDonald of Exchange Chambers
Published on: 26 November 2018
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It will depend on the reason why the wall is being damaged. If the adjoining owner has done works to their land, and this results in pressure building up, then this may constitute a claim in nuisance, for which a claim in Damages may be possible (see eg Brace v South East Regional Housing Association Limited, where demolition of a house caused shrinkage to the clay underlying the foundations of the adjoining

Lawrence McDonald
Lawrence McDonald

Lawrence was called to the Bar in 1996. Following pupillage he took the opportunity to begin his career as a property litigator at Linklaters where he was admitted as a solicitor. Lawrence also practised as a property litigator at Nabarro before moving to the North of England where he set up the property litigation practice at niche property firm Land Law before accepting a partnership at Brabners where he ran the property litigation team. Lawrence returned to the Bar in 2010 as a tenant at Atlantic Chambers in Liverpool before moving to Exchange Chambers, from where he now practices. Lawrence sat as a Deputy District Judge from 2008 ' 2017 and he has sat as a Recorder since 2010. He is authorised to sit on criminal, civil and Chancery cases. For 5 years Lawrence was Junior Counsel to the Crown as a member of the Attorney-General's Regional Panel. Lawrence joined the LexisNexis Q&A Panel in 2018.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Costs definition
What does Costs mean?

Money ordered to be paid by one party to another in respect of the costs incurred in the course of litigation, in bringing or defending a claim.

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