Property Surveys and Party Wall Advice in Clapham

Party wall procedures become considerably more complicated when one of the adjoining properties has been converted in to flats. Every affected adjoining owner with an interest of 12 months or more is entitled to a notice and can therefore dissent to that notice and appoint their own surveyor.

This was the case with a terraced house to the west side of Clapham Common where the building owner was planning to extend into the basement. Having downloaded the relevant Title Registers, our surveyor Justin Burns established that the property to the left consisted of 2 flats with each leasehold also owning a share of the freehold. In this scenario we notify the joint freeholders in advance as it gives us more control of the process. The joint freeholders appointed their own surveyor but, being generally satisfied with the process, were happy to consent in their capacity as leaseholders. The building owner was also happy with Justin’s efforts which he described as “Constructive, proactive, and user friendly”.

One of our Senior Surveyors Shaun Blake was instructed to carry out an inspection on a property on The Chase in Clapham. This was a flat in a large semi-detached house which had been divided into four flats.

Given advice as to the options, our client decided that a Level 2 survey would most suit their requirements as considered the most cost effective option.

Issues identified included various external building maintenance concerns such as a need for safe external guardrailing, overhaul of gutters and downpipes, external redecoration and some associated rainwater penetration around windows. Internally issues of concern identified included the need for safe glazing and improvement to fire safety both within the flat and to the common parts.

The client kindly left us a review stating: “Friendly and efficient service”