Party fence wall meaning

Barbican Quarter Organisation Ltd) v City of London Corp [2026] EWHC 687 (Admin) What was the background? The claimant, Barbican Quarter Organisation Ltd, sought to overturn a planning permission issued by the City of London Corporation for the London Wall West scheme. A striking aspect was that the Corporation featured on both sides of the fence: it was the defendant as local planning authority, yet also the interested party as landowner and developer. That dual role meant the case raised a self-grant planning permission issue. The impugned decision was the permission dated 11 December 2024, following the authority’s 17 April 2024 resolution. The primary ground relied on regulation 64(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017, SI 2017/571, which obliges an authority to put in place suitable administrative measures to secure functional separation where it is both promoter and decision-maker for EIA development. The claimant said the defendant breached its own published handling note, because material that ought to have been placed in inaccessible...

Brown v Ridley [2025] UKSC 7 Background This case concerns adverse possession. Mr Brown holds the registered title to a parcel of land situated to the west of the Promenade in Consett, County Durham, acquired in September 2002 (the 'Brown land'). Mr and Mrs Ridley are the registered proprietors of an adjoining plot of land, purchased in July 2004 ('Valley View'). An earlier proprietor of Valley View put up a fence and planted a hedge along a line they thought marked the boundary between the Brown land and Valley View; the parties now accept that this line in fact enclosed a portion of the registered Brown land as registered, referred to as the 'disputed land'. The Ridleys initially treated the disputed land as part of their garden and later incorporated it into the footprint of a new dwelling (into which they ultimately moved). Planning consent for the new house was granted in early 2018, and the fence and hedge were subsequently taken down later that same year to...

This Practice Note explains the circumstances in which the cost of party wall works can be shared, the relevant entitlement of adjoining and building owners to seek security for damage and expenses, and the surrounding case law. Sharing the cost of party wall works Under the Party Wall etc Act 1996 (PWA 1996), the expense of works (described in PWA 1996 as ‘expenses’) is ordinarily borne by the building owner, save where an exception applies. These exceptions include: where a building owner constructs a new party wall or party fence wall, with the adjoining owner’s consent, the expense is apportioned between the two owners, having proper regard to the use made (or to be made) by each owner, and to the prevailing costs of labour and materials at the time of that use. Accordingly, a building owner may receive no contribution when the new wall is first erected (because the adjoining owner derives no immediate use from it), yet may later...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 obtained Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. For guidance on the Act’s effect on residential tenancies in England, see Practice Note: Renters’ Rights Act 2025—key provisions... A Absolute title A category of title available for registered land. Absolute title is the strongest class that can be granted; it denotes that, apart from matters on the register and any overriding interests, nothing affects the registered proprietor’s freedom to deal with the land... Abstract (of title) A certified summary, prepared by a lawyer, setting out the contents of the title deeds for a particular property... Acquiring authority See Compulsory purchase... Act of Parliament Legislation passed by both Houses of Parliament in the form of a written Bill and given Royal Assent. Sometimes called primary legislation. See also Secondary legislation... Adoption The legal process by which a highway in private ownership becomes a highway maintainable at the public expense....

If a building owner intends to carry out work on an existing party wall or construct a new wall, what steps must they take? This Practice Note outlines the categories of work covered by the Party Wall etc Act 1996 (PWA 1996), formal notice requirements, the dispute resolution route, plus party wall awards, costs, access, special foundations, and safeguards for adjoining owners. The PWA 1996 sets out rights and duties for property owners wishing to: undertake works to existing party walls or party structures erect a new wall or structure on the boundary with an adjoining property excavate within three or six metres of an adjoining building or structure, depending on how deep the works will be Owners proposing such works must serve notice on any affected adjoining owners. In the absence of consent, a dispute resolution process generally follows, involving the appointment of surveyors and culminating in a party wall award authorising the works subject to stated conditions. ...

Date [ insert date ] Parties [ insert name of First Owner ], of [ insert address ], [ incorporated in [ England and Wales ] with company registration number [ insert company registration number ] ] (the First Owner) [ insert name of Second Owner ], of [ insert address ], [ incorporated in [ England and Wales ] with company registration number [ insert company registration number ] ] (the Second Owner) [ insert name of Mortgagee ], of [ insert address ], [ incorporated in [ England and Wales ] with company registration number [ insert company registration ...