Loft conversion / roof conversions with flats / dwellings below

Ques­tion – We own the free­hold to the build­ing with the flat direct­ly below us – how­ev­er we do not share a ver­ti­cal wall with them.

Will we need a par­ty wall agree­ment with them as well or only with the own­ers of the build­ing we share a phys­i­cal ver­ti­cal wall with ?

Answer — It real­ly depends on the loca­tion of the flat and I would ask that you send draw­ings (pend­ing instruc­tion / appoint­ment) so that notices can be prop­er­ly iden­ti­fied. Gen­er­al­ly speak­ing if a flank­ing wall i.e. the side wall of a build­ing is mul­ti-storey, regard­less of inter­pre­ta­tion of the leg­is­la­tion, the wall will be affect­ed by an increased load placed on the wall as a result of sup­port­ing a new loft con­ver­sion / roof con­ver­sion and there­fore notice should be served. Regard­less of engi­neers cal­cu­la­tions, expos­ing any part of a par­ty struc­ture or wall is again noti­fi­able under sec­tion 2(2)n of the Par­ty Wall etc. Act 1996, a like­ly sit­u­a­tion for the above and reveals a dif­fer­ent para­me­ter for con­sid­er­a­tion.