Child & Child have specialised in dealing with party wall, boundary and rights of light disputes for many years and are well known as a pre-eminent firm with a unique depth of specialist knowledge and experience in the field.

Child & Child have a team of lawyers who practise in these areas on a day to day basis and have acquired a strong reputation in what is a highly specialised area of the law. 

Andrew Smith has specialised in the subject since the early 1990s and regularly advises commercial and residential property owners and their professional advisors on rights and liabilities arising under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, rights of light and boundaries and regularly deals with associated matters such as rights of access, oversailing licences, rights of way and easements.

Andrew has addressed numerous seminars and lectures, principally to the surveying and legal profession, and has published a number of articles on the subject, some of which can be found in our legal guides section.

Some examples of cases which Child & Child have handled in this area are as follows:

• Successful claim for an injunction to restrain developers from constructing their development on a client’s party wall in the City of London.
• Substantial claim against developers for damage caused by subsidence to a large property in Liverpool, as a result of breaches of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
• Substantial reported case in the Technology & Construction Court concerning damage to residential property caused by works carried out in breach of the party wall award.
• Complex trial in the Chancery Division of the High Court in Warrington, successfully resolving a boundary dispute in relation to a right of way giving on to the Manchester Ship Canal.
• Successfully representing developers in resisting an injunction to restrain the construction of a development in Nottingham City Centre based on alleged infringements of rights of light.
• Successfully representing an institutional investor in resisting an application for an injunction to restrain the construction of a development in the City of London based on alleged infringements of rights of light.
• Successfully obtaining an injunction on behalf of a private client against a developer requiring the demolition of part of a development in Brighton City Centre infringing the client’s rights of light.
• Dealing with numerous claims on behalf of private clients in respect of breaches by contractors of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, including injunctions and claims for damages.
• Numerous appeals against party wall awards to the county court, including referrals to the Technology & Construction Court.
• Advising surveyors and engineers in relation to the requirements of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and associated construction matters.
• Handling numerous trials of domestic boundary disputes.
• Successfully challenging numerous party wall awards as defective for failure to comply with statutory requirements.
• Successfully obtaining orders for access to adjoining property under the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992, including fully contested trials.
• Successfully resisting an application for an injunction to partially demolish a studio built by fashion designers in breach of an adjoining owner’s rights of light.
• Successfully obtaining a declaration that a building owner was not entitled to access to the client’s property for the purpose of carrying works under section 1 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
• Resolving numerous complex party wall, rights of light and boundary disputes by negotiation.
• Advising developers, private clients and their professional advisors in relation to rights and obligations under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, rights of light and other boundary related issues.

Please telephone Andrew Smith on 020 7201 5582 or James Beat on 020 7201 5581.