This essay will attempt to critically evaluate some of the legal and policy issues that led to the enactment of the Party Wall Act 1996 and whether it has been successful.

The first 200 words of this essay...

This essay will attempt to critically evaluate some of the legal and policy issues that led to the enactment of the Party Wall Act 1996 and whether it has been successful. Lord Lytton expressed it best in his speech during the second reading of the bill for the Party Walls Act 1996. He insists that many of the disputes between adjacent owners are out of proportion to the issues and this is the key problem which the Bill attempts to address.1 He shrewdly points out some of the problems within the existing legislature in dealing with party wall structures between adjacent neighbours. What Lord Lytton is referring to is the often preventable disputes that neighbours experience when one of the parties, namely, the 'building owner' undertakes construction work. This includes work that is ..."carried out to a party wall or other shared boundary structure. They also apply to the erection of a new boundary structure ('line of junction works') and to excavations which have the potential to interfere with the stability of an adjacent building or structure ('adjacent excavations')."2 Often times, this dispute cannot be settled by the two parties alone and thus legal ramifications ensue. However, if there was