- Places covered
- Guildford
- Dorking
- Horsham
- Crawley
- Planning authorities
- Guildford Borough Council, Mole Valley District Council, Horsham District Council, Crawley Borough Council
Older buildings, older walls
Guildford has a historic centre and many Victorian and Edwardian terraces. Dorking has period cottages and houses in and around the Surrey Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Horsham has an old core and later suburbs, and Crawley is a post-war new town with neighbourhoods of terraced and semi-detached houses.
In the older parts, party walls are not uniform. They may be brick, stone, flint or timber-framed. They may be thick in one place and thin in another, and chimney stacks are often shared by two or three cottages. Cutting into them, or removing a breast, can affect the house next door in ways a modern cavity wall would not.
What triggers a party wall notice in Guildford
- Chimney breast and stack work in terraces and rows of cottages, where the stack is shared. See chimney breast removal and roofing work.
- Loft conversions that load an old party wall. See loft conversions.
- Extensions that tie into old walls or excavate beside shallow foundations. Older buildings often have shallow foundations, which makes a Section 6 notice more likely.
- Repairs to a defective party wall, where the cost may be shared between the owners.
- Work on listed buildings, where listed building consent runs alongside the Act.
The record matters most
For older buildings, a schedule of condition is the most valuable thing on the file. Cracks, bulges and leaning walls are normal and often decades old. The schedule shows what was there before, so that a hairline crack is not blamed on a builder who arrived last month.
Several councils
This area spans Guildford Borough Council, Mole Valley District Council (for Dorking), Horsham District Council and Crawley Borough Council. Planning, listed building and conservation area rules come from them. The notices under the Act are the same across all four.
Party wall surveyor fees in Guildford
A notice is £70, a schedule of condition is £350 and an award starts at £600, with no VAT. Call 0800 999 1947 for a free first call.
Party wall services in Guildford
- Party wall notice in Guildford£70 fixed. We search the Land Registry, prepare the notice and follow it up.
- Schedule of condition in Guildford£350 fixed. A photographed record of the neighbouring property before work starts.
- Party wall award in GuildfordFrom £600. We act as agreed surveyor for both owners.
- All our fixed feesNo VAT, and a written quotation before you commit.
Guildford is part of our Surrey service area. See every area we cover.
Guildford, Dorking and Horsham questions
My house is listed. Does the Act still apply?
Yes. The Act applies to listed buildings as to any other, and listed building consent is separate from it. Both can be needed, and the listed building consent usually comes first because it decides what work is allowed.
The party wall in my old cottage is not straight. Does that matter?
It matters to the record. Old walls are often out of plumb, uneven and built of mixed materials, so a thorough schedule of condition, with measurements and photographs, is what lets everyone tell later what was already there.
Do you cover Crawley and Horsham, which are in West Sussex?
Yes. The Act applies across England and Wales, so the notices and process are the same in West Sussex as in Surrey.