Testimonials
“We instructed Mr Hawking to deal with our Party Wall matters where our neighbours caused £25,000 worth of damage to our property. The neighbour denied causing damage and continued to carry out his works which caused further damage.
Mark applied to the courts for an ex-parté injunction to prevent any further damage from occurring to our property. Costs were ordered in our favour, including all costs to rectify damage. We were awarded in excess of £25,000 and we are obviously very pleased with the outcome that Mark obtained for us.”
Mr & Mrs Blyth
“Single storey rear extension building on the line of junction.
Our neighbours tried to delay our project and refused scaffold access. Mr Hawkins applied to the courts for intervention awarding all costs in our favour.”
Oxford
“The neighbour refused us scaffold access rights when we needed to do work on our property, so Mr Hawkins advised not to use neighbouring access rights act but advised us to implement the Party Wall act under section 8.1 of the legislation which gives legal right for erection of scaffold for a limited period.
Scaffold licences were given, giving our neighbour 14 days’ notice of intention. Further to this, the award did not get appealed and were able to continue works without incurring any more delays.”
The cottages – Barton
“We were demolishing an existing bungalow and building a new detached executive family home in its place. We did not realise that we had to serve Party Wall notices, therefore a dispute had arisen. To make matters worse, the position of the site boundary was also in dispute with our neighbour.
Mr Hawkins experience and advice helped and assisted us in resolving the dispute using the Prescription Act 1832. By carefully considering the title deeds showing easements and covenants and established fixtures that have been in situ for more than 20 years, we were then able to determine the boundary accurately using an EDM station (electrical distance measuring equipment) therefore extinguishing any claim by adjoining owner, who finally accepted the findings.”
Dean – Cannock
“I instructed the services of Mr Hawkins when our neighbour made a claim that our boundary wall was in the wrong place. We had bought a property to do up and build a new bungalow in the garden. An opening to the site was required for access to the new build bungalow.
In addition to our neighbour disputing the boundary, he also tried to prevent planning permission from being obtained for the bungalow.
Mark advised us to try to resolve the dispute amicably but as the neighbour would not engage, or attend mediation, we then applied to the courts for intervention.
Eventually £10,000 was awarded against the neighbour for frustration and the rectification of the boundary was awarded in our favour.”
Cheslyn Hay-Littlewood Road
“Our neighbour was having a 2 storey side extension built. We asked him to employ a party wall surveyor but he failed to do so. Consequently, his extension was built overhanging onto my property. We instructed Mark to deal with the matter for us. Using his diplomacy skills and bridge building techniques, he was appointed by ourselves and the neighbour as the agreed surveyor. He managed to resolve the issues without any court intervention with a Party Wall Award.”
Glen – Ogley Hay Road
“We Instructed mark to deal with the collapse of a 4 storey building. The neighbours were carrying out works which caused the collapse, but we were accused of having historical damage to the property.
The insurance company did a complete ‘u’ turn and sided with us when previously we were denied cover. Mark also obtained 2No. court injunctions in our favour.
We were awarded £86,000 compensation and costs of repair in our favour. The Courts instructed a joint expert witness who agreed with Marks report and won the case.”
Brek Road Liverpool
“Demolition of former public house replaced with apartments. Mr Hawkins represented us when we accidentally caused damage whilst carrying out our works.
We advised the solicitors that we were responsible for the damage caused, but unfortunately, the other sides surveyor tried to claim £45,000. Mark tested market for the true cost of rectifying the issues by obtaining 3 quotes. Due to this, we discovered the true cost of the remedial works to be around £6,000, Much less than the originally stated £45,000!
Marks intervention saved us £36000 in building costs, we did not have to appoint a solicitor therefore we saved the fees needed for any expensive litigation and we were able to continue with the project.”
Stafford Street Walsall
“We were due to have a loft conversion installed and our neighbour was doing anything he could to frustrate the works, so Mark, having served notices, and them not responding, exercised his rights under 1.4b of legislation, to appoint a surveyor in their absence.
When the time came to erect the scaffolding, our neighbour refused access, therefore Mark contacted Leicester constabulary for potential breach of the peace due to the neighbour not letting us implement scaffold access rights, to which they assisted as we had party wall in place. Our builder continued work without any further delays.”
Leicester
“My neighbours were constructing a 3 storey below ground leisure complex including swimming pool. I appointed Mr Hawkins to carry out Party Wall functions for me, having experienced problems with my other neighbours regarding this. He carried out a schedule of condition survey and reviewed the documents provided to the scheme.
Mark discovered that under CDM regulations 2015, the contractors did not possess the necessary SKET (skill, knowledge, experience & training), also the Structural Engineers details did not allow for water table and ground bearing pressure.
Mark prevented further works from being carried out to safeguard my property until the structural element of the scheme had been redesigned.
He also advised me to consent to specialist foundations being used – this meant we could apply for security of expenses.”
London Developer – Kensington
“I sold a property which had some development land behind it. After the sale I was going to build a new house on the land but the person who purchased the property off me decided to put up a fence, blocking access to the development site. To make matters worse, I was still owed the final payment from said person.
Mark tried to attend site on my behalf but was refused access. He referred the matter to his legal team who obtained access. He finally attended site, took measurements and prepared drawings which proved beyond doubt that the fence was in the wrong place.
When the buyer of my house was confronted with the evidence, he moved the fence and even paid the final payment that he owed me.”
George – Bloxwich