Once a Section 3 or Section 6 notice is served, the adjoining owner has 14 days to respond in writing. A Section 1 proposal for a wall astride the boundary has a different consent requirement, so the notice type must be checked first.
Option 1: Consent
The neighbour signs to say they're content for the works to go ahead. For a Section 3 or Section 6 notice, written consent can keep the notice out of the Section 10 dispute route once the applicable notice period and other requirements are met.
Consenting doesn't mean giving up protection. The Act still applies in full — the building owner must avoid unnecessary inconvenience, and remains responsible for damage the works cause. A neighbour may also agree an informal schedule of condition (photos and notes of the existing state of the wall) to help record the baseline. Consent records the response; it is not a guarantee that no later issue will arise.
Option 2: Dissent
Dissent means a "dispute" has arisen, and surveyors are appointed to resolve it with a Party Wall Award. The Award process provides a route for determining conditions for the notified works; it is not a guarantee that every proposed work can proceed in every circumstance.
The neighbour has two routes:
- Dissent and agree a single Agreed Surveyor — one impartial surveyor acts for both owners. This may be proportionate where both parties accept the route.
- Dissent and appoint their own surveyor — each owner has a surveyor, and the two produce the award together. The building owner normally pays both sets of reasonable fees.
Either way, the outcome is an award that records the condition of the neighbour's property and sets rules for the works. The building owner normally pays reasonable surveyor fees, and the timetable depends on appointments, inspections and the complexity of the works.
Option 3: No written response — the deemed dispute
For a Section 3 or Section 6 notice, if the neighbour gives no written consent for 14 days, a deemed dispute can arise. It is not consent by default and it does not make the notice go away. After a further formal request, if the neighbour still will not engage, the building owner can have a surveyor appointed on their behalf under the Act. We've written a full guide to what happens when a neighbour ignores a notice.
Which response should a neighbour give?
If the works are modest, the drawings are clear and the relationship is good, written consent (ideally with a photographic schedule of condition) may be a proportionate response. If the works are structural, involve deep excavation, or the neighbour has genuine concerns about the building, dissenting and agreeing a single Agreed Surveyor may provide a formal route for setting conditions.
For building owners: you influence the answer
The response you get is influenced by the notice you serve. A correct, plain-English notice that explains the neighbour's options — served after a friendly conversation, not instead of one — gives them a clearer basis for deciding how to respond. Generate a compliant notice in minutes, with the response forms included.