Can a Party Wall Agreement Be Verbal?

A verbal party wall agreement is not enforceable under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. The Act is explicit: consent must be given in writing. A friendly chat with your neighbour, a handshake, or even a verbal "yes" on the doorstep does not constitute valid consent and provides no legal protection to either party.

What the Act Requires

Section 10 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 refers throughout to written notices and written responses. The Act was deliberately designed to create a paper trail, because disputes about what was agreed — and when — are extremely common in construction projects.

A valid party wall agreement requires:

• A written notice served on the adjoining owner
• A written response — either written consent or written dissent

The written consent does not need to be a complex legal document. A signed letter from your neighbour, a signed acknowledgement slip, or a clear written statement saying they consent to the works is sufficient. But it must be in writing.

Why Verbal Agreements Fail in Practice

Even setting aside the legal requirements, verbal agreements regularly break down in the context of building works for predictable reasons:

• Scope creep: Works often expand beyond what was originally discussed. What your neighbour "agreed to" verbally may not cover what the builder actually does.
• Change of ownership: If you sell before completing works, or if your neighbour sells, the new parties have no idea what was agreed.
• Memory: People remember conversations differently, particularly under stress. Cracks in a wall after construction produce very different recollections of what was said six months earlier.
• Change of heart: Relationships deteriorate during noisy, dusty, disruptive construction. A neighbour who was happy in theory may be significantly less happy once the scaffolding goes up.

Does Email Count as "In Writing"?

This is a common question. Email is technically in writing, and an email in which your neighbour clearly states that they consent to the described works does provide some written evidence of their agreement.

However, email consent has practical weaknesses:

• It may not clearly identify the property or the specific works
• It does not follow the statutory form, so a surveyor or court might not treat it as formal consent under the Act
• It can be difficult to prove the sender had authority to consent (e.g. if the property is jointly owned)

The safest approach is always to use the formal acknowledgement process — a signed paper document confirming consent to the specific notice you have served. Our notice generator produces an acknowledgement slip alongside the notice so your neighbour can sign and return it immediately.

What If My Neighbour Said Yes Verbally but Now Refuses?

Without written evidence, you have no enforceable consent. Your neighbour can deny that any agreement was reached, and without a paper trail you cannot prove otherwise.

In this situation, you have two options:

1. Restart the notice process — serve a fresh written notice and wait for the 14-day response window. If your neighbour now refuses to consent, a dispute is triggered and surveyors must be appointed.
2. Negotiate — attempt to resolve the matter informally, but ensure any resolution is documented in writing before work starts.

Protecting Yourself from the Start

The only reliable protection is a written notice served correctly, followed by written consent. This takes minutes using the right tools and costs nothing. By contrast, dealing with an injunction or surveyor-led dispute process costs thousands of pounds and weeks of delay.

Steps to protect yourself:

1. Use our notice generator to create the correct statutory notice
2. Serve it by recorded post or hand, keeping proof of delivery
3. Provide the accompanying acknowledgement slip for your neighbour to sign and return
4. File the signed consent with your property documents

What Happens If Work Has Already Started Without a Written Agreement?

If work has started without a valid written agreement, you are exposed. Your neighbour can apply for an injunction to stop the works. They can also claim damages for any impact on their property, and without a pre-works schedule of condition, any dispute about whether damage was pre-existing becomes very difficult to resolve in your favour.

If you are in this position, stop the notifiable work, serve a notice immediately, and seek legal advice. Some surveyors will carry out a retrospective award, though this provides significantly weaker protection than following the correct process from the start.