Hi there,
I was wondering if anyone here has dealt with this situation …
Long story short, my neighbor has built a brand new house next to mine, their land is elevated higher than my land/house therefore a retaining wall is needed.
I was wondering who pays for the wall?
Thanks for the help.
How tall is the retaining wall? In my area (Adelaide) it's accepted that if the wall/fence benefits both parties equally then you share the costs 50/50. The 60cm walls on either side of my house were paid that way with my neighbours.
But if your neighbour wants to add soil and bulk up their side quite high (let's say, 1m tall wall) then you have an argument for getting them to pay most of it.
I'm not sure how tall the wall will be.
Though when they built - I'm sure they added more soil to level it out. My house is pretty much on the dip of the road.
I'm in NSW.
Thanks for your input x
If they’ve added soil then they should need to retain it. Speak with your local council.
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Thanks for the site.
I did read it, its a bit ambiguous in regards to my situation.
When the previous owner (old house) was there we had no problem as the soil was level to us.
Now that the new owners have built a new house and their house is higher than my house. It doesn't seem to make sense that I need to contribute to the retaining wall.
talk to the local council and to your neighbour…
I thought if a retaining wall is needed due to the gradient by law, it will be part of their permit to build their house.
Otherwise, it is not needed. If one is desired, then it will be up to you to negotiate with your neighbour. Then, I think 50/50 is fair.
It a bit difficult to comment without seeing your land and conditions. If your land was not previously at risk of causing a collapse to the other property then you shouldn't be responsible for any costs for rectifying or retaining your land.
The neighbours property was built after yours so they need to do whatever is required to safely retain land from falling on your side or vice versa.
But again it depends on what the actual circumstance is.
I would speak to the council planning office and find out what has gone to council and been approved. The issue is not only about the retaining wall but also making sure that water run off doesn’t go to your property. I’m surprised all this wasn’t resolved in the planning process but, my assumption, would be that they should be paying for the wall.
The land that is elevated higher and thus requires to be retained is the land owner’s responsibility so that it does not spill over onto the adjacent lower level block - council says
Thanks for your reply, all good. Neighbour has paid for this :)
Glad it worked out for you.
Thanks :)
Whoever wants to flatten the bit on their side.
Why is a retaining wall needed because of the neighbors house? Surely that would only be if you were to remove dirt on your side of the fence? If so you pay…
If they're building up dirt on their side they would have built a wall there to protect their house…