england-and-wales real-estate
Can a wall only be part-party? (England)
<p>I own a semi-detached house 10m tall. A large garage on the detached side shares the bottom 2m of the wall. It belongs to the neighbours, who will build a house to replace the garage. Is the whole side wall considered a party wall, or only the bottom 2m?</p>

<p>I would say all of the 10m wall based on the definition given at <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/40/section/20?timeline=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">s.20 of the Party Wall Act 1996</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;party wall” means—</p>
<p>(a) a wall which forms <strong>part of a building</strong> and stands on lands of different owners to a greater extent than the projection of any artificially formed support on which the wall rests; and</p>
<p>(b) so much of a wall not being a wall referred to in paragraph (a) above as separates buildings belonging to different owners;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>NB as per s.22(4), the 1996 Act extends to England and Wales only.</p>
