Attic fire wall

I live in a terraced house and have an adjoining attic which is open with my next door neighbour.  He had spoken to me today saying he is looking to release equity in his house and his surveyor has said we will need a fire wall installed between the two properties otherwise won’t be able to get a mortgage on the property.  He is asking me to contribute towards the cost of installing.   I never had an issue when I bought the house although it was 16 years ago.  I also remortgaged last year and switched mortgage providers and had no issue.  So is what he is saying correct?  Have building regs changed recently? Should I be expected to pay for this?  I have no intention of moving from the property

Is he turning the attic into a liveable space?

Sounds like a neighbour problem to me. I’d not be paying up.

But how much is contribution? A few hundred or thousands? The former may be worth it to avoid a disagreement.

There must be thousands of terraced houses in the UK with open or semi-open attics that have mortgages on them.

It’s not going to be a living space and he’s asking for £1K plus off me

Hmm – tricky.

Are you/him end of terrace? If you’re both mid-terrace what happens to the other sides?

If you are mid then you’d have to have the other side done or it’s pointless to you.

It’s mid terrace but the other side is already bricked up

I know nothing about these things, but will you get any benefit whatsoever for your £1k+? If not, perhaps you could put that question to him (phrased all nice like) and see what he says?

He wants the work doing, he pays.

It makes practical sense e.g. having a defined space but I would say that the decision ought to be agreed in full by both parties not one telling the other.

We lived in a terrace of four cottages and had a “firewall” between us and our neighbour (we were an end terrace so only one side needed) – oddly there was a door in ours into their roof space!

If they go ahead without your contribution make sure it is in the right place.

Further down our terrace someone got the line “wrong” and so one neighbours roof hatch went into the neighbouring property’s roof space not theirs …

I thought you needed one for insurance purposes.  I would certainly want one if it were me.

I thought you needed one for insurance purposes. I would certainly want one if it were me.

That was my understanding, and if insurers flag it, that might be why mortgage lenders are cagey.

a relative recently sold a house and this was flagged as an issue so is probably wise to do. I think some contribution is reasonable but what you seem as reasonable is down to you. It’s certainly not going to become a cheaper job if you leave it for another time.

We had this flagged when we bought our place. Asked the neighbours and they didn’t even have loft access. We just did it because it was over the kitchens.

I’d get a rough price myself or look to see details so you know what you are getting. I’d probably pay the building company directly also. Ask the invoice to be split appropriately.

When we bought our last house – it was one of the things that was checked when we had a survey -and that was 20 years ago.  It was also a question raised by our house insurers.

OP, do you or the neighbour have an access hatch into loft space?

I really think that if it could protect you and your family from  a fire spreading so quickly into your property via the attic then c.£1k seems a bargain

Same issue came up on my buyers survey when I sold my Victorian mid-terrace 5 years ago, their mortgage lender wouldn’t lend until the work was done as it was on the survey.

1/2 the base length X height in metres will tell you how many blocks . 10 blocks /M2

I day for 2 guys so probably 120/150 blocks to build, need something to lay over the joists if not floored both houses just incase a block gets dropped and lands on a bed through the burst ceiling

I guess it makes sense to go 50/50 on it as it benefits both parties…assuming the quote is proper.

I’m in an end house and there is a brick partition to next door, but there are a coulple of gaps where the birck wall meets the roof so you could shine a torch through and see into next doors loft if you really wanted to..dunno how tight/well done they would need to be to be effective as a firewall?

If you refuse, he could come across and piss in your water tank.

I had a retention on my mortgage because of this back in the 1980s, so its not a new thing.  I built it myself as I was skint, but £1000 sound reasonable for added peace of mind.  Might be worth checking your house insurance policy.

Our Victorian semi had it done. Was put in before we bought it but was noted as being there on the survey. Was just made out of breeze block or whatever it’s called. Had some gaps in it at the top, so not sure how effective it would have been at stopping a fire, but better than nothing I guess.

The one we had was platester board and presumably timber framed rather than block.

The firewall in my Daughter’s flat is constructed of wooden studs, insulation and double sheets of Gyproc.

Get your neighbour to pay for the bulk of the materials/work and you pay for the double sheeting of Gyproc on your side. That would be my opening offer to them!

If you refuse, he could come across and piss in your water tank.

Arguably less bad than frozen sausages…