Legal advice on shared walls

Questioner

Dear, I have a plot of land with a detached house, and there are brick commercial buildings on the side and rear. The building along the back of my plot also functions as my back wall. Now the owner wants to demolish the buildings so that I no longer have a back wall. There is also a carport attached to this, which was already the case when I bought the building. Given the condition, this has been the case for quite a few years. Can the business premises be demolished and so I no longer have a rear separation? If so, who will pay for the new separation? thanks in advance for the answer\\grt

Lawyer

Of course this is not permissible. You are also the owner of the back wall. The owner who wants to demolish the adjacent building will have to enter into a conclave with you and ensure compensation. Early mediation would be appropriate. The question that arises is whether your home is not a 'company home' as such.

Lawyer

It must be determined whether the part of the wall to which the carport is attached qualifies as a shared wall; in that case, demolition of that part is only possible by mutual agreement. Whether there is a question of shared ownership depends on the way in which the carport is attached to the wall. For the remaining part of the wall, there is in any case no question of shared ownership, so the owner of the commercial property can simply demolish it. After the wall has been demolished, you can demand that the owner cooperates in placing a 2-metre high dividing wall on the property boundary (this does not apply if your plot is located outside the built-up area).

Questioner

Hello, thanks for the response. On the other side of the plot there is also an old stable with the side against the building of the neighbors behind. When is a wall shared? All in all, it could be quite a big expense if that building were to be demolished.

Lawyer

Joint ownership is a form of bound co-ownership of, for example, a dividing wall, a hedge or a path. The owners of the plots on either side of it are then the joint owners of that wall, hedge, path or waterway. This means that the maintenance of this is also at the joint expense and that one may not unilaterally proceed to change, demolish or cut down. The shared path must remain freely accessible and usable for both parties. Joint ownership is regulated in Book 5 of the Dutch Civil Code, Title 5, Articles 60 et seq. It can be a legal or a contractual joint ownership.

Lawyer

Because in this case there are not freestanding walls but walls that are part of a building, there is no question of co-ownership under the law, not even if the walls are on the property boundary. The walls are the property of the owner of the building. An exception to this is that where the carport is built against the wall, there could be a question of joint ownership, but this will not happen quickly. In a ruling by the Court of Leeuwarden on 30 October 2012 (LJN BY1558), it concerned a case in which a garage was built against a non-freestanding wall; there were attachment points but not a structural whole. The ruling in question determined that having attachment points does not mean that there would be a common wall; in the opinion of the court, there was no question of common ownership and joint ownership of the wall. This means that if there is a structural whole (i.e. anchoring and beaming in the wall), there could be a common wall. This would then only concern the part of the wall that was built against, which must also have been done with the permission of the owner. As I indicated earlier, further investigation is necessary to determine whether there is joint ownership in this case.