Party Wall Data Study · 2026

30,000 Notices and 9,000 Awards

What ten years of party wall notices, responses and awards say about how neighbours actually behave under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.

31,161 notices · 9,304 awards · data to October 2026 · anonymised aggregate statistics only

Download the report PDF, 8 pages

About the study

Party Wall PRO has been used to serve party wall notices and awards since 2016. This study pools the anonymised records of every notice, response and award managed through the platform over that period to answer the questions surveyors are asked every week: will the neighbour consent, how long will they take to reply, and how long until the award is served?

The report covers volumes and seasonality, how adjoining owners respond, how long matters take, and closes with five practical ways party wall surveyors can put the numbers to work.

Headline findings

2 in 3Most neighbours dissent

67% of adjoining owners dissent. Of those, 64% appoint their own surveyor.

17 daysThe 14-day clock runs slow

Median time to a response. Only 44% reply inside the statutory 14 days.

73 daysNotice to award

The median. One job in ten takes more than 193 days.

32 daysAn agreed surveyor saves a month

Median 52 days to award with an agreed surveyor against 84 with two.

60%Corporate neighbours dig in

Company-owned neighbours appoint their own surveyor 60% of the time and consent just 11%.

47% vs 26%London is different

Own-surveyor rate inside London postal districts versus everywhere else. Awards take five weeks longer.

−41%December is quiet, March peaks

Thursday is the most common day to serve both notices and awards.

61%The 10-day letter works

Of neighbours sent a 10-day letter, 61% then respond.

What's inside

Part 1 · Headline findings

  • Ten findings on consent, dissent, response times and how long awards take
  • Why developers face more neighbours and more friction

Part 2 · Volume, mix and seasonality

  • Notices served per year since 2017: no pandemic dip, and 2025 the busiest year on record
  • Which sections get served and how often they are combined
  • Month-by-month and day-of-week patterns, and how the work is spreading beyond London

Part 3 · How neighbours respond

  • Outcome of first notice, response times, the 10-day letter and section 10(4)(b)
  • Who dissents: owner type is the strongest single predictor, ahead of notice type or region
  • How dissent has trended from 2017 to 2025

Part 4 · How long it takes

  • Notice-to-award percentiles and how they have improved year on year
  • What slows an award down: surveyor route, region, owner type, number of neighbours and notice type
  • Five ways party wall surveyors can use the data, from risk-based pricing to planning around the seasons

Get the full report. All the tables, trends and practical recommendations in an 8-page PDF, free to download.

Download PDF

Published by Lexitup Limited (DBA Party Wall PRO) for general information only; not legal, surveying or other professional advice. Statistics are derived from anonymised, aggregated records of matters managed through Party Wall PRO, are weighted towards London and the South East, and may not be representative of party wall matters generally. No personal data or information identifying any firm, client, owner, property or matter is included.

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