To ask the Minister of Finance (i) what plans his Department has to legislate on party walls and structures as recommended by the Northern Ireland Land Commission in its 2010 Report on Land Law; and (ii) to detail the existing laws that protect homeowners when an adjoining building is being demolished.

There are currently no plans to legislate on party walls and structures.

Homeowners and those carrying out works here continue to rely on rights they enjoy at common law, which include the right to repair any defective party structure, to pull down any party structure which is not strong enough to support any building which is to be built, and to replace it with a structure of sufficient strength. They may also cut away or take down any wall or building that overhangs a building owner’s ground in order to erect an upright wall.

Homeowners are also given an opportunity to object to certain proposed building projects as part of the standard planning permission process