Q. We live in a traditional 3-bed home situated on a road with a gradual bend. Consequently, some houses benefit from slightly wider front gardens than their immediate neighbours. The side of our garage wall is built entirely on our land but goes right up to the boundary’s edge. My neighbour doesn’t have a garage on his side but wants to build one. The central thrust of my query is that the space between his house wall and our boundary is not as wide as it is on my side, certainly not enough for a car-sized garage. The only feasible way that he could make it work is to incorporate my garage wall into his plans, effectively making my garage wall a shared commodity. Can he do this and will my garage wall then automatically become a party wall?

A. If your outer garage wall stands on your property, it is yours alone and not a party wall at all. To be a party wall, it would have to “straddle” both properties. Your neighbour therefore has no right to attach anything to it, nor incorporate it into his proposed building plans. This said, so long as the neighbour’s design is sound and the issue of rain egress is properly addressed, and so long as your neighbour has no plans to extend upwards from his new garage in the future which may, if it were attached or part of it, affect the structural integrity of your property, it might foster good neighbourly relations to allow him use of your wall so that he can properly park his car within a decent width garage. For peace of mind and before a brick is laid, insist that he instructs a surveyor’s report at his cost to put your mind at rest.

Got a property quandary? Need an answer ASAP? Leave a comment with your question and we’ll do our best to help.

Q. I live in a period Victorian detached home which has most of its original features including the sash windows intact. As I have never had to paint them before, I’m a little unsure of how to approach the task. Can you advise if there is an easy way?

A. Sash windows are among the trickiest of DIY painting jobs, purely and simply because the sliding panels make life difficult when it comes to reaching those awkward corners. Another reason is that the older the windows are, the more the layers of paint build up, which makes smooth operation extremely difficult.

I would advise taking out the staff beading around the window with a blunt chisel and then undoing the sash rope attached to the sliding window frame. This is usually held in place with staples or nails. After doing that, you can simply separate each individual frame which makes for easier decoration in the workshop or garage. Replace the frames exactly as you took them out and you should have no problems at all.

Q. My friend and I have rented a flat for the past six months. During that time, we have paid our rent on time and kept the flat in remarkably good order. However, on giving notice to the landlord, he has deemed to withhold our deposit without citing a valid reason. Can he do this?

A. Tenant’s deposits are usually required to protect the landlord against you leaving outstanding bills or causing damage to the property. A landlord is not permitted to withhold your deposit simply because of wear and tear or some other insubstantial reason. In April 2007, new laws came into force which provided protection for tenants with regards to their deposits. Under these rules, landlords must protect deposits by either paying into an insured deposit protection scheme or keeping the money themselves and insuring it independently. Either way, your landlord must tell you in writing within 14 days of you paying your deposit which of the two schemes he is using. Deposits secured this way are safe and should be returned to you when the tenancy agreement ends.

Let’s tackle this head-on. Firstly, look over your tenancy agreement and carefully check for any terms of conditions which you may not have been aware of which might permit the landlord to withhold your deposit. If, as I suspect, there are none, I would formally write to the landlord as well as the letting agent reminding them both of this fact, that the property and any contents remain in good condition and that you consider unwarranted withholding of your monies a breach of contract which, if the money is not returned, will lead you to seek recovery. This could either be, initially, via the deposit scheme’s own resolution procedure but, if still not resolved, ultimately through the County Court as a small claim.