Removing a chimney breast - building regulations?

[stockhausen]

My nephew owns and lives in a basement flat. The owner of the three storey accommodation upstairs wants to remove the chimney breast in his living room.

In principle I can't see a problem. However, there was a fireplace (which was bricked up long ago) in the basement and there is still an air brick in what is now my Nephew's bedroom.

If the chimney breast upstairs is removed, I would imagine that the air brick will no longer achieve anything useful - with the possible result that this will cause damp in his bedroom and in the basement.

Are there any building regulations that would apply here?

 

[stockhausen]

Simply because I have been Googling around the subject this afternoon (as I am looking to do similar), I think the owner above does need to liaise with Building Control, and serve Party Wall Act Notices to the neighbours (assuming it is a shared chimney stack with a property on the other side) and your nephew. I don't think the upstairs neighbour can just turn up one morning with some power tools and get working on it.

Not sure if that helps at all?

Thanks, appreciate the response

However, it doesn't really address my inadequately expressed question which was concern about a home owner being permitted to block someone else's ventilation.

 

[stockhausen]

Thanks, that makes sense about the vent (at floor level) not actually making any significant difference in terms of ventilation - I will point that out to him.

The people upstairs are planning to remove the chimney breast just in the front (living) room on the upper ground floor above his basement flat. He has no plans to make any significant changes to his flat and will be selling up and moving on as soon as he can afford to do so - he just wants to make sure that he doesn't have any damp problems in the interim and that there are no problems when he does come to sell.

I have no doubt that their builders will involve the local planning department.

 

[stockhausen]

In this particular case:

• There are two flats
• There are no log burners
• I believe that all of what were once fireplaces have been filled in with just a vent near the floor

What I am interested in is "Are there any building regulations that would apply here" and if so, can someone please point me to a form of them that actually makes sense to a lay person?

 

[stockhausen]

@Scrutinize

• So far as "restrictive covenants" are concerned, when the guy upstairs bought his flat, he got a "Permission to alter" from the vendor, this included allowing him to remove the chimney breast.
• The insurance is split 75:25 between the upstairs and the basement - I don't know what the insurance says about "alterations".
• I will tell my Nephew preemptively to approach the "Council building control department"

Thanks for all that