council tenant keeps flooding my flat

deborahmackay

hello

Im new here, so i hope i have posted in the right place!

I bought my flat about 3 years ago from a private seller, but it used to be a council flat. the other 3 flats in my building are all council owned. my flat is on the ground floor.

the problem is that in the last 18 months my upstairs neighbour has flooded my flat 9 times (4 times in the last 3 months!) he is a council tenant and is completly unable to maintain his tenancy due to drug abuse and mental illness.

I have complained to the council every time he has flooded me, but they never do anything, stating it is not their responsibility to monitor his behaviour.

I have had to already claim on my insurance many times, and frankly i am sick of having to shell out for his negligence.

but i can not seem to find a definative answer to whether or not the council have any libilty for their tenants behaviour and i can not afford to hire a lawyer.

If i could sell my flat i would, but at the moment with the market in the toilet that is not an option. my life is miserable at the moment, i cant go away over night as he may turn on the taps, and then pass out due to the Research chemicals he takes (these are not illeagal, so i cant get him on this fact). i have alearted him to the flooding several times, as he is so out of it he dosnt realise, and cant imagine what damage would have been done had i not been there to alert him to the problem.

any advice that you can offer would be a massive help

thankyou for reading

Deborah

MissMotivation

Sounds like a nightmare! :eek:

Just an initial thought and maybe I'm assuming too much but is it worth contacting Social Services as he is obviously unable to look after himself properly?

Fire_Fox

Environmental Health? Being flooded so frequently must be making the property difficult to live in safely ...

missile

What a sad story. I guess you will be paying a high premium for insurance? With this history, you may find it difficult to even get insurance in the future.

I would think the council do have a duty of care. Do you have legal assistance as part of your house insurance?

davmail

Hi,you need to contact the Anti social behavior section of your town hall,and tell them of all the incidents,I would guess that the person is also under a 'support' regime from someone like REAP,or under the community mental health team,who can try to do something about it for you,it is not acceptable for this to keep happening to you,you MUST insist the council does something,as they are the landlord and have a responsibility to you as well, as I presume you pay charges as a 'leaseholder'???Be firm,involve the ASB section straight away.Also complain to the local authority ombudsman,or threaten the council that you will contact them if they do not help.

Jowo_2

Is the property in England/Wales or Scotland?

Make sure you report everything in writing and keep a copy. Good written records always help.

Consider raising it with your local councillor.

PasturesNew

No idea what state he's in when you let him know he needs to turn his taps off, but there's an alarm you can get that fits in the bath and when a bath's about to overflow the alarm goes off.

It's intended for probably forgetful people, or maybe the blind.. not sure.

*googles it*

Here's the sort of thing http://www.gadgetsuk.com/Bath-water-level-sensor-and-temp-sensor-p-16975.html

There are all sorts of types/prices: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=bath+water+alarm&meta=&aq=f&oq=

Perhaps you could buy him one for Xmas

googler

Write to your MP alerting him/her to the council's lack of interest in this individual and your situation

BitterAndTwisted

I'd get in touch with the Housing Dept as well and tell them there are some rather large bills coming their way for repairs so they'd better ensure their insurance premiums are up to date

g_attrill

Nightmare! I would agree that you need to make as many calls as possible (to other agencies) and perhaps mention you are "more concerned for his safety really" eg. he might drown, or electrocute himself in the flooded water. Apart from the social solution (get him out!) there should be a practical solution really, eg. replacing the bathroom and kitchen parts with ones which are impossible to overflow.

planning303

After 9 times in a year and a half i'm pretty suprised your insurance company haven't been more up for getting involved as its them who'll be paying for his negligence, or worse case stop insuring you / put you premium up to a point that you cannot insure.

You mentioned that the "research chems" are not illigal. The government are really cracking down on the world of legal highs and you might find that something thats ok now will be class b/a in a few month time