Upstairs flat has leaking overflow - What can i do??

mac123

I own a ground floor flatand the upstairs flat has a leaking overflow pipe which drips onto my windowsill and onto the grass outside my flat.

It is now getting worse and is more like a continuous flow like a tap rather than a drip and the grass is all waterlogged (not to mention the noise as it's right outside my bedroom).

I called the management company and they said theyd send a letter top the tenant (who would probably ignore it).

What else can i do as i'm worried about the water soaking into brickwork etc??

Can i write to the landlord of the flat and/or what are my rights?

Cheers

Mac

mattogier

Have you tried talking to them?

Yo will have access to the loft space if your tank is up there too - if so get up there and bend their ballcock down.

missile

I note you mention a management company. Do they act for you too? If so presumably you have some sort of joint agreement for maintenance? This ought to detail what the procedure is for repairs. I guess it says "phone management company"(?) and I would phone them to complain twice a day - every day.

Even in the absence of an agreement, you are legally able to enforce owner to repair, but this could be a long and expensive route via a solicitor.

However the quickest option is - Go speak to the tennant, you may find they don't even know it is leaking, and offer to fix / have it fixed for free.

djm1972

Plug it. They'll soon become motivated enough to sort the problem out. :eek:

courtjester

If it's a tenanted property, it's probably the management company that are responsible for maintenance so I woul dget back on to them - it's probably a WC cistern overflow (rather than a loft tank) if it's coming out of the wall from their flat - it's a pretty easy fix /adjustment, so try and speak to the tenant directly about it.

Alternatively, you could call the water company - I think it's an offence to waste water isn't it? They may be able to issue some kind of official notice to fix if you get nowhere with communicating with the tenant.

conniemander

our upstairs neighbours had a leaking wc cistern for several weeks, however we didnt find out until water started gushing through ceiling causing lots of damage. we both share the same landlord who apparently they informed when they first noticed it. because he didnt bother getting it fixed right away (the plumber who eventually fixed it said he'd been told not to rush as it wasnt emergency) it not only cost him more money in avoidable damage but caused us lots of hassle with builders/cleaning etc so you must get it sorted asap even if it is outside.

hazeyj

I would of thought that this was a building issue anyway rather than a owner issue. As it affects the outside of the building. The management company should sort this out this problem via the service charge fund.