Issue with neighbour

duncan32

Hello.

Bit of a long one this, so sorry!

I have quite a large conservatory, with a water butt coming off to deal with the excess water (and an overflow pipe running to the bottom of my garden to get the water out of harms way).

Over the last couple of years there have been two occasions where the pipe has become blocked and the water butt has overflowed. My neighbour (both of us are detached houses, but close together) has his garage right up against my garden and the overflowing water butt has "flooded" his garage on these occasions. I use the term "flooded" loosely, as I have not seen anything that is much to worry about imo.

Anyway, last Thursday night he popped around to tell me that he'd like me to dig away some of my garden and put some plastic sheeting down to minimise the problem. I told him that I would think about it and let him know what I would do when I got back from my holiday (which I was going on the next morning).

So, I got back yesterday and when I went out into my back garden I could see that he had climbed over his garage into my garden while I was away and had taken it upon himself to dig into my garden and put some sheeting down himself. He had done a good job I suppose, but the fact that he didn't have my permission alarmed me somewhat!

He is also pretty much insisting that I forget about the idea of the water butt working and instead get a proper down-pipe into a drain. This would involve digging up some slabs on the off chance that there would be a pipe running along the side of the house. I really do not want the hassle of this, and as far as I am concerned the water butt is enough (I have now significantly altered the overflow piping so there is pretty much no chance of a further "flooding".)

One further issue is that because it was very rainy here during the week that I was off, my neighbour emptied my water butt all over a small patch of my garden, which is now a quagmire and I can't see it drying out sometime soon (the grass has just been obliterated).

Anyway, I don't want to fall out with him, but I feel that I need to get some advise from people who may know about this sort of thing! The issue of can he insist on me getting a downpipe into a drain? Can I threaten him with action for intruding on my property if he gets funny? Can he raise any issues about my conservatory being there in the 1st place? and so on.

Thanks for reading....

Duncan

paddy's_mum

The short answer is that yes, he can take action against you over the flooding issue. You are required by very old law to protect your neighbour against escape of water. Modern law would describe it as actionable nuisance.

I can understand that you are very annoyed that he has trespassed in your garden but perhaps you need to consider that he is equally fed up with your water leaking into his garage. I do not believe that your assessment that it isn't much of a problem is especially relevant since the neighbour clearly feels that it is indeed a problem.

In your shoes, I would be doing my best to locate a proper drain and feed the downpipe into it. Better by far to avoid an unpleasant situation than get dragged into a neighbour war. I can assure you, from bitter experience, that to allow the situation to continue and bad feelings to mount is likely to cost you thousands of pounds, a whole raft of grief and misery, and end up with you wishing you had just lifted a few slabs, found a drain and ended the difficulties.

It should not be hard to locate the locate the likely position of an appropriate drain - is the real reason you are reluctant because you think your neighbour is being high-handed? He may well be so, but please think hard about swallowing your anger and don't let something that is so easy to fix escalate into a neighbour war. It simply isn't worth it.

I find it hard to believe that the contents of just one water butt can make your lawn a quagmire. Be aware of just how much rain we had. It is likely to drain and dry out quite happily in the next few days.

Only my opinions. Others perhaps will disagree but it may give you something to consider.

paddy's_mum

A second little thought - is the reason that your lawn is now a quagmire BECAUSE the neighbour has installed his plastic barrier to protect his garage, and the water cannot now freely escape? If that turns out to be the case, you really should reconsider your position and grasp that he was having to deal with a considerable problem, and one for which he was not responsible.

I am not trying to take sides here nor talk against you, just giving you any benefit there may be from knowing my thoughts. Good luck with it.

loons

Before you entrench yourself.... put yourself in his shoes and consider what you would then be thinking about a possible inconsiderate neighbour.
Meet him to discuss a solution !

alanobrien

From experience i can tell you that decent neighbours are worth their weight in gold. I would deal with the issue and even go as far as to ask them if they were happy with what was done to resolve it.

They will respect you for it and remember it.

ailuro2

Put a mesh cover on the guttering to stop it blocking.

Fit a downpipe as an overflow from the water butt- it doesn't have to be full size, just enough to drain off the excess when the butt is more than,say,3/4 full.

I would be abit worried about the neighbour coming over into the garden and doing it himself- but at least he saved you a job!

home_alone

Not quite the response you were looking for Duncan32 I will go along with the rest its your problem that is causing any friction put youself in his shoes, he seems to be trying to solve your problem.

gary

Doonhamer

Yes, I agree with the other posters. My neighbour is a complete nougat, if yours is a fairly reasonable guy just bite your tongue. It will be worth it in the long run. I couldn't begin to tell you the trouble I have.

Go the extra mile to keep the peace, you will be glad you did.

golfnutt

I agree with the other posts, it is best to to stay on good terms with your neighbour. After all the problem does seem to stem from your property.
BUT..... your neighbour has no legal right to encroach on your property, and certainly not alter it in any way.
Its basically your call whether you want to live next to each other in some kind of harmony, or take legal action against each other, and live in bitterness.:think:

duncan32

Thanks everyone for the replies. It seems pretty unanimous that I have got to sort this out, so I will take this on board and sort it. My worry is that I have no idea whether there IS a drain the put the down pipe into. I suppose I will have to get some slabs pulled up at the side of my house and HOPE to find a pipe running along the side of the house. If I cannot find a drain to go into, what do you suggest? I thought about perhaps running the water butt into a second water butt, so that I have a lot of water storage before any potential over flow. I think I am now looking at this problem from a different (and better) angle, its just a case of finding the right solution....

Thanks again.

Duncan

Errata

Wouldn't the simplest solution be to actually use the water in the butt ?