Neighbours Leaking Roof Causing Damage

stanners_2

I was hoping someone could offer some advise on the following situation.

I recently bought a property which unknown to me has a fairly major damp problem (since found out seller was painting walls on a weekly basis etc to hide the issues when viewings were happening)

We established that the damp was caused by ingress of water from the roof. When it rains hard it runs down the walls. I've had to remove all the plaster and expose the stone behind as it was wet through when it rains hard. Have several types of fungus growing on the walls including mould which cannot be good for our health.

Also we cannot decorate quite a few rooms in the house until this is sorted.

This is where the issues lie. We have had a few roofers out and the main issue lies in that the neighbours property needs a whole new roof along with the valley between the two houses re doing (shared cost in the valley)

The neighbours are elderly and cannot afford to fix it currently. They say they will be able to in time but realistically i need this doing now not in 12 months time.

The neighbour has to go into the loft to empty buckets of water when it rains. Again not ideal for them as both in their 70's.


Not sure what to do. Surely there's some kind of help available to them. From what i've read on the internet and on this forum there is but hoped someone who has/had this issue could share there advice or just anyone in the know.

Cheers

Bigphil1474

Where I live the local council could require them to have the roof repaired but might get them into difficulty. Without going down the legal route, may be persuade them to get help from or contact Age UK or CAB. They may be eligible for some financial assistance.

going_nowhere_fast

I would ring your insurance company and see if they could advise you. My roof was damaged by a problem on a neighbouring property's roof and I was told:-

1. If as soon as the neighbours were informed of there being a problem they fixed it, then my insurance would pay for the repairs to my house.

2. If the neighbours did not fix the problem promptly then they would be liable for the cost of repairing my property (my insurance company would make a claim against their insurance company).

I know that doesn't answer your question but if your neighbours can't repair the roof in a reasonable period of time (which I understand is not their fault being retired) at the very least you can recover the cost of damage caused to your house from their insurance company.

Maybe your insurance company could liaise with the neighbours? In a nice way I mean.

I also agree with BigPhil1474 - surely the neighbours should speak to the CAB or council or age concern because although it's not their fault, they can't leave the problem as it is currently.