3 houses' rain water disappearing into my garden

MarkBargain

The water from the guttering of three terrace houses flows down my downpipe, under my garden, under the pavement, and into the street where it flows into a public drain. That's the theory anyway, as the water is going in but not coming out! I guess it is seeping into the ground, which could cause damp issues. Initial attempts to unblock is lead us to think the pipe is broken.

Where to start...

1) Is it my responsibility to fix (and to pay 100% of the cost) even though I am taking neighbours' rainwater?
2) Is it best to contact the water board or a plumber to begin with? If the garden has to be dug up and new pipes installed, I guess that is a job for the water board who will charge me?
3) If the pipe is broken under the public street, is that the water board's problem to fix? What if the broken pipe spans from my garden to the public drain?
4) Is standard house insurance likely to cover this?

Any thoughts welcome!

londonTiger

Will be i9nterested to hear your thoughts. I have downpipes for 4-5 houses on my property too.

But the problem is reverse. The neighbours have lots and lots of weeds growing on theirs and the gutter is blocked, because of the downpipe on my property I don't get any build up. So they want me to chip in to get gutter cleaning - but I don't want to pay to clean them

I guess I should chip in, so when the downpipe gets blocked or damaged they chip in to help me [hopefully]

MarkBargain

My neighbours also have some weeds in theirs. It's a good question: do we all share equal responsiblity for the guttering and downpipes overall (splitting the costs), or just the bit in our property? If the latter, it seems hard on the unlucky person to have the downpipe in their garden having to dispose of all their neighbours' water.

WobblyDog

I believe that the law was changed a few years ago, and that now most shared pipes (ie. carrying water from multiple properties) are the responsiblility of the water board, even if they are on private land.

I think the water board would be the first people to contact.

bryanb

WobblyDog wrote: »

I believe that the law was changed a few years ago, and that now most shared pipes (ie. carrying water from multiple properties) are the responsiblility of the water board, even if they are on private land.

I think the water board would be the first people to contact.

I think that's sewage pipes.

WobblyDog

This is my understanding:

I don't think the rules distinguish between pipes carrying rainwater and pipes carrying "foul" water (toilets etc.).

Pipes that serve only one property are called "drains", even if they carry sewage, and are the property owner's responsibility.

Pipes that serve multiple properties are called "sewers", even if they only carry rainwater. They are generally the responsibility of the water board, even if on private land.

This link sort of helps:
http://www.clearawaydrainage.co.uk/responsible.html

MarkBargain

Thanks very much indeed, those replies are very helpful. I will contact the water board.

anotherbaldrick

londonTiger wrote: »

Will be i9nterested to hear your thoughts. I have downpipes for 4-5 houses on my property too.

But the problem is reverse. The neighbours have lots and lots of weeds growing on theirs and the gutter is blocked, because of the downpipe on my property I don't get any build up. So they want me to chip in to get gutter cleaning - but I don't want to pay to clean them

I guess I should chip in, so when the downpipe gets blocked or damaged they chip in to help me [hopefully]

Clearing gutters is an annual maintenance task , you clean your gutters and they clean theirs. There will then be no blockage issues , no responsibility to clean their gutters if neglected.

lstar337

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Clearing gutters is an annual maintenance task , you clean your gutters and they clean theirs. There will then be no blockage issues , no responsibility to clean their gutters if neglected.

What happens if the last person in the chain (before the downpipe) doesn't bother?

The water has nowhere to go, even if you have kept your gutters clear.

londonTiger

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Clearing gutters is an annual maintenance task , you clean your gutters and they clean theirs. There will then be no blockage issues , no responsibility to clean their gutters if neglected.

I have the downpipes in my property. If I don't clean my gutters and they're completely caked and blocked up, it will block the downpipe for them, so their gutters will overflow and possible break from the weight it is under.

So there is a communal responsibility as well.

Also one of the neighbour wanted to pitch in and get 5 houses gutter cleaning done in one go. As the fixed overhead for doing 1 house alone and 5 houses together is the same. So it was supposed to save money. But our gutters are clean so if we opt out it becomes more expensive for them.

lstar337

londonTiger wrote: »

But our gutters are clean so if we opt out it becomes more expensive for them.

If yours are clean then surely it is pointless for you to pay anything?

I assume that if yours are clean then you must have either cleaned them yourself or paid somebody to do it at an earlier point in time. If that's the case, then you are paying twice!