Property damage/ neighbour dispute

DT12

You can only be reasonable to reasonable people. If you have shown the clear cause of the problem and they have not reacted reasonably (ie fixed the problem) then you should escalate with a clear conscience as you have acted reasonably.

Don't feel bad if you can honestly say you have tried to approach the issue fairly. Their lack of action is the unreasonable response. Why should your property be damaged by their poor maintenance of their property?

Duvaljones

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

In that case...is your roofer still willing to do this free work?

Sadly no, and I don't really blame him. In a letter I posted through her letterbox (and followed up with a visit two days later) I withdrew the offer as they'd ignored it for 10 weeks and I felt that asking a roofer to honour an offer they made that long ago would be taking the mickey.

Duvaljones

lisyloo wrote: »

Firstly I'm not saying you're a monster and she probably wouldn't get evicted. You'd probably get a charge on the house to be paid when she moves on. What I'm trying to communicate is that just because someone is liable doesn't mean they can be made to pay certainly not easily.

As a daughter in law of an 87 year old mil with dimensia I would point out that a lot of elderly people and not fully capable of taking care of simple affairs let alone more complicated ones.
That doesn't make them bad people. I do fully sympathise.
My mil is sometimes capable. I've tried to get attorney stuff but she refuses.
I do sympathise totally with your situation but she probably isn't a monster either but has lost the capacity to deal with this.

It's difficult for family because we can't put her in a home against her will.

The neighbour herself, while not in the best of health (hence asking me to deal with her daughters), is genuinely nice and I really believe it's her daughters who are throwing spanners in the works at every turn. When she has mentioned it to me, she's full of apologies etc. Of course, that ultimately means nothing if the issue isn't being resolved.

I don't know what their situation is and it's really none of my business. But I absolutely take your point about the bottom line of actually getting any repairs or remedial works paid for, be it from her or her family. However, I HAVE to do something to kick them into gear, as sitting back and letting this carry on just isn't an option.

Duvaljones

DT12 wrote: »

You can only be reasonable to reasonable people. If you have shown the clear cause of the problem and they have not reacted reasonably (ie fixed the problem) then you should escalate with a clear conscience as you have acted reasonably.

Don't feel bad if you can honestly say you have tried to approach the issue fairly. Their lack of action is the unreasonable response. Why should your property be damaged by their poor maintenance of their property?

That's the crux of it really - with me, my roofer and even the council building control team saying the roof is sub-standard and the neighbour's daughters simply stating the opposite, at least taking the legal route will force us to get in professionals to determine where the problem is, who caused it and therefore who sorts it out.

If it actually turns out to be a problem with my roof (highly doubtful but I'm keeping an open mind) then I'll sort it within a couple of weeks. I'm just not convinced that would be the case if the problem is found to be on their side.

I know if the roles were reversed, they'd be knocking on my door and calling me every other day asking what I was doing to sort it out - and rightly so. Maybe I just need to develop a mean streak!

lisyloo

I know what you mean but you don't need to be mean to get things done.
It is possible to be assertive and state the facts - this is the problem, this is what needs to be done and this is who is liable and here's the proof - without getting mean.
Very hard to stay on good terms but you can try to stay factual and this is why it often helps to have an independent 3rd party involved.

I agree that you need to take action. You are fully justified in doing that.
The legal process e.g. letter before action, gives them every chance to act "out of court". They don't get an eviction notice on day 1. They gets lots of letters and opportunities to do things at every step.

Good luck

Winter_Phoenix

This may be a long shot, but is there any slight modification which you could make to your OWN property, which would divert the problem back to your neighbour's house?

Water always runs to the lowest point; is there any way of raising / angling /waterproofing some structure within your attic or roof-void (so that any incoming water from the neighbouring property either stays in that property, or is diverted straight back to that property)?

Your neighbour's daughters might well decide to have the roof repaired properly if their mother's house were the one suffering water ingress issues.

Duvaljones

Unfortunately, according to our roofer and a surveyor, it's likely that the water is seeping straight down on her side (she has a leak too) and then under our sealed roof and towards the lowest point (i.e. where the outlet/runoff is situated - there's one between each roof). As it's a flat roof there's no loft or void to speak of.

The general belief is that their roofer sealed up up his work (after leaving it for three days - we have photos of his work with puddles underneath it before he sealed it up) and in the process sealed a load of water under the felt in process. Of course none of this can be conclusively proved without taking her roof up.

kinger101

Winter_Phoenix wrote: »

Water always runs to the lowest point.

Well, that's a bit too simplistic. Water can also move by capillary action and diffusion. It will also evaporate and then condense elsewhere.

moneyistooshorttomention

Duvaljones wrote: »

That's the crux of it really - with me, my roofer and even the council building control team saying the roof is sub-standard and the neighbour's daughters simply stating the opposite, at least taking the legal route will force us to get in professionals to determine where the problem is, who caused it and therefore who sorts it out.

If it actually turns out to be a problem with my roof (highly doubtful but I'm keeping an open mind) then I'll sort it within a couple of weeks. I'm just not convinced that would be the case if the problem is found to be on their side.

I know if the roles were reversed, they'd be knocking on my door and calling me every other day asking what I was doing to sort it out - and rightly so. Maybe I just need to develop a mean streak!

I've just zeroed in on the council building control saying its substandard. Now you or your builder might be biased (not saying you are...but that is how those daughters might perceive it), but surely they would have to admit council building control must be "telling it like it is".

In that case, I'd be giving them an official "get it sorted" letter done by myself and enclosing the written proof from that council building control listing off what is wrong and what needs to be done to put it right, as absolute proof that I was correct and it did need doing and give them a deadline to do it by.

dannim12345

Hi OP, how about getting an company to do a Flat Roof Electronic Leak Detection survey to work out what is causing the leak?

It would support legal proceedings if it got that far, make them repair the issue/renew the roof or show its a problem with your roof which your builder could fix.

I think this would be a good first step and I don't believe they cost much more than £100 - 200. My company uses a particular company to do these (not sure where your based) but message me for details if you want.