Dry Rot, Empty House and Passing the Buck assistance needed please!

12ellie12

I’m hoping someone can advice me on the best course of action regarding my house in Manchester. I own a mid terrace house and my next door neighbour has left his house empty for over 12 years. His was tenanted when I bought my house but has been empty and poorly maintained since 2003. I’ve had many issues due to this and it has taken several years to locate the owner who now frequently ignores any communication from me.

The main issue I have now is dry rot decimating my house and causing me health and financial problems. Due to the neighbour’s negligence, their gutters leaked over my property until 2012 when they were repaired. I realised in 2013 that the damp had led to dry rot and my insurers luckily paid for this to be remedied as an escape of water claim. My dry rot guarantee was only valid if I confirmed that there was no rot next door as this was a party wall but I was never able to get this.

Last year I realised the rot was back and much worse than the original outbreak. I am now stuck as my dry rot contractors won’t accept responsibility, despite saying it was strange how quickly it had come back after their treatment, because there's no proof it's not caused by next door. I also have a wet patch where they had updated my DPC at the same time, in the same area.

Next door won’t accept responsibility as they state there’s no problem.

The council property team can’t help.

My insurers state they should never have paid out on the first claim so won’t on this one.

Mine and the neighbours surveyor suggest the council employed shoddy tarmackers who have caused damp since the first rot treatment leading to the return of the rot. The tarmackers say they haven’t.

I don’t understand how a house which has been empty, unheated and very poorly (if at all) maintained for over 10 years can be less responsible than mine which has been occupied, heated, maintained and remedial action taken when issues have arose. I seem to be stuck between everyone passing the buck. I have no idea where I could get the money from to fix it- not including the redecoration needed (I have solid wood parquet throughout the ground floor which will most likely need to go in at least one room). I’ve lost my housemate due to this and can’t get another until it’s remedied so am already struggling. If I am able to fix it, as I can’t get to the bottom of it, will it not just happen again?

Thanks for your help

12ellie12

Sorry, realised I hadn't made it entirely clear what I was asking! Basically, from the info I've provided, who would be the most appropriate to pursue to get the rot fixed? And long term, what can I do about the neighbour?

Thanks for your help.

Annie1960

I'm really surprised the council can't help, as I think they should. Have they given a reason?

Have you tried contacting one of your local councillors directly, rather than the bureaucrats?

12ellie12

Hi Annie,
Thanks for reading- I did contact the council property team but they now believe it's a civil matter and I'm not entirely confident they fully understand the issues but I can't seem to get any further with them. They've also told me there's no money in the pot to deal with empty properties anymore so not sure what I can do longterm about next door.
My councillor is aware of the issue but simply asked the council property team to look into it. He did visit me first to discuss and seemed very concerned but I haven't seen any other action.

I've put everything on pause as I can't work out who I should be pushing for action.

12ellie12

To be honest, I think my contractors haven't fully eradicated it when they first did the work but because both next door and the council tarmackers have most likely contributed to the issue, then can't squarely put the issue back on them. They think I should be pushing my insurers again and/or the neighbour. If, by any stretch, I managed to get them to fix it, they wouldn't do anything towards the redecoration as it's not included in the guarantee.