Changing drain routing

oxfordmark

Hey

The house next door had some guttering work done, however the pipe down to the ground had been left loosely connected.

The landlord popped around today to explain that the current pipe "doesn't go any where". He has asked permission to re route the pipe over our wall and create a soakage on our property as it would mean he has to dig up his drive (ours is only grass with paving slabs for the car

In return he has agreed to do our guttering, front and back

Obviously I will get this in writing, but is this OK to do legally?

xyz123

More knowledgeable people will be around to give opinions but .do u get on fairly well with the landlord I. E. In general have their been any issues in past. And second make sure the written agreement covers all future maintenance and clearly stipulates responsibilities...

oxfordmark

Hey

It was the first time I'd met him on the two years we have moved in.

He seemed pleasant and they have recently done some external otk

oxfordmark

Hey - sorry about the above post, it sent before i finished, now I can't edit it.

It was the first time I'd met him on the two years we have moved in.

He seemed pleasant and they have recently done some external work to improve the appearance. And glad he wants to get it sorted as sometimes the water falls on our side.

I'm going to also ask that the soffets get done.

Am I taking the Mick by asking for this?

Davesnave

oxfordmark wrote: »

Obviously I will get this in writing, but is this OK to do legally?

It's only "OK" if this easement is recorded in the title documents for both properties, which would be a legal expense he'd have to bear.

But is this really what you would want? Is that what he has in mind? I doubt it.

So, you might get guttering free, soffits even, but giving your neighbour the right to discharge water onto your land might cause solicitors/purchasers to raise questions when you come to sell.

For me, there are too many unknowns. I don't know where this guy's water has been going, but it must be creating a difficulty if he is unable to send it there now.

Further, we have no idea about how well your sub soil drains or what effect creating a soakaway will have, and we don't know the contours of your garden or how far from the house it will be.

Lastly, how well will the soakaway be constructed? Making a good one would be quite disruptive, but even good ones can fail in extreme situations.

I have the feeling he'll rather dig up his own drive than jump through the correct hoops. I suspect he's looking for a cheap fix. Someone organised and thoughtful would never have created this situation.

robotrobo

oxfordmark wrote: »

Hey

The house next door had some guttering work done, however the pipe down to the ground had been left loosely connected.

The landlord popped around today to explain that the current pipe "doesn't go any where". He has asked permission to re route the pipe over our wall and create a soakage on our property as it would mean he has to dig up his drive (ours is only grass with paving slabs for the car

In return he has agreed to do our guttering, front and back(QUOTE)


First of all ,why does the pipe have to come over the wall |?, and not go down the back of the wall his side, & then through the wall at the very bottom with a neat hole made , so then its not visible to to you.
Me personally i would sooner go round & help him to achieve the object without discharging water on my side , maybe causeing a big problem , big hole , big bill ,
AS you say yours is only grass , if it was possible that you had a drain near on your side ,& the pipe could reach the said drain under your grass, then maybe i would.

stef73

I've had a soak away for 10 years , personally I would not allow it my reason being that when mine was built 10 years ago the architect designed the size for UK rain fall at the current time . Now in my belief we are getting more frequent very heavy rain showers and the soakaway is becoming a bit soggy .maybe it needs redoing or maybe it's because of the heavy down pours .
will he be getting proper calculations done or just guessing , will he maintain it ? What if he sells will future buyers maintain it ?

oxfordmark

Davesnave wrote: »

It's only "OK" if this easement is recorded in the title documents for both properties, which would be a legal expense he'd have to bear.

But is this really what you would want? Is that what he has in mind? I doubt it.

So, you might get guttering free, soffits even, but giving your neighbour the right to discharge water onto your land might cause solicitors/purchasers to raise questions when you come to sell.

For me, there are too many unknowns. I don't know where this guy's water has been going, but it must be creating a difficulty if he is unable to send it there now.

Further, we have no idea about how well your sub soil drains or what effect creating a soakaway will have, and we don't know the contours of your garden or how far from the house it will be.

Lastly, how well will the soakaway be constructed? Making a good one would be quite disruptive, but even good ones can fail in extreme situations.

I have the feeling he'll rather dig up his own drive than jump through the correct hoops. I suspect he's looking for a cheap fix. Someone organised and thoughtful would never have created this situation.

We would make sure the work is done correctly. The two houses share the guttering, with the down pipe currently on his property.

robotrobo wrote: »

oxfordmark wrote: »

Hey

The house next door had some guttering work done, however the pipe down to the ground had been left loosely connected.

The landlord popped around today to explain that the current pipe "doesn't go any where". He has asked permission to re route the pipe over our wall and create a soakage on our property as it would mean he has to dig up his drive (ours is only grass with paving slabs for the car

In return he has agreed to do our guttering, front and back(QUOTE)


First of all ,why does the pipe have to come over the wall |?, and not go down the back of the wall his side, & then through the wall at the very bottom with a neat hole made , so then its not visible to to you.
Me personally i would sooner go round & help him to achieve the object without discharging water on my side , maybe causeing a big problem , big hole , big bill ,
AS you say yours is only grass , if it was possible that you had a drain near on your side ,& the pipe could reach the said drain under your grass, then maybe i would.

There is a drain out the front, perhaps i could mention this and see if he can get the pipe fitted into the drain

stef73 wrote: »

I've had a soak away for 10 years , personally I would not allow it my reason being that when mine was built 10 years ago the architect designed the size for UK rain fall at the current time . Now in my belief we are getting more frequent very heavy rain showers and the soakaway is becoming a bit soggy .maybe it needs redoing or maybe it's because of the heavy down pours .
will he be getting proper calculations done or just guessing , will he maintain it ? What if he sells will future buyers maintain it ?

I would make sure he gets a professional in to do any work.

oxfordmark

Done some research and the Soakaway needs top be at least 5m from the house. Our front isnt that long!

No go.

Mojisola

oxfordmark wrote: »

The house next door had some guttering work done, however the pipe down to the ground had been left loosely connected.

The landlord popped around today to explain that the current pipe "doesn't go any where".

Davesnave wrote: »

Someone organised and thoughtful would never have created this situation.

As Dave said - who plans and goes ahead with guttering work without working out where the water from the the new guttering will go?

Davesnave

Without a legal agreement, after a certain time has elapsed, the person with the drain obtains what's known as a prescriptive easement, with no safeguards in place for the land owner.

A neighbour has such an easement over my land, though it's a field and hundreds of metres from my house. This is all because the previous occupants here were too laissez-faire about getting things done properly. In wet weather, that area of land becomes very boggy.

It's not a huge problem, and as we're friends I don't mind, but I wouldn't want it close to the house or garden.