Neighbour has demolished outbuilding.

LEMMONY

Hi All, I hope this post is in the right place .
I'll try to be brief .We have a block of 4 old toilets at the top of the street , outside our home (no toilets now, just the building ).We have always believed they belonged to the council.A landlady from one of the houses knocked and said years ago they'd had a letter about them being unsafe ,and would we contribute a quarter of the money to have them knocked down .I said no -I believed they belonged to the council ,I didn't believe I owned any part of it .She wasn't well pleased about this and a few weeks ago , unbeknown by me they demolished the whole thing and left it.

Our house is up for sale ,now it looks like world war 2 outside.They have no intention of removing it so I contacted the council who agreed with us , it doesn't show on the land registry as being part owned by us so they will have to clear up.As it turns out long, long ago in our deeds about 1925 and dating back to 1886 , there was mention that the toilets were owned by the 4 houses.So we have been asked to go halves with one of the other houses to have the building rubble taken away .

I am not happy about this because 1.I think we should have been asked before they demolished it .2.We live in a conservation area and the building could have been structurally made sound and used as storage for each person.It wasn't that delapidated as some people stood on it to film the Tour De France. 3.It was the space we used for our bins(not the building, the alley it formed ) .4.Nobody knows if there are pipes there or gas under it and have they been sealed off ?

There are lots of these old outbuildings around ,still standing and making useful storage .Now we have had this massive amount of rubble lining our house- no viewings since it happened .In a way we are being blackmailed into paying up which I hate because if they had gotten the four houses together it could have been discussed what was the best way forward - as it is , they have just done their own thing without our consent .

Thanks for reading .Any thoughts are welcome .If I have put this in the wrong spot I will move it if directed
many thanks
Lemmony.

Silver-Surfer_2

LEMMONY wrote: »

Hi All, I hope this post is in the right place .
I'll try to be brief .We have a block of 4 old toilets at the top of the street , outside our home (no toilets now, just the building ).We have always believed they belonged to the council.A landlady from one of the houses knocked and said years ago they'd had a letter about them being unsafe ,and would we contribute a quarter of the money to have them knocked down .I said no -I believed they belonged to the council ,I didn't believe I owned any part of it .She wasn't well pleased about this and a few weeks ago , unbeknown by me they demolished the whole thing and left it.

Our house is up for sale ,now it looks like world war 2 outside.They have no intention of removing it so I contacted the council who agreed with us , it doesn't show on the land registry as being part owned by us so they will have to clear up.As it turns out long, long ago in our deeds about 1925 and dating back to 1886 , there was mention that the toilets were owned by the 4 houses.So we have been asked to go halves with one of the other houses to have the building rubble taken away .

I am not happy about this because 1.I think we should have been asked before they demolished it .You were, when she knocked on the door2.We live in a conservation area and the building could have been structurally made sound and used as storage for each person.so why weren't you using them?It wasn't that delapidated as some people stood on it to film the Tour De France. 3.It was the space we used for our bins .a moment ago you said they weren't being used4.Nobody knows if there are pipes there or gas under it and have they been sealed off ?Why would there be gas to an outside toilet?

There are lots of these old outbuildings around ,still standing and making useful storage .Now we have had this massive amount of rubble lining our house- no viewings since it happened .In a way we are being blackmailed into paying up which I hate because if they had gotten the four houses it could have been discussed what was the best way forward - as it is , they have just done their own thing without our consent .

Thanks for reading .Any thoughts are welcome .If I have put this in the wrong spot I will move it if directed
many thanks
Lemmony.

If you think there's gas and the supply is damaged best get it seen to. LBA to the landlady, either have the waste removed or yo will do so and chase her for the cost.

LEMMONY

Hi, thanks for the reply.We didn't put our bins in it- it formed an alley way between the building and us .Yes she asked , and we said NO! to both contributing and having it pulled down.The gas pipes may be under it leading to our house .

stator

If you owned part of the building and it's been knocked down, then part of the rubble belongs to you. You could sue her for demolishing your property, or report it to the police, but at the end of the day it's still your rubble and you'll probably end up clearing it.

Hoploz

What do the other houses of the 4 say?
I can't imagine how big this block was, to have four houses owning it

Silver-Surfer_2

Hoploz wrote: »

What do the other houses of the 4 say?
I can't imagine how big this block was, to have four houses owning it

Probably about the size of four toilets.

LEMMONY

2 of the houses agreed to pull it down , one is a landlord of the property, and the other is our neighbour .The last house has a rented couple in it, but their landlord didn't put in money for the demolishing
and I have never met them .

If we removed a quarter of the rubble it wouldn't help as they'd just leave it there .I think it's a health hazard myself as it's right on a main road .People are dumping more stuff on it but the council say it's not fly tipping as it is substantially demolished bricks.

brightontraveller

Silver-Surfer wrote: »

If you think there's gas and the supply is damaged best get it seen to. LBA to the landlady, either have the waste removed or yo will do so and chase her for the cost.

Are you not reading the OP or don't you understand it ? There responsible as deeds state and your missing the fundamental point is there is no legal obligation to remove the rubble demolition was voluntary, no chance of recovery of funds to remove it as no legal responsibility to do so... Different if council etc deem "rubble" health hazard, danger to public etc then they'd go after all owners or the ones they could find at least ?

freezspirit

Do you have any proof that these 2 neighbours demolished the toilets or got a company in to do the job?

Silver-Surfer_2

brightontraveller wrote: »

Are you not reading the OP or don't you understand it ? There responsible as deeds state and your missing the fundamental point is there is no legal obligation to remove the rubble demolition was voluntary, no chance of recovery of funds to remove it as no legal responsibility to do so... Different if council etc deem "rubble" health hazard, danger to public etc then they'd go after all owners or the ones they could find at least ?

Do not confuse there, their, and they're. That would be a serious mistake.

They're is short for they are.
Their shows possession. It's just like my, his, her, and our.
There is a place. It's similar to here.

LEMMONY

freezspirit wrote: »

Do you have any proof that these 2 neighbours demolished the toilets or got a company in to do the job?

We saw them .