Neighbor's damp affecting our house

KenshiroUK

Hi,

We are currently in a bit of a dilemma at the moment and would appreciate some advise. We own a home and currently having problems with damp in a room upstairs with a conjoined wall. It started months ago with the new neighbors who agreed the problem was coming in from their side. A few months have gone by (10 months) and nothing has been done.

Unfortunately we have found out recently they are now selling the house and done nothing with the damp. We now have damp right across the wall to the point were the paper is saturated. We cannot get in touch with the neighbors either and unsure of what to do.

Any help or advise would be appreciated on this matter.

Doozergirl

So where is it coming from on their side?

mattk_180

Why can't you get in touch with them? Have they moved out already?

G_M

More information needed.

* cause of damp?
* what form did the neighbours' admission of responsibility take?
* what did they agree to do? Did they agree when? Did they just tell you or write something?
* what is the relationship like? Friendly neutral or adversary?
* is the property empty? Let?

Options:
* tea and cake
* contact selling agents
* use Land Reg etc to find owners (if they've vanished).
* write to them at next door - they might have mail forwarding in place
* legal action
* wait for new owners and start again
* do the repairs yourself (if external eg roof) and bill them - though beware legal consequences.........

Grenage

I wonder what the legal implications would be of a large poster in your window, warning of water ingress from the neighbouring property.

What's on the other side of the wall, a bathroom?

TBagpuss

Talk to your insurers. If the damp is actually being caused by your neighbours then, givne that you have givn them notice that it is damaging your property, you may be entitled to claim against them to have thenecessary repair done .

Have the neighbour's moved out? If not, then a letter throughthe door is an iooption for contacting them.

eddddy

TBagpuss wrote: »

Talk to your insurers....

But only talk to your insurers if you are pretty sure that you want to make a claim, and you are pretty sure the damage will be covered by your policy.

Just making a phone call (without making a claim) can result in an incident being logged on the CUE database, and your premiums rising as a result.

See:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/sep/30/insurance-query-higher-premiums
https://www.comparethemarket.com/home-insurance/content/claims-and-underwriting-exchange/

G_M

eddddy wrote: »

But only talk to your insurers if you are pretty sure that you want to make a claim, and you are pretty sure the damage will be covered by your policy.

Just making a phone call (without making a claim) can result in an incident being logged on the CUE database, and your premiums rising as a result.

See:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/sep/30/insurance-query-higher-premiums
https://www.comparethemarket.com/home-insurance/content/claims-and-underwriting-exchange/

good point.

What is the likely cost of the repairs, to your home and/or the neighbour's?

LeoTLion

You could try speaking to the Private Sector Housing team at your local council.

It sounds like a fairly straightforward case of Stat Nuisance.

They can serve a notice requiring the owners to fix the cause of the damp, if they are unwilling to deal with it informally.

KenshiroUK

Hi all,

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. The problem is the neighbours never moved in. They intended to do it up and eventually move in but as time as gone they started showing up less and less until we found out recently the house is back on the market. We have no way of getting in touch with them only via estate agents. There was an open house viewing last weekend which we went and saw the room where the damp is coming in from and the wall was wet. I think the original plan was for them to get a new roof as they did acknowledge the room was damp and was affecting us.

We're reasonable people and don't want to start a war with neighbours but we do need to do something about it.

fairy_lights

How long has it been on the market for? Is it likely to sell quickly?
If you end up with new neighbours soon the chances are the damp on their side will get sorted as the new owners aren't going to want to live with a wet wall.