HMO and Owned Property roof

dipsy

Firstly sorry if not in right place - please feel free to move to correct area.

I own my property (18 years), 2 years ago the lovely old lady that had lived next door went into a home and the house was sold and converted to a HMO (2 3 bed semi detached houses)

Anyway, whilst at work today, my daughter rang me and passed me on to a roofer, apparently there is an issue with the roof, and a roofer was there to fix - first I had heard of it as no communication from the letting agency at all, the issue was causing a leak on their side, (where the old lady had lived), apparently caused by our side of the chimney stack

We have had no issues in the past, we have an open fire in the front of the house and a False fire in the rear of the property - the open fire is checked/cleaned twice a year.

When they were doing the house up into HMO's they removed the fires from all of the rooms and removed the chimneys to create more space

Anyway I was at work and said that without insurance and more details they couldn't just get up on the roof so the guy put the phone down on me


move forward 2 hours and they were back again, called 2001 Maintenance - googled but couldn't find them

I have now spoken to Diamond lettings regarding this and asked for more details /insurance etc

Not being funny but they have already caused damage to my fence at front of house and then "mended it" i say that in the loosest terms as looked like they have bashed a bit of pallet on it, so I am concerned with them just going on the roof with no information/insurance etc

How do I stand with this - does anyone know? thanks in advance

saajan_12

Have you established between your tenants / lettings agency / neighbour, who called them or if they drove by and tried the old work first, bill later trick?
- if tenants, have they reported the issue? Do they expect you to pay?
- if lettings agent, do they have the authority to instruct major repairs? have they estabished need (independently to the current workers)
- if neighbour, do they expect you to pay? do they need access to your side?

eddddy

dipsy wrote: »

... so I am concerned with them just going on the roof with no information/insurance etc

Obviously, it's up to you who you allow on your roof, but the insurance aspect might be a slight red-herring.

If they are negligent and damage your roof, you would claim from them. It's up to them whether they involve any insurers that they might or might not have.

If they just wanted to go onto your roof to inspect your chimney stack, I'd be tempted to let them. They could give you their opinion about any problems, and you could get somebody else to give you a second opinion.


Now that your neighbour has told you that your roof is faulty, and is making their property damp - if you do nothing about it, the neighbour might claim that you are being negligent, and therefore responsible for future damage.

dipsy

I have spoken to the letting agency, apparently someone has been on the roof already and there is a pot missing from the stack on my side and they need my permission to fix it

However, when questioned rear or front they then didn't know

Not sure what the meaning of the insurance may be a slight red herring I just want to ensure given the damage they caused to my fence and never fixed that they have appropriate insurance should they cause any damages to anything/anyone etc - if they have no insurance then trying to claim would be hard work and something as an added stress I don't need.


All I want is a copy of their PLI document and a written confirmation of what works they intend to carry out and in what manner as I have just spent a lot of money on my house and do not want them wanging ladders up against my new windows/gutters etc

I have no issue with the works per se what I object to is just arriving and doing the work with no warning and asking my daugher (18 home from uni) to make a decision... I guess writing a letter and asking me to call them or for them to call me was just too difficult :-(

dipsy

saajan_12 wrote: »

Have you established between your tenants / lettings agency / neighbour, who called them or if they drove by and tried the old work first, bill later trick?
- if tenants, have they reported the issue? Do they expect you to pay?
- if lettings agent, do they have the authority to instruct major repairs? have they estabished need (independently to the current workers)
- if neighbour, do they expect you to pay? do they need access to your side?

its a HMO and it is the letting agency that has instructed the works at their expense

They say the issue is a chimney pot missing from my side, but i am not there to look, but will later, tbh I find it hard to believe as there has been no issues for the last 18 years and I am sure I would notice if a pot fell off the roof and I am sure there would have been damp next door when they bought the house, unless masked behind the chimney breasts (x 4 ) that they knocked out

apparently they should have had a party wall agreement before doing this

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/party-wall-etc-act-1996-guidance

G_M

Go and have a look. If you don't have a long ladder (or head for heights) take binoculars.

If this does not help, instruct your own roofer to go up and have a look - many roofers will do this free (in anticipation of work to follow).

Do not just take the word of eithr the tenants, the letting agent, or the unknown roofer who has been instructed by the tenants/agent (I'm not clear).

Make very clear, in writing, to the letting agent, and the property owner (write to him personally c/o the agency if you don't know his address) that you do not authorise any works to your roof, or agree to allow access to your roof, but that if they will kindly give you details of

* the leak or other problem they are seeking to resolve, and
* the roof problem they believe to be the cause

you will investigate and be in touch with them.

Thanks them for their help so far.

konark

Sounds a bit dodgy to me, a fault at your side of the chimney would almost certainly result in water coming into your house not theirs, and any problem is more than likely a result of the removal of their chimneys. Maybe instruct a competent roofer to go up and have a look before Billy Bodger does a half-cocked job and sends you a bill.

00ec25

its status as an HMO or rental per se is irrelevant

your issue is simple: your next door neighbour has called in a tradesman who, quite rightly, has said he cannot do work on your side of the roof without your permission as the chimney stack itself is subject to the party wall act since you and next door are semi/terraced

you have now been made aware that next door has removed the chimney breast in each room but left the remainder of the chimney stack through the roof. To meet building regs that remainder should be supported, on their side, by a steel lintel otherwise the remaining chimney stack may suffer movement allowing water to enter from the roof.

(if any work is done it could need to be done under a party wall act agreement)

it therefore sounds like the neighbour needs to confirm that their work was given building regs sign off and once that is confirmed you then may wish to get your own roofer in to see what, if any work needs to be done regarding water tightness. Presumably the chimney pot on their side of the stack has been capped to control "damp" issues in the remaining flue on their side of the stack?

(if any work is done it may need a party wall agreement)

dipsy

does this sound ok or am I making it more difficult than it should be... I am genuinely fearful they will cause damage

To whom it may concern

I haven't heard from you as yet regarding the two visits you made to my property on 31st August 2017 in regard to the roof/ chimney stack

When your gentleman, (who I believe was Joe), from 2001 Maintenace called to the property my daughter was home from Uni, so my daughter called me at work and I spoke with the gentleman as she didn't know what to do for the best.

Anyway, basically I said that I needed more details and I was in work so there was nothing I could do without more information.

The gentleman was obviously frustrated and tried to explain to me the issue, however as I said again to him I was in work, he told me that you as the agents had been unable to reach me

Which is obviously not true given the amount of times I have called you in regard to the damage to the fence at the front of the property caused by your guys whilst carrying out the renovations, and the ill fitting repair that you have carried out.

All that aside you could of course have written to me at my property.

In the end the gentleman hung up after I advised that he was not to go on the roof and make any repairs.

Moving on to the afternoon on the same date, another guy from the same 2001 Maintenance came to the property again, this time my husband was home.

So yet again another call to me whilst in work, apparently he offered to take my husbands phone up to the roof and take photos - obviously he declined to hand over his personal phone for this purpose.

I have looked on companies house and on google and find no trace of 2001 Maintenance - so if you can tell me what name they trade under that would be appreciated.


I do not authorise any works to be carried out on my roof, nor do I agree to allow access to my roof, but if can kindly give me details of

* the leak or other problem you are seeking to resolve
* the roof problem you believe to be the cause
* details of any chimney breasts that you have removed from the party wall during the renovations to number 52 showing the party wall
agreement and Building Regs Cert.
* Insurance details of the company you have currently tasked with repairs
* Video of the whole of the Stack so we can see and understand what the roofer is saying.

I will then carry out my own investigations and be in touch with you, I will add there are no damp issues on my side of the property nor were there any damp issues in the 18 years of living there for my former next door neighbour.

I do recall reminding your builders when they were converting the property that whilst they were hammering away the chimney breast that I have an open fire on the other side of the chimney breast that they were working on.

I appreciate that you want to resolve this and I can work with you but I will not allow any works to be carried out without the information and insurance. As I am sure you can appreciate given the angst this property has caused me and my family over the last 2+ years and the response to a simple fence repair then I want to be assured that any works connected to my property are fit for purpose.

Kind regards