Neighbour's retaining garden wall causing serious damp

Furts

Noop wrote: »

https://ibb.co/cy0oWb

(My bricks have been repointed, hence why it looks "fresh")

I am left speechless by this. You purchased a house with that scenario and are now complaining about matters? What is the world coming to?

Aylesbury_Duck

Furts wrote: »

I am left speechless by this. You purchased a house with that scenario and are now complaining about matters? What is the world coming to?

Indeed. OP, I think your surveyor is guilty of not having worded warnings more strongly and you are guilty of not having drilled further into the remarks s/he did make. In my view, you are in a position where responsibility for sorting it out rests almost solely with you. As Davesnave has said, speed of resolution will depend upon your initial approach to your neighbour and how she receives it. She might cooperate but I suspect all that will involve is agreement for the necessary contractors to access the wall and to work on it. I’d be pleasantly surprised if she offered any financial contribution. If she is completely ambivalent about it or worse, you could face a lengthy period to enforce the necessary work, but almost certainly at your cost.

Furts

People could argue it is chicken and egg. Which came first? All I can add is principles of building. A retaining wall is built from the front face and the backfill goes in afterwards. It follows that the wall would have been built before somebody decided to build a house within a few millimetres from it.

The converse is the retaining wall could have been built but only "over hand", which would be impossible to guarantee, and almost impossible to properly build. Equally the excavation could have disturbed the existing house. This makes this scenario unlikely.

On the balance of probability the retaining wall was there first, or less likely, the retaining wall was bodged in. Either way OP has a problem and the survey did flag up a warning here. I say OP has brought this situation about - if you do not like the scenario then do not purchase the house.