Party wall issue post purchase and seller lied on

markusvic

Hi not sure this is the right forum to ask but i just bought a mid terrace house and i m having some problems.

I have right of access over a path trough one of neighbours garden but he expressed concerns that might builders might damage his car when taking materials in and out. So i strugled and got everything trough front door. But i m meant to pay 50% to keep the right of way path yet he s complaining when i m trying to use it

His gas meter is on his wall but on my garden terrace. Visible from kitchen and dinning room. I have no problem allowing him to read meter giving me notice. He has no right of way in his title register or mine. I m guessing that there is an easement so the gas company can come in to read it. The gate has a lock on my side so i m guessing previous owners locked it.

He asked me now that he needs to do work to his gas pipe in my garden. I asked what. He said he s planning to run the pipe up the wall. At the moment the pipe is floor level. Is bad enough having his gas meter on my terrace where i have table and chairs to seat in garden. So he says the gas pipe looks ugly in his kitchen so thats why he wants to run it into his loft. So by doing this i ll have to have his ugly pipe in view from my kitchen and dinning room? It does not sound fair is therr anyway i can stop it? I asked him to move meter in his own garden the other side of the gate and offered to contribute towards costs.

The second issue is with the vendor. On the question in the seller information form they replied we dont know the question being are any main gas / electrics supply belonging to yoir neighbours crossing or on your property?
After completion i discovered that my other neighbour main power supply is looped out the fuse in my kitchen cupboard and goes by the ceiling trough a hole in their kitchen the other side. If i knew this i would have not bought the house or negotiated the price to allow for a house rewire. Is untidy and big thick black cable. Surely the seller lived in the house for 10 years so how come they dont know? I m planning to start a legal action in small cpunty court.
My conveyancing team wont advise on this so not sure what to do.

Sorry about spelling i typed this long message on my phone. Thanks in advance for any advice

Cakeguts

Where is the electricity meter for the neighbour whose supply appears to be coming from you kitchen?

G_M

markusvic wrote: »

I have right of access over a path trough one of neighbours garden but he expressed concerns that might builders might damage his car when taking materials in and out. So i strugled and got everything trough front door. But i m meant to pay 50% to keep the right of way path yet he s complaining when i m trying to use it
That was very nice of you, and probably tactful and wise in order to keep good neighbourly relations.

But you did not have to do this. You could have ignord his concern and used your ROW.

His gas meter is on his wall but on my garden terrace. Visible from kitchen and dinning room. I have no problem allowing him to read meter giving me notice. He has no right of way in his title register or mine. I m guessing that there is an easement so the gas company can come in to read it. The gate has a lock on my side so i m guessing previous owners locked it.
Why don't you contact the gas company and ask them to move his meter off your property?

He asked me now that he needs to do work to his gas pipe in my garden. I asked what. He said he s planning to run the pipe up the wall.
I asume his wall forms the boundary to your two properties?

If so, his meter is currently overhanging your land. That is a trespass. The pipe he plans will also, I assume, overhang your land so will still be a trespass.
At the moment the pipe is floor level. Is bad enough having his gas meter on my terrace where i have table and chairs to seat in garden. So he says the gas pipe looks ugly in his kitchen so thats why he wants to run it into his loft. So by doing this i ll have to have his ugly pipe in view from my kitchen and dinning room?
Suggest he runs the pipe from another access point ino his attic eg from the front of the house.

Or perhaps ask him to camaflage the pipe? Eg If the wall is white, paint the pipe white. If the wall is not white, why not get him to paint it, and the pipe?

It does not sound fair is therr anyway i can stop it? I asked him to move meter in his own garden the other side of the gate and offered to contribute towards costs.
Good idea - but you should not have to contribute, except perhaps to maintain good relations.

The second issue is with the vendor. On the question in the seller information form they replied we dont know the question being are any main gas / electrics supply belonging to yoir neighbours crossing or on your property?
Well "Don't know" sounds unlikely and cheeky! From what you say, they must have known the gas was on your property., unless they were very stupid. Were they...???

After completion i discovered that my other neighbour main power supply is looped out the fuse in my kitchen cupboard and goes by the ceiling trough a hole in their kitchen the other side.
Were is your meter? Where is their meter? Are you paying for their electricity?
Have you checked? Turn off all your electrical items and see if the meter moves....

If i knew this i would have not bought the house or negotiated the price to allow for a house rewire.
That's a bit extreme! I minor matter to lose a property over.

Is untidy and big thick black cable.
If it was that obvious and that ugly, how come you did not see it?

Surely the seller lived in the house for 10 years so how come they dont know?
I agree it seems unlikely.

I m planning to start a legal action in small cpunty court.
I advise against this, but it's your choice:

1) neighbour disputes a nasty - whoever wins, you still have to live next to each other
2) all legal battles are stresssful, time-consuming, and potentially costly.
3) you might win. But there again, you might lose.
4) How much are you going to claim? Have you got quotes? What exactly for?

My conveyancing team wont advise on this so not sure what to do.
No - you need to either DIY, or consult a litigation solicitor.

Legal disputes should be avoided if possible. Invite your neighbour to tea, provide a nice cake, and try to reach a friendly solution.

But know your rights. His gas meter, and his pipe, should not be on or over your land.

My electricity comes across my neighbour's land. A cable across his front garden, through his apple tree, to his front porch, where it splits: his goes into his house to his meter, mine comes long the fron wall of his house at roof height, to my house and my meter. No real problem at all (except when his apple tree needs pruning.....)

Don't take legal action - bake another cake!

Davesnave

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5817444

ProDave

Split or looped supplies used to be common.

The only solution is to pay your DNO for a new supply to the other house. They won't do it for free.

Since your meighbours supply works just fine at the moment, I suspect he is not willing to pay. Are you?

But did YOU not notice the cable when you viewed?

m0bov

Your neighbour needs to move his car when the builders are working as you have every right to the path.