Leasehold neighbour has moved his water tank into communal roof space

leafy211

as the hot water tanks werent put in the roof when the building was converted, my guess would be it wasnt reinforced suitably to hold such large tanks and associated pipework.   It was an outbuilding to a mill.  
As previously mentioned - the roof space is owned by the freeholder and the lease states any changes must be approved by the freeholder.  

greatcrested

Water tank or water boiler? Two different things.

Although you have not quoted the exact wording of the neighbour's lease, it sounds as if he has no right to put the tank/boiler in the attic, nor to use the attic to store possessions. Nor indeed to use the attic for any purpose whatsoever.

Having said that, I don't see it's a huge issue and you might well choose to turn a blind eye. Any damage (leak, heavy furniture/water tank crashing through the attic floor) will cause far more damage to his flat than to yours, and as said, insurance is likely to cover costs of damage to the building (though perhaps not to his/your personal possessions unless you also have contents insurance).

But should you wish to pursue this, you have two options (not mutually exclusive):

1) invite neighbour to tea and bake a nice cake (assuming you're allowed to do so by current covid restrictions). Explain your concerns; explain his (lack of) rights; hope to reach an amicable agreement (eg he remove the water whatsit).

2) write to the freeholder and leae the freeholder to enforce the lease restrictions. (who runs the freeholder company? Anyone you know?)

NameUnavailable

leafy211 said:

 
As previously mentioned - the roof space is owned by the freeholder and the lease states any changes must be approved by the freeholder.  

So your first step is to check if the leaseholder obtained permission from the freeholder to put a tank/boiler in the loft space. You can't enforce the lease, the freeholder has to do that.

leafy211

Yep absolutely.  Im pretty sure that wont be the case, but for sure would eventually need to confirm that, as well as permission for changing a listed building (im pretty sure that would be a prerequisite if doing everything above board). 
Really I was hoping just to have some to my questions, so i can work out if its even worth the bother of further investigation etc ...
1.  Is there a time limit after which upstairs neighbour would have rights to the roof space as he is already using it to store his stuff/tank
2.  If the tank leaks, would I be liable to pay towards the repairs as it shouldnt have been put in the roof space (and deemed not covered by insurance)
3.  Would storing boxes in a roof space constitute an additional fire hazard (compromise the fire guard supposedly between floors/ceilings etc).

leafy211

sorry - to clarify - its an emersion heater tank, so heats up.
As per above, before i spoke to anyone at all, I was ideally hoping to suss the situation out a lot more, eg rights after usage etc, 

Redwino222

Speak to a solicitor, before the neighbour moves.

if nothing else the solicitor will give you leave of mind as this is clearly causing you a lot of worry.

Grumpy_chap

Before the OP does anything, they need to be sure what the neighbour's lease says about access and use of the loft void.
Sometimes, even though communal for costs of roof etc., if the access is within one specific flat, that flat also has access / use.  Such permission may not be apparent from the OP's own lease.  The neighbour's lease may be available from the land registry?

davidmcn

leafy211 said:

Yep absolutely.  Im pretty sure that wont be the case, but for sure would eventually need to confirm that, as well as permission for changing a listed building (im pretty sure that would be a prerequisite if doing everything above board). 
Really I was hoping just to have some to my questions, so i can work out if its even worth the bother of further investigation etc ...
1.  Is there a time limit after which upstairs neighbour would have rights to the roof space as he is already using it to store his stuff/tank
2.  If the tank leaks, would I be liable to pay towards the repairs as it shouldnt have been put in the roof space (and deemed not covered by insurance)
3.  Would storing boxes in a roof space constitute an additional fire hazard (compromise the fire guard supposedly between floors/ceilings etc).

Plonking an immersion cylinder in the loft is not going to require listed buildings consent.

I can't see that boxes make any material difference to fire safety. I've never seen any general guidance about not using lofts for storage, it's pretty normal.

greatcrested

I imagine an emmersion heater would require Buildigs Regs cert or self-certification by a Competant Person?

xylophone

emersion heater tank,

Do you mean that he has moved the hot water cylinder  (with immersion heater)  from a cupboard in his bathroom to the loft above his bathroom?