New sewerage drain on neighbours property - what are my rights

rachelemoore81

Hi,
I live on a terrace and an alley separates my neighbour and i, with their first floor above the alley. They own the alley however they have to maintain access for everyone on the terrace. My land starts when the alley ends and the path from the alley is split into two - i own one half next to my garden wall, they own the other (next to their garden wall).  I would like to put in a down stairs toilet under the stairs which means creating a new sewerage line from the middle of the alley from my property wall, down the alley and footpath where it will connect to the main sewer. We can not go under the house for obvious reasons so this is the only route. I have approach them about what i would like to do, but they did not seem too accommodating and i do not want to upset them. So before i start conversations again, what are my legal rights? I do not think this falls under The Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992.  Do i have any legal rights of is it just obtaining permission from them and reinstating the alley back to the original state?

On a side note, i have raising damp on that external wall and the source is from the alley but i never see much standing water, so can only assume it is from the ground.... but they dismissed that as they dont want to have to pay for any drainage works. I was going to suggest i sort that at the same time and i will pay for it... then they dont have to.
Thanks

twopenny

From their point of view they are quiet happy with the status quo and the problems are all yours.

Have you been there long? Do they trust you?

You need to be able to put in writing that you will restore everything to it's current state - or improve it. Do you have any bargaining tool? Such as - they'd like the alley to be paved better or similar.

It took me several months to convince my neighbour that a fence needing repair that was joint I would pay for myself. Both trust with time and a bonus for their outlook made them pleased with the result. But it took months between the first approach and the second to win them around.

As for Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992 you don't know if this is a repair re damp, and you wanting to install something new is a whole different scenario.

Have you had anyone look at the damp and give a reason for it?

rachelemoore81

Ive only been here 6 months, so very new and only now starting to build a relationship with them. They seem lovely and im sure they will want an amicable agreement, which i really want. 
The damp is from the ground, but no one knows the source. I found more damp ground under my lean-to near the wall in question, so i think there is something going on under the ground and will need to investigate. 
So from what you are saying - no additional rights or powers to lay the new sewer, but any repairs / maintenance to existing infrastructure is covered by the Act.