Council Houses subsiding dragging mine into it.

Mr_elburro

Good day,
It's been now 7 years we are trying to get London Lambeth council to address a subsidence issue for the 2 properties (abandoned to a complete disrepair) attached to our house.
From an old post on here 2 years ago, I took the advice to make an insurance claim.
I have managed to obtain a list of works carried out and to be carried out at these properties but without a timeline the dates of commencement have become the next new trick from Lambeth.
We have involved our local MP but more than having the garden cleaned once a year she could not achieve either.

It is taking a bit too long and cracks in my property are worsening,
not to mention the effect on our lives that the neglect of the 2 empty properties is causing.
(not even going down the route of how many family are on the waiting list to receive a council house).
To add insult to injury, recently our insurer told us to remove the (lovely) privet hedge from our front garden as it "could be" also contributing to our home subsiding, (evidence of this still to be provided).
We are in a limbo, I REALLY want to keep the hedge and even more because the insurance will not pay for a fence replacement.
Our insurance legal cover is only for defense purposes, so any claim against the council will have to be considered self funded.

We have no idea on what else to do and feel very depressed to receive no consideration from the local government.
How can we force the council to take responsibility for these properties, repair them and eventually claim for damages?

Thanks
Mr. Burro

Annemos

I am very sorry to hear of the problems you are having.

Do you have proof of who actually owns those properties and the land? 

Have you checked with the Land Registry? 

GrumpyDil

I'm taking it from the title and reference to shortage of council housing that these are actually owned by the council!!.

OP have you tried your local Councillor and the Councillor in charge of housing as they, unlike the MP, are directly involved in local authority issues?

I'm also wondering if getting the story into the local press would help encourage some movement.

twopenny

I'd want some proof that a privet hedge is adding to subsidence.

Surely that could only happen if its roots were interfering with foundations of a building. But they should be giving you evidence of this. Asking for it (by letter) will at least buy you time.

What I'd want to know is what is causing the main subsidence in the first place so that you have a firm base to argue from.

I hope you are collecting photo evidence of the empty properties and disrepair, expecially aournd the foundations and damage to yours. Write down dates and details also. Build up your case.

Mr_elburro

Annemos said:

I am very sorry to hear of the problems you are having.

Do you have proof of who actually owns those properties and the land? 

Have you checked with the Land Registry? 

both properties are owned and "managed" by the London Borough of Lambeth,

Norman_Castle

Are they council housing or simply owned by the council? Have your insurers blamed these properties for the movement? If so I'd be expecting them to be persuing the owners to reduce their potential costs.

https://beta.lambeth.gov.uk/housing/landlords-and-licensing/dealing-with-empty-properties

"Bringing empty properties back into use is a priority for us"

GDB2222

twopenny said:

I'd want some proof that a privet hedge is adding to subsidence.

Surely that could only happen if its roots were interfering with foundations of a building. But they should be giving you evidence of this. Asking for it (by letter) will at least buy you time.

What I'd want to know is what is causing the main subsidence in the first place so that you have a firm base to argue from.

I hope you are collecting photo evidence of the empty properties and disrepair, expecially aournd the foundations and damage to yours. Write down dates and details also. Build up your case.

Most of London is built on 'shrinkable clay subsoil'. The clay shrinks when it dries out. That means that any plants that extract appreciable amounts of water from the subsoil can cause settlement. The roots don't actually have to 'interfere' with the foundations for this to happen.

There's no real way to prove whether this is happening. It's a matter of professional opinion. Certainly, if my house were subsiding and a professional said it might be the hedge, I wouldn't hesitate to remove it. Sooner or later, if the OP prevaricates, he'll lose his subsidence cover.

I totally agree with the advice to the OP to involve his local councillors and the local paper.

Mr_elburro

Good day, me again,
I am still trying to get (London) Lambeth council to deal with their properties causing subsidence to mine.
In January 2020 we  were told that repairs and underpinning works would start in spring, then this was postponed to November, then to March 2021, then to summer then again in March 2022. Today we were told (with no explenations) that the work are postponed to August 2022. I have put several Freedom Of Information Act requesting a plan of action and a timescale for the works next door but the council failed to comply following that I put a complaint to ICO but the latest one will take 6 months to even be looked into. We are very tired, frustrated and demoralised. We are taxpayers and there is a shortage of properties in London and 3 houses in my road (owned by Lambeth) are empty (some over 8 years now)
Our cracks are widening ths damages getting worse. Our insurance has been monitoring for movements for the last 3 years (Premium has tripled in the last 3 years) also informed us thatbour legal cover is onlynto be used asndefendant so they will not covering our cost if we decide to sue the council for damages.
In the last few years we have involved our local MP but she could only achieve to have the council clean the garden and deal with rodents issues a few times before giving up.

Summer is around the corner and like for the last 8 years I will have to start sending a dozen emails for them to clean the overgrown garden, or clear the rubbish dropped in the shared front garden or deal with the rodents next door (coming to my house).
Sorry for the long message but we have had enough of being taken for fools.
What is the best way to get results?
Thank you
  

FreeBear

Mr_elburro said: I have put several Freedom Of Information Act requesting a plan of action and a timescale for the works next door but the council failed to comply  

FOI requests are the wrong vehicles to use to get the council to produce an action plan. You can use a FOI request to get hold of documents relating to the problem (i.e. internal emails & discussions, copies of engineers reports, etc). To get a plan of action and timescale, you'd need to put pressure on your local councillor to raise it at the next council meeting. If the council still refuse to pull their finger out, your local MP would be the next step. If no joy there, then the courts and/or the LGO would be your remaining option.

KeithP

So still you haven't involved local councillors?
That was suggested last July.

GDB2222

KeithP said:

So still you haven't involved local councillors?
That was suggested last July.

You can lead a burro to water …