Neighbour's raised flower bed causing damp problems

Bendy_House

That's a good point - I wouldn't mention your suspicion that they've raised the trough either, 'cos you simply don't know, and it simply doesn't matter; the trough it there. It's full of soil. It's right against your wall.

The facts are - you have a long-standing issue with damp along the bottom of that wall. The wall is solid brick. Your neighbour has a raised flower bed full of wet soil against that wall which appears to be around 450mm high. They have refused to allow your surveyor to investigate from their side.

Outline this in chronological order.

Then you go 'legal-speak' as much as you want - the neighbour has a 'duty of care' to you; by allowing the wet soil to be placed against your wall they are 'breaching that duty of care', and you have evidence of the resulting 'causation of harm' (all the repair work you've had done). Or you can say this in layman's terms if you prefer.

This letter-before-action is not 'going legal'. That's comes afterwards if needed. But if the neighb ignores this LBA or still refuses to allow a surveyor to examine the other side (and they'll confirm things like DPC height and whether it's breached), then the lack of response to your LBA will serve them very badly indeed.

Although it's not 'legal action', it is still a 'dispute' in the terms of the seller's info pack - so it'll also serve them very badly if they don't refer to it in there, when you have proof you've brought this to their attention.

DRP

Given the neighbour is selling up, it is unlikely you need to actually prove anything here. As posted above, for the cost of a skip and a days work , he can get you off his back permanently and allow his sale to go smoothly.

If it were me I’d be speaking to his estate agent on the phone first. Estate agents know which side their bread is buttered. No need for letters before action yet

Section62

Bendy_House said:

That's a good point - I wouldn't mention your suspicion that they've raised the trough either, 'cos you simply don't know, and it simply doesn't matter; the trough it there. It's full of soil. It's right against your wall.

I agree.  This "simply don't know" point is the most fundamental issue here.

Bendy_House said:

The facts are - you have a long-standing issue with damp along the bottom of that wall. The wall is solid brick. Your neighbour has a raised flower bed full of wet soil against that wall which appears to be around 450mm high. They have refused to allow your surveyor to investigate from their side.

...which unfortunately didn't last very long.

Does the neighbour have a raised flower bed, or a sunken patio?  I don't think we or the OP know this yet... therefore including it in a list of "facts" would be unwise, without doing some further research to confirm that point.

And the refusal to allow the surveyor to investigate only serves to demonstrate that the 'raised' element of the claim must be based on some form of guesswork or supposition, rather than being a 'fact'.

The Victorians were notorious for their economical approach to some types of building, and doing some stuff which to our eyes looks weird.  One of those apparently weird things was constructing parts of buildings (particularly the 'service' parts) with the floor below ground level.  In the days before electric refrigeration this served to keep the room cool and ideal for storing stuff which goes off (the evaporation of that 'damp' causes a cooling effect).

So before accusing the neighbour of building a raised flower bed and causing the damp problem, the first step is to work out the comparative levels of the extension floor, the flower bed, and what the original ground level is.  In my experience of dealing with drains and 'damp' problems, there can be some real surprises lurking in a situation like this one.

The issue here, the main one to focus on, is the refusal by the neighbour to cooperate in the investigation.  Stating a conclusion - and assigning blame at this point - is only likely to get the neighbour's back up, and is weak when simultaneously claiming the necessary investigation work to arrive at that conclusion hasn't been done... because the neighbour hasn't allowed it.

Bendy_House said:

This letter-before-action is not 'going legal'. That's comes afterwards if needed. But if the neighb ignores this LBA or still refuses to allow a surveyor to examine the other side (and they'll confirm things like DPC height and whether it's breached), then the lack of response to your LBA will serve them very badly indeed.

Although it's not 'legal action', it is still a 'dispute' in the terms of the seller's info pack - so it'll also serve them very badly if they don't refer to it in there, when you have proof you've brought this to their attention.

Claiming that a LBA is not 'going legal' is like claiming foreplay is not part of sex. You could argue it either way, but those who insist it isn't probably aren't really getting it.

An LBA (done properly) is part of the pre-action protocol.  It is not the commencement of formal legal action, but a preparatory step.  The seriousness with which this should be taken is that someone who knowingly makes a false statement in a letter or document at this stage could later be subject to proceedings for contempt of court... which is about as serious as the law gets. (Its in the link you posted earlier, if there is any doubt)

Anyway, as you note, a LBA would formalise the dispute in a way which would force the neighbour's hand.  Which could work out well, but on the other hand might back them into a position where they feel compelled to counterclaim in order to protect their prospective sale.  You just can't predict how some people might react in that position...

Also, if this neighbour is such a [fill in description of choice], does it really make sense to sabotage the sale and stop him moving away?  Turning this into a formal dispute which puts off potentially much more agreeable neighbours is a tactically dubious approach.

Bendy_House

Can I really be bovvered...?

The facts are - you have a long-standing issue with damp along the bottom of that wall. The wall is solid brick. Your neighbour has a raised flower bed (P-Point: relative to the outside ground level...) full of wet soil against that wall which appears to be around 450mm high. They have refused to allow your surveyor to investigate from their side.

Now't contentious there. All fact.

(I hope this 'teasing' of yours isn't your idea of foreplay?)