Would you pay half for your neighbour's guttering repair and tree removal

noideapleasehelp

The house next door has always been rented out for decades. Previous owners when I moved in were about to put on market so reluctant to do anything.
Issues as this is a 1905 terraced house with party boundary:
1)  A sycamore tree that's just 20 foot away from my property now 9 years old and 50 foot high on a "boundary" line.  I asked previous owners to sort it out.  They said they would but left it to tenant who just cut a few branches (which later damaged my car - it was an old car so I let it go).  They sold the house to new owners.  Contacted new owners via their letting agent in 2020. No reply. Tree is clearly on their property as my fence is outside of the tree but happy to accept it's a boundary issue to get the thing sorted and prevent issues for my property.  Tried to contact 2021, 2022 and now in 2023 finally they have contacted me.
2)  Their guttering has failed, is old, leaks, has debris not cleared in it, and is causing issues because the water is now spirting back into my property causing damp at my property. However, as my property is a terrace, it relies on their down-pipe being able to clear the water.  Additionally, their down-pipe has no pipe attached to spyphon it into the road (like mine and all other houses do), so that is work they also need to resolve.
Today had reply via an agent that they would be happy to pay for half of cost of the tree removal, that I must supervise and initial pay costs, but that I also need to pay for their guttering to be replaced as my property feeds into theirs as it's a terraced house, get quotes and supervise the works.

Has anyone come across this situation before with terraced houses?  

Thank you for your kind response.

marcia_

  Think i woud be ok going half's on the tree, you are the one who wants it gone. But not a chance I'd pay for their gutter. 

noideapleasehelp

Thanks Marcia
That's how I feel too.

subjecttocontract

That Sycamore would make very good firewood for anyone with a chainsaw & a log burner.

marcia_

noideapleasehelp said:

Thanks Marcia
That's how I feel too.

 It's nonsense to think you should pay because your gutters drain into theirs.

theoretica

If you want the tree gone and they don't then I think there is a point that they should not have to pay anything, just give you permission.  On the other hand they are their gutters and they should maintain them working.  Which possibly works out to a fairly similar sum as paying half of each.  But doesn't start a precedent that you pay towards work on their house/gutters.

greenface2

GET A QUOTE FOR THE TREE AND GET HALF OF THE MONEY OR GET THE AGENT TO HOLD IT AND PAY THE JOB EACH WHEN DONE . YOU SHOULDNT PAY IT ALL THEN WAIT FOR THEM TO PAY YOU . GUTTER ISNT YOUR PROBLEM 

Bigphil1474

OP, it is not uncommon for 2 terraced houses to share a down pipe, and where they do, there is an argument for sharing cost of repairs - after all they both need to be in good order along with the downpipe to prevent damage. TBH, from your post, I was more thinking you share the cost of the gutter and they pay for the tree. As greenface says, don't pay it all upfront yourself as you'd be then waiting for them to repay you - given it's taken them 3 years to get back to you, might be a long wait. 

If it was me, I'd be expecting them to get quotes, organise the work, and then ask you for an agreed contribution. You might have difficulty getting a contractor to do work entirely on a neighbours property. If next door is managed by an agent, don't see why they aren't sorting it out for the owners.

subjecttocontract

They don't want their Agent to organise the guttering work because the Agent will add an administration fee to the cost.
They want you to do it for free !

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

noideapleasehelp said:

 now 9 years old and 50 foot high on a "boundary" line

I know they grow fast but that sounds very tall for a 9 year old tree?

Do you have a photo? 

Half the tree removal cost is fair, assuming the agent is authorised to pay to you I'd be happy with that.

noideapleasehelp said:

2)  Their guttering has failed, is old, leaks, has debris not cleared in it, and is causing issues because the water is now spirting back into my property causing damp at my property. However, as my property is a terrace, it relies on their down-pipe being able to clear the water.  Additionally, their down-pipe has no pipe attached to spyphon it into the road (like mine and all other houses do), so that is work they also need to resolve.

Assuming it's plastic guttering is straightforward.

It shouldn't cost much to clean, leaks are likely to be rubber seals that have deteriorated.

What does the pipe to syphon water to the road mean OP?

You're between a rock and hard place really, to have the tree down and the damp issues resolved paying might be a lot easier than fighting them on it. 

Other alternative may be to have a down pipe installed on your property, assuming there is somewhere for the water to drain away to. 

Teapot55

Yes. Agree with previous post. Get your own builder in to cap off the gutter at the boundary of your property so rainwater from your roof no longer goes into their gutters and install a downpipe that just empties your gutters so you’re no longer dependent on someone else’s poorly maintained guttering. That may solve the splashback problem if their gutter now has less water to cope with. 

You could at the same time if budget allows also think about having replacement guttering (on your house) in the new wider/ deeper style that copes better with the sudden really heavy downpours we get nowadays.