Guttering query

JuliaMary_2

Hi - appreciate any advice.
We are in a semi-detached home.  Next door had downpipe on back of their house - a bit before joint party garden wall.  Downpipe was fed by roof gutters on back of both houses and ran to ground and drain on neighbour's side. 
New owner has built a large pitched roof extension with side extension so roof gutter is now much longer. 
Downpipe is now on far side - so fine for us as some distance away.  However, they've left a gap where old downpipe used to be.  So now when it rains most of the roof gutter water discharges through gap/missing guttering onto back middle wall of both houses and onto roof/party wall divide.
I've chased as it's affecting our rendering/wall also and have been promised it'll be fixed but nothing so far and I've been chasing for 2 weeks.  The wall looks soaking and more rain is forecast so I'm becoming more concerned. 
The new neighbour doesn't live there as builders are doing it up.  Builders are nice enough but agree to everything but don't follow through when they say they will.
My knowledge of gutters and damp is zero and I'm just wondering how long I should reasonably wait for a fix.
The council plans show the new guttering should run along roof and feed off on downpipe on far side only but they've simply left a gap where old downpipe was. As all scaffolding is now down I'm getting more worried that they won't fix/replace it.
I even tried ringing council/planning but told I had to email and it could take 2 weeks - by which time they might have finished and gone or I could have damp/water ingress issues (if it can happen that quickly?).
Not sure if I'm over-worrying (as I've a tendency to do!) or if I should reach out to house owner and advise if not fixed within next few days we'll have to bill for any damage. I don't actually know house owner but just that he's a property developer and a bit 'difficult' - given he doesn't live there we've not been able to build up any relationship; but I could be dealing with someone who's done this before and isn't particularly worried about keeping in with the neighbours. 
I can't really get work/fix done myself as missing guttering is on his side - if only just.
Thanks for any advice. 

ThisIsWeird

Hi Julia.

Any chance of a photo to show where the gap is?

And, do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance - please check.

Is yours one of a number of semis in your road? If so, do they all share this guttering layout - a single run covering both houses, and with a single downpipe?

How long have you lived there for? How old are the houses?

Ok, in short, if the default guttering arrangement for these houses is to have a single run and a single - shared - downpipe, then he's a very naughty man. To be honest, even if he'd kept the guttering connected, he's running a big risk of overflowing where yours joins his as he's seemingly moved his one DP to the far end - that's a lot of travel for a lot of water.

Yes, if water continues to cascade over the gutter and down your wall, it will most likely cause significant issues to your house. So this 'developer' needs to have it made clear that he will be liable for all resulting damage if he does not fix this. This is MUCH easier done if you have LP. Please tell us that you do.

twopenny

For some unknown reason they have deliberately left a gap. Very strange.

And the council want an email. I hope you've done that immediately. 
Politely pointing out that it's going to cause fast and significant damage to your property.
And that you have pointed this out to the builders - x times on x date.
You would like this rectified asap before it becomes an issue.

Always worth stating what you have done and what you expect to be done. It makes it clear sharp and fast.

And take photos of now. Including scaffolding if poss.
You could add to the email that you are forwarding photos in a following emai as attachments. It's safer as emails with attachments can be junked by security software. Want the info to go through they then know to look for the following photographs.
Been there, done that with a housing association :-/

JuliaMary_2

Hi - thank you for replying. Yes I do have legal protection thankfully. 
Houses were built circa 1935.
Have just run (or moved quickly with a glass of wine) out into back garden - most houses now seem to have extensions so hard to tell original guttering arrangement.
However, when moved in, 16years ago in 2007, next door hadn't had any work done to original structure and down pipe was there: just on neighbours side of party wall, and just to right of middle of joint roof guttering. It ran from roof to ground and drain underneath. 
We also each had downpipes into respective drives at back of far side of each house - just as rear roof guttering turns onto drive way side of house. Ours is still in place and is the original.
So original guttering, at back of houses, seems to be end of each house: roof to floor and joint one in middle (or just off- from middle on their side), again roof to floor. 
The council signed off the planning with guttering - showing both original and new arrangement:
- New arrangement should be no guttering in middle but roof to floor at far side down to ground/ neighbours driveway.
- However builder has not followed this and stopped it earlier and new down pipe stops above pitched roof on far side - so will be exiting water onto pitched roof tiles...  
- I wonder if this was what he was hoping to do on other side of pitched roof ie near us and maybe has left the gap to do a last minute slot in of a down pipe.... even though it's not on plans and our surveyor advised they couldn't create a discharge onto our side if we had not agreed and one had not been there previously. 
I did reach out to builder again this morning and he promised to fix it today but has failed to do so - he's just left gap instead of sealing it off. As more rain due this weekend I think I'll message owner next and make it clear it needs to be fixed urgently to avoid them being liable for possibly quite significant costs.  
Luckily I've taken pictures of all the before and after work so have proof as such - I just find it odd that people are so difficult about these things.  

Unfortunately they've also failed to render breeze blocks from extension build, again facing our side - on plans it says it will be rendered and finished to match original.  All other rendering is done but they keep making excuses.  Again I think I'll have to flag that to homeowner as we've stated many times we're happy for them to come onto our side to finish same but absolutely no contact from them. 

We didn't object to any plans and were excited to have a new neighbour but do slightly feel they are taking advantage and playing us a little for fools - which is most annoying thing and not really best way of joining neighbourhood (that's if they are - it might be a quick house flip and move on - hence me wanting to get everything sorted whilst they are on site).  I really don't mind what they do on their side I just don't want it to negatively impact my house or not be as published plans. 

Thanks again for your advice. 

ThisIsWeird

JuliaMary_2 said:

However, when moved in, 16years ago in 2007, next door hadn't had any work done to original structure and down pipe was there: just on neighbours side of party wall, and just to right of middle of joint roof guttering. It ran from roof to ground and drain underneath. 
We also each had downpipes into respective drives at back of far side of each house - just as rear roof guttering turns onto drive way side of house. Ours is still in place and is the original.
So original guttering, at back of houses, seems to be end of each house: roof to floor and joint one in middle (or just off- from middle on their side), again roof to floor. 

You have LP - well done :-)

You have taken photos - doubly well done :-D

The solution is to call up your LP for guidance - this won't cost you anything. They will ask Qs, so it's good that you have the original layout clear in your head. They will advise on how to handle this - quite possibly to send the neighbour a letter by recorded means, but they'll advise on wording.

If the neighb doesn't respond correctly, then your LP should take over and act on your behalf.

Ok, so it's (was) a single, continuous length of gutter across both properties, but there are three downpipes, one at each end, and one in t'middle - which was on your neighb's side, but could just as easily have been originally placed on yours - that's a lottery. Or are you saying that there wasn't a DP on your neighb's far end, but there is now?

Anyhoo, to repeat, if the guttering was originally a single connected length, then it was effectively 'shared', so the central DP on your neighb's side did equally serve your house and this should not have been interfered with. Anything they do to the guttering that affects the performance on your side, they are liable for. If their new extension necessitated the removal of this central DP, then they should have factored in an alternative solution that didn't affect you.

It might be that your remaining DP is enough for you, but it's quite possible that the length of gutter on your side is not set up ideally for just this outlet. But, a potential solution could be to redo the guttering on your side so that your single end DP copes fine - but I'd expect the neighbour to pay for this. Whatever the best solution is, the neighbour is responsible for ensuring it's done.

The lack of rendering is daft. It's not only an eyesore for you, but a potential damp hazard for them. Presumably the Building Control plans indicate that it should be rendered, so a quiet - or loud - word to BC might be in order.

Could you post a photo of their plans (taken from the LA's Panning Portal) showing the part that covers their rainwater design, please?

sevenhills

Surely the water from your gutter is your responsibility too?