Water pipe leak - shared ownership

optimalraspberry

Hi, 

Ive been having a leak for a while now in my shared ownership flat, it was believed to be my upstairs neighbour but he has been away this weekend and tuned off his water mains but I have still had my leak. It is believed that this leak is coming from a pipe in the foundation of the building and could be anyone’s or come from anywhere. My housing association is refusing to get a plumber to have a look as it is up to me to repair. I don’t know if it’s my lack of understanding but I feel as if the pipe is in the foundation/structure of the building it shouldn’t be down to me to make this repair as like I said before it could be coming from anywhere. I tried to compromise and asked if they could have a plumber out to just see if it’s not coming from a communal area and if not I’ll pay for the repairs but they are still refusing. 

Question is, is it down to me to repair or is it down to the housing association? This is a new build and has only been built for 3 years. 

eddddy

You should read your lease to see who is responsible for which pipework.

Typically, you would be responsible for pipework that exclusively serves your flat, and the housing association would be responsible for any communal pipework (that serves more than one flat) - but that's not always the case, so check your lease to make sure.

What evidence are you seeing of the leak? It's strange that you originally thought it was dripping down from above, and you now think it's rising from below.


A starting point might be to find out where the communal supply pipes are - so you can see whether the leak is anywhere near them.