Selling house with pre-existing issue

PinkNeon

My house has been on. the market for just under 3 months. My chimney is apparently leaking into next doors when the weather is bad.
I was quoted £1200 to remove the chimney March last. year but there is an opportunity. to fix it and put. a log burner. in the. empty fireplace (due to the Baxi boiler being removed). However I am loathed to spend any money on the property as I am trying. to save to move and the estate agents are aware and advising potential buyers about the chimney issue and potential. for log burner. 

Neighbour has just emailed to advise it has leaked again after a shoddy. repair in summer. and. I. don't know what to do. They had advised that they would get family. help. and. I could contribute to costs but that didn't manifest and they obviously went ahead themselves. I REALLY don't want to eat in to. what little savings I have so any advice would be. great thanks.

ManuelG

It's still your chimney, and still causing an issue with neighbour's property. Therefore, isn't it still your obligation to resolve that issue?

If nobody buys it for a fair old while (or they pull out for whatever reason) and it causes more damage to your neighbour's property, won't you be on the hook for more cash?

PinkNeon

Thanks and yes I agree. Problem. is. I am. on double. yellows so builders / chimney specialists. hard to come by. and increasing the cost. Argh I really don't know what to. do...

_Penny_Dreadful

PinkNeon said:

My house has been on. the market for just under 3 months. My chimney is apparently leaking into next doors when the weather is bad.
I was quoted £1200 to remove the chimney March last. year but there is an opportunity. to fix it and put. a log burner. in the. empty fireplace (due to the Baxi boiler being removed). However I am loathed to spend any money on the property as I am trying. to save to move and the estate agents are aware and advising potential buyers about the chimney issue and potential. for log burner. 

Neighbour has just emailed to advise it has leaked again after a shoddy. repair in summer. and. I. don't know what to do. They had advised that they would get family. help. and. I could contribute to costs but that didn't manifest and they obviously went ahead themselves. I REALLY don't want to eat in to. what little savings I have so any advice would be. great thanks.

My advice is to stop faffing about and get it fixed. I know you don’t want to spend money getting it fixed but I’m quite sure your neighbour doesn’t want water leaking into their property. 

cymruchris

How would you feel if living in your forever home the neighbour's house was causing you an issue - and they kept saying 'Well we'll be moving soon - so we don't want to deal with it'.

As much as you want to avoid spending any money - it is still your responsibility.

From the previous repair - is there an idea of what might be causing the issue?

Could the chimney be capped if the water is travelling down the inside and soaking through?

Cloth_of_Gold

PinkNeon said:

Thanks and yes I agree. Problem. is. I am. on double. yellows so builders / chimney specialists. hard to come by. and increasing the cost. Argh I really don't know what to. do...

Where we live you can mostly only park with a residents' permit and the council doesn't issue visitor permits. Unless tradespeople want to risk getting a ticket by parking in a residents' bay they park in one of the meter bays round the corner or in the street that runs parallel to ours. Don't you have meter bays nearby that they could use? In many cases you can load and unload on double yellow lines. https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/parking-services/parking-and-traffic/parking-advice-members-public/loading-and-unloading

Alderbank

Your neighbour seems to have been very patient so far but his patience won't last forever while you faff about.

You will be hoping to sell for a decent price so you really don't want to have to declare a neighbour dispute.

As above, bite the bullet.

PinkNeon

Yes of course, I agree about the faffing ! Her family are builders and she gave me the impression the issue was fixed. We. get.  on ok as neighbours.  
The house has been priced (lower). to include the chimney 'fix' is all, as the fire has been left open (with cardboard taped over it) when the BAXI was removed. for potential small log burner or to have the. chimney removed (quote: £1200). It's just if it amounts to over £1200. so. if it needs. to be rebuilt. etc then I don't have the money to fix it and that was supposed to be. the furniture. fund . Chimney specialist was. supposed to be coming this afternoon and didn't. 

Sorry about all the .'s  my keyboard is. knackered.