Legal position re downpipe.

Jimifan

We recently bought a house where we share a downpipe with the house next door, which is empty. This is leaking and causing damage to the outside of our house and damp on the wall inside.
The estate agent has passed on our contact details to the new owner and explained the problem to him but there has been no response.
(He is fairly sure it will be done up and rented out.)
We were hoping to go halves on the repairs/replacement but if necessary would just go ahead as we consider it urgent.
The problem is, it drains into their front "buffer garden" and is concreted in at the bottom.
Anyone know what our legal positio is here?
Can we force them to do repairs?
Can we go ahead if it means going onto their property?
Any help gratefully received, thanks.

FreeBear

How old is the property ?

My house has a downpipe on the boundary at the front which drains in to a soakaway, again on the boundary. The underground pipework is all my side, so I take responsibility for fixing any problems.

In your situation, if the downpipe is on the boundary and you have a similar arraignment with the soakaway, I'd be tempted to cut the pipe and lay in a new underground drain - The existing pipe is probably clogged with moss & roots, so digging up is most likely required.. If you do decide to reroute the drainage, I would highly recommend fitting an interceptor gully at the bottom of the downpipe. It will trap any debris coming off the roof and give you an access point should you ever need to rod the underground pipe.

Jimifan

Thanks, but in our case the underground pipework is within next door's boundary, unfortunately.
I was wondering what the legal position is.
The house was built in 1897, if it makes any difference.

Section62

Jimifan said:

We were hoping to go halves on the repairs/replacement but if necessary would just go ahead as we consider it urgent.
The problem is, it drains into their front "buffer garden" and is concreted in at the bottom.
Anyone know what our legal positio is here?
Can we force them to do repairs?
Can we go ahead if it means going onto their property?

There are legal routes you could go down, but not without (significant) cost.

What materials are the downpipe and gutters?  If the problem is just with the downpipe and it is plastic then the cost of getting the downpipe replaced is likely to be less than going down the legal route.  If the downpipe is on the boundary and the work could be done from your side then strictly speaking you don't need the neighbour's permission if you are doing like-for-like replacement required for reasons of urgency.  It would still be a good idea to notify the owner (via the agent if necessary) that you intend to do the work.

The downpipe being concreted in is not too much of an issue as there are adaptors available to overcome this - the pipe is sawn through close to the ground and the correct adaptor inserted.

ThisIsWeird

Where, exactly, is the downpipe located?

Where is this DP leaking from?

Do you suspect it is blocked, and that's the cause? What would you propose to do - have the DP cut above where it enters the concreted ground, so it can be removed and cleaned out?

You say it empties into a 'buffer garden' - what do you mean by this? An underground soakaway, or does it drain on to the surface at some point?

What to do? Worth first having a look through your deeds to see what, if anything, it says about such shared drainage. Then, having given the owner enough time to respond - I'd double-check with the EA whether they have managed to pass on the info, I would carry out the most basic action only in order to try and resolve the current issue, and that's - presumably - to remove the DP to clear it from blockages. That will likely require it to be cut above ground level, and a union inserted afterwards. This should cost little - £100 or so?

If the issue turns out to be a blockage below ground, such as a silted-up soakaway, then that's a much bigger issue, and not one you can involve yourself in until you have heard back from the owner. I would then be looking at sharing the cost for the ultimate fix, regardless of what the deeds may say - surely only fair?

Alternatively, if a better solution for you, you could consider sorting out your own side, and leaving that original DP for your neighb, but I would discuss this with them first (or just do it if they repeatedly fail to get in touch). This will likely involve a soakaway of your own, so expect that to cost a fair bit...

Before doing anything, I'd make sure that I had 'evidence' of the leak, and the damage being caused. And ditto of your attempt to contact the owner. Bottom line, even if the owner is an 'ol, he wouldn't be able to take action over a DP being simply cut and refixed.