Party Wall Chimney

jojaca

I am having damp patches in bedroom caused by shared party wall chimney, I went up the attic noticed water stains running down the wall. While I was in the attic, I noticed my neighbor has a lot of roof tiles missing and can see clear daylight when I look over top of party wall, which is a concern if heavy rain will effect my property. 

I have since had roofer out and he has advised removal of Chimney because of the poor condition. I then wrote a letter to neighbor explaining everything and Chimney removal. They have ignored the letter. Since then they put the house on the market for a week and it was removed a week later and I've seen no movement there for 5/6 weeks and the house is unoccupied. 

What would the next steps be because I don't think I will hearing anything back from neighbor and the damp continues to get worse. 

ThisIsWeird

If lack of maintenance on your neighbour's side is causing damage to your property, then they are almost certainly liable. Check your deeds for detail - it'll likely have some references about such obligations.

Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance? If so, they should guide you how to approach this. I suspect the first step will be a recorded delivery letter to the owner to point out the issue, perhaps with the roofer's recommendation and quote in tow, and making it clear that it's an issue that does need resolving as it's causing damage to the fabric of your property. Suggest they are obviously welcome to find their own reputable roofer too, and obtain quotes for a solution.

Yes, if the stack serves no purpose including aesthetic, then removal makes the best long-term sense, but will cost more initially. So if the neighb is struggling with finances, you may need to compromise on a 'repair' rather than a removal. 

Ultimately, you may need to force this issue, and your LegProt should also kick in to do this for you. For instance, if the neighbour really is skint, then you may need to sort this yourself, and then put a charge on their house that will repay you when they do sell. No idea how easy this would be to do.

What's the current situation - is your roof in good repair? Is this a shared stack, sitting on the party wall? And the neighb's roof, only, is in poor repair?

Grenage

Start with what you can control.  The chimney is letting water in, so it's probably the flashing and/or pointing.

You don't need to remove the chimney, you can just get it repaired.

jojaca

Grenage said:

Start with what you can control.  The chimney is letting water in, so it's probably the flashing and/or pointing.

You don't need to remove the chimney, you can just get it repaired.

I am no expert, but according to the roofer, the brick on chimney is soft brick and rain water is penetrating the brick, so the water will find it's way in despite the flashing and pointing, that's why he recommended removal. 

ThisIsWeird

LegalPro?!

jojaca

ThisIsWeird said:

LegalPro?!

This was going to my reply to your first post. 

The shared chimney is sitting on the party wall, so it looks 50/50. My roof is in good repair and it's been checked over the years and always clean my gutters etc. My neighbors roof is a mess, always finding slate tiles in my garden when we have extreme weather. The current owners are Chinese that spoke little english, there's a chance they are not even in the country. 

I will phone house insurance tomorrow on my day off, to see if I get anywhere with them or at least push in the right direction. 

ThisIsWeird

jojaca said:

ThisIsWeird said:

LegalPro?!

This was going to my reply to your first post. 

The shared chimney is sitting on the party wall, so it looks 50/50. My roof is in good repair and it's been checked over the years and always clean my gutters etc. My neighbors roof is a mess, always finding slate tiles in my garden when we have extreme weather. The current owners are Chinese that spoke little english, there's a chance they are not even in the country. 

I will phone house insurance tomorrow on my day off, to see if I get anywhere with them or at least push in the right direction. 

Pleased you have this cover.
Follow their guidelines correctly.
It may be the case, if the neighbour is unresponsive or unhelpful, that you can take unilateral action to sort it first, justifying it by the damage being caused, and then chase them for their half of the bill, but you'd need to ensure you do everything correctly - all the 'giving notice', for example.
I also suspect that you'll need at least three quotes before you can take action like this, giving solid reasons for your preferred roofer.
Anyhoo, they'll guide you, but follow this to the letter, so they can escalate the matter if needed on firm ground.
Good luck, and please let us know how this develops, as it could be very useful for others too :-)

jojaca

Cheers, I will keep update.

jojaca

I phoned legal side of our house insurance, I've had to pay £3 for the title deeds of next door, which was a company based in London and send a letter to them. If I don't get anything back within 14 days and I have to contact legal team again for further assistance to see if I have a case.