How to save money on a downpipe and drainage dispute

anycatsfriend

Does anyone know how to determine responsibility for guttering, downpipe and drainage pipes in England? I'm afraid, as I live in a semi, I took the view that the rear downpipe was on my property, therefore my responsibility. I have maintained and corrected the surface water drainage. However my neighbour and his building contractors are of the view that the front downpipe is shared. Surface water drainage is still in place. I have now had 2 inspections to say water damage to my property is caused by this pipe. These are old houses (1887), so surface water drainage was common. I just need to understand how to minimise cost of soak away and damage to my property.

tacpot12

The obvious answer on how to save money is to a) keep things amicable and b) share the cost with the next door neighbour. They seem to have agreed that the front downpipe is shared. What is their view about the rear downpipe? 

Is the rear downpipe in the same position as the front downpipe? I assume that the front downpipe sits exactly on the line between the two properties. Does the rear downpipe do the same?

The cost of the soakaway will be to some extent determined by the soil type (free-draining vs. clay, etc. ). There are videos on YouTube of how to do the job yourself, so any builder or handyman should be able to do it, providing they adhere to the buidling regulations. These link might help you understand what is involved: 

Building Control Guidance Note 12 - Soakaways (ebcsltd.co.uk) 
Soakaway Design Ultimate Guide (2023) | Urban Water (urban-water.co.uk)

For advice on the permit you might need, see here:
Environmental Permits For Drainage Systems - Proseptic

You might not need a permit if you can trace an existing soakaway and all you are doing is performing maintenance on it.

anycatsfriend

How very kind tacpot12. The thing is that tho the downpipe like mine is close to the boundary, it is on his property. I never thought to ask him to share costs on the rear downpipe as it was on mine. I really think it unlikely that a rear one would be mine and a front one shared. My neighbour hasn't provided any evidence that the front downpipe is shared.. I welcome your thoughts and and thank you for your help.

ThisIsWeird

We need more info, acf. And ideally some photos.

Things like, how old is the property? How long have you lived there? What do your deeds say? (Important)

At the back, does the gutter stop at the boundary, or does your neighb's rainwater flow down 'your' DP as well? And where does that DP end up at ground level?

At the front, is it the same - ie a continuous gutter along both properties, but this time the DP is on the neighb's side of the boundary? And, where does this DP currently run in to?

And, what is the actual problem?

Oh, and do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance?

anycatsfriend

Goodness lots of questions! But rightly so
- property built 1887
- 24 years
- I get deeds, and am applying to land registry
- at rear I carry neighbours water to dp
- in appropriate drainage, not surface drainage, which I paid for
- at front one gutter, one DP, surface drainage, which has undermined front of houses. Dp on neighbours property
- actual problem apart from making water drain safely away from both houses is, a wet party wall my side, floor, walls, fireplace and a quote for a minium repair, subject to other works of 8.5k
- sadly not this year. I always have had, but had the year from hell in 2023, and managed to overlook it, v bad mistake. 

anycatsfriend

Dear oh dear, I am a newbie and not finding the site easy to navigate. Thank you, thisisweird, for your apposite questions. There is more to the story, but I will leave it to you to ask the right questions as you do so welll. Thanls

Grumpy_chap

anycatsfriend said:

Does anyone know how to determine responsibility for guttering, downpipe and drainage pipes in England? I'm afraid, as I live in a semi, I took the view that the rear downpipe was on my property, therefore my responsibility. I have maintained and corrected the surface water drainage. However my neighbour and his building contractors are of the view that the front downpipe is shared. Surface water drainage is still in place. I have now had 2 inspections to say water damage to my property is caused by this pipe. These are old houses (1887), so surface water drainage was common. I just need to understand how to minimise cost of soak away and damage to my property.

I wonder whether knowing the fact about the front downpipe as shared or not is actually important.
How much is the water damage causing and what costs are required to remedy the damage so caused?
How cheap is a new downpipe, which will presumably be half met by the neighbours who accept the downpipe as shared?
It may be pragmatic to simply meet the (shared) costs of resolving the root cause of the water damage.

anycatsfriend

Yes I understand  what you are saying, and if that was the only consideration I'd agree with you. Sadly I have had a quote to fix the damage from water ingression from this pipe to my property at 8.5k, subject to some further works and costs. If only it was paying for a soak away.id be delighted.

ThisIsWeird

Without the all-important written info in your, and your neighbour's, deeds, acf, I can only speculate that the rights and responsibilities for your shared roof runoff is just that - shared. 
You say you sorted the drainage from 'your' DP at the rear of the property yourself? What did this entail? What cost? 
Almost certainly that would have been a shared responsibility too. Yes, the DP was - just - on your side of the boundary, but when you consider that most folk have a boundary fence or wall, then it makes sense that the DP comes down marginally on one side! The responsibility, however, is almost always shared.
So ditto at the front. The deeds will/should confirm, but almost certainly it's shared responsibility.
Since one DP is on one side of the boundary, and the other on t'other, perhaps the intention was to split the responsibility that way instead - front/rear - but I doubt it. Again, the deeds would/should say.
So, what exactly is the problem? Is there no satisfactory way of removing the rainwater once it reaches the bottom of the DP? What's there at the mo'? What have you been told is necessary now?
I'd suggest you anticipate it being a shared cost, unless the deeds state otherwise. You may have taken the cost of repair to the rear by yourself, and it would be nice if the neighb acknowledged this and took it into account, but I doubt it's enforceable. 
Anyhoo - deeds.
Any chance that the damage to your house is covered by insurance? 

FreeBear

anycatsfriend said: Sadly I have had a quote to fix the damage from water ingression from this pipe to my property at 8.5k, subject to some further works and costs.

Please tell us the work isn't going to be done by a PCA approved damp "expert" with their magic waterproof plasters & chemical DPC treatments...

Grumpy_chap

anycatsfriend said:

Yes I understand  what you are saying, and if that was the only consideration I'd agree with you. Sadly I have had a quote to fix the damage from water ingression from this pipe to my property at 8.5k, subject to some further works and costs. If only it was paying for a soak away.id be delighted.

So £8.5k damage.
How much is the full cost of fixing the down pipe?
Little point in spending out the £8.5k if the down pipe is not fixed first.