My gutter is leaking

mynameisQuince

I live in a terraced house (which we own) and my neighbour's landlord has been in touch to say that the tenants next door have a damp problem in their bedroom. The landlord has written to us by recorded delivery (but not given her name and address) saying that her 'tradesman' has looked at the issue and has found that there is a leak in the guttering that, 'in their opinion,' is the cause of the problem. The landlord has given us until the end of August to fix the problem.

We had a new roof and guttering installed to our property less than 10 years ago. The landlord for the next door property also says the roof and guttering for her property is recent though she has not said when it was installed. The joint between the two sections of guttering is just inside the line of our property (if that is significant). She just insists that it is our responsibility to fix the leak.

What I need to know is whose responsibility is it to sort out the leak from the joint in the guttering bearing in mind that we only have the word of the landlord to go on and the word of her tradesman. Added to this is the difficulty we have in communicating with the landlord as we do not have her name and address.

Bigphil1474

Leaky guttering can cause damp, but I would have thought that if their tradesperson had time to look at it, they probably could have fixed it?

We used to live in a mid terraced house and our guttering joined next doors and we had a shared down pipe on their side. It was our understanding that the guttering on our side was our responsibility and the rest was the neighbours. However, if we did need any work doing on the down pipe we usually went 50/50 because we got on with our neighbours. Depends what the leak is and what needs doing. Must be more than just a poor connection. I'd get your roofer out to have a look and get your bit fixed.

elsien

Is there a leak? Are you able to pour water into it to check?

Albermarle

In the first part of your post you say that their tradesperson has found a leak in the guttering.

In the second part you mention the joining part.

Have they actually mentioned the joining section, or have you just assumed that is the problem?

EssexExile

I would leave it until you get a name and address for the landlords and and can enter into discussions with them about the problem. Perhaps the tenants can help.

sheenas

Well first step is to check your deeds and see if it's a party wall as there maybe join responsibility. To resolve the damp issue, inspect your gutters for blockages or leaks to confirm if they are the true source of the problem.

Failing that it's the responsibly landlord to conduct a surveyor, it will become clear if the damp is a product of your property and its faults, or your neighbours. If the damp turns out to be your responsibility then the damp survey will include the actions necessary to complete damp proofing, and you can move ahead with those.

It complex if the landlord does not provide a reasonable means of contact.

Eldi_Dos

Is there not a Landlords Register List for your area that you can use to find the landlords contact details?

WIAWSNB

Hi Quince.

Step one is, read your deeds to see what it says about responsibility.

Generally, for shared/terraced/semi setups, the starting position - unless countered by the deeds - is that each property looks after the section within their own boundary*. 'Shared' facilities such as downpipes and hoppers, should be a shared responsibility. And any gutter or fitting that actually straddles the boundary is 'party', so shared responsibility between the two properties involved.

From what you describe, this gutter 'union' sits fully on your side of the boundary line? If so, and it is faulty/has come apart, then I understand it is your responsibility to sort.

If, however, any part of that fitting crosses over the boundary line, then it's shared, and you should split the cost.

So, where does it sit?

If this fitting is leaking, and it is fully on your side, then I'd fix it. If it's leaking and straddling to any degree, then you split the cost. For the latter, you tell the LL you are prepared to go £alves, but require a quote from their fellow that you can compare with yours.

If you have doubt over the existence of this leak, then you wait until it rains.

*If a whole terrace's guttering is dodgy, then the sensible thing to do would be to agree with the other properties to have it all done in one go, and split the cost evenly. But that doesn't appear to be the case here - the gutter should be fine, but one fitting has just slipped out probably due to the high temps.

mta999

All this assumes it's ever going to rain again.