How can i get owner of flat above to fix a leak

grey_lady

Wasnt to sure where to post this but im hoping that someone can give me some advice on what action if any i can take.

I recently bought my first flat in a block which has a management company
responsible for maintainence etc

A flat above mine has a leaking (external) overflow pipe (coming from a boiler)it's been leaking constantly and quite heavily for over 2 weeks
onto the brickwork and window of my flat and whilst the noise is annoying
im more worried about the mess its making of the brickwork and any more
serious damage it might be doing.

I reported it to the management company who reported it to the owner of that flat but two weeks later its still not repaired and the owner really seems to be giving the management company the run around about it. The management company have admitted that legally the owner has to fix it but that they dont see any way of forcing him to as it would be to expensive to take legal action, and that they find the owner very difficult to deal with.
So clearly not the first time they've had dealings with him.

So im just not sure what to do (the flat is rented out btw so i cant approach the owner directly and the tenant is just as frustrated as i am that its not
being fixed)

Thanks for any suggestions.

country_sport

The only thing you can do is somehow send a letter to the owner mentioning the problem and that it could cause damage to your property if not fixed quickly which you will hold him liable for.

sooz

a cork? :rolleyes:

I had the same problem from an upstairs flat. I had to de-limescale my living room window once per week! I was also pregnant, and the constant dripping made my trips to the loo even more frequent.

The owner occupier upstairs did once call a plumber, complain that it cost him money and still didn't fix the problem. We moved out soon after (planned anyway) and I would guess that his overflow is still dripping.

I used to dream about blocking that pipe!

Fergie73

That happened to me with the first flat I bought too. Had this bi*ch upstairs who refused to acknowledge a leak. Water was coming through my ceiling, making it bulge. I got someone in eventually who said if it wasn't fixed the ceiling would fall in and it was too dangerous for me to live there. I ended up moving back to my parents, but STILL she refused to do anything. In the end the guys who told me to move out said the only thing to do to prevent the celing falling in - which would have been a major nightmare - was to pull it down then find the leak from underneath. Pulling the ceiling down was only a minor nightmare, apparently, compared to allowing it to fall.

Luckily my insurance company were brilliant !!!!{Direct Line}}} and paid up for the full amount of the work, even though it should have been the woman upstairs. It turned out to be her shower that wasn't sealed properly, which she kind of had to admit and sort when she was looking into a big hole underneath her floor boards that couldn't be fixed until her leak was! I think by that time we also had my Dad's lawyer and the environmental health people on to her too, as they can apparently force people to do repairs.

I was out for about four months (two months after buying the place and moving in - very luck to have been living near parents at least). Put me right off property buying for a long time.

So in short, I don't think there's any easy way to force someone. Lawyers letters and the environmental health are the next step though, if you can't get anywhere. The last I heard - after I moved out - Direct Line were still fighting her insurance company to get the money back, and the lawyers letters and communication we'd been sending her were apparently very useful for them doing that.