Drains vs Sewers: The Legal Difference
A drain is a pipe that only takes water from buildings within a single property boundary. It might carry foul water (toilet waste) or surface water (rainwater from the roof). If it's on your property, you are responsible for unblocking and repairing it until it reaches someone else's property.
A pipe becomes a sewer at the point where it takes drainage from multiple properties. Your local water company is responsible for clearing blockages and maintaining public sewers.
If you're struggling to work out whether it's your responsibility or your neighbour's, you can use our free Drainage Responsibility Checker.
Drainage Responsibility Checker
Find out who is responsible for a drainage problem. Takes 1 minute.
Try our Drainage Responsibility Checker free, here on this site →Who is Responsible? The 2011 Law Change
Before 2011, some properties shared "private sewers" and owners were jointly responsible for maintenance. Since the law changed, you are only responsible for drains within your own property boundary. Your water company now handles everything beyond that point.
- Detached homes: Before 2011, you maintained drains up to the main sewer, possibly under the pavement or road. Now, your responsibility ends at your property boundary.
- Semi-detached homes: You are responsible only for the section up to your boundary with the adjoining house. If a shared drain crosses your property from your neighbour's, the water company is responsible for that section: not you.
- Terraced houses: You are responsible only for the part of your drain before it connects to the shared drain serving the row. The water company maintains the shared drain itself.
Properties with a cesspit, septic tank or treatment plant (common in rural areas) were not affected by these changes and remain privately maintained. Private pumping stations have also transferred to water company responsibility.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
What to Do About a Blockage
If you suspect a blocked sewer, contact your local water company. If they find the blockage is within your drain (the part you're responsible for), you will need to clear it yourself or hire a drainage company.
Most drain unblocking companies invoice the person who called them, regardless of who is legally responsible. If you live in a terrace or semi-detached home and the blockage originates from a neighbour's drain, you will need to approach them for payment. Your local council has powers under various Public Health acts to serve legal notices on anyone who fails to clear a blockage.
Shared Guttering and Uncooperative Neighbours
If guttering or drainage is shared between properties, there is normally joint responsibility for maintenance and repair. Check your deeds to confirm whether this applies to you.
Talk to your neighbour before arranging any work. Most will be reasonable, especially when you have the deeds to support your position. If they refuse to contribute, get the work done and request reimbursement of their share in writing. If they still won't pay, you can take the matter to the county court.
We share a sewage drain with him.
Will this interfere with our drainage system.
I have notice our tap water not working very well. Could this be the reason.
Thanks for your help.
Who is responsible for the drain from the manhole to the road? it is taking two properties sewage? My thoughts were the council as its a shared sewer/drain.
Thanks
Is this allowed? I think not as it’s not natural drainage. We have tried to approach them about this but they are now ignoring us and pretending they knew nothing about it. Are we in our rights to block this up as I don’t think it should be there to begin with as was never there before and I have photos to show that too.
That downpipe is on the side of the property and does not drain into a soakaway.
The result of this is all of the rain water from their roof drains over our driveway and onto the pavement and road. It’s an adopted road.
I don’t think this should happen but I’m not sure who to address it with. We’ve already spoke to the neighbour and they have no intention of doing anything about it.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
I live in a terraced property in London.
My neighbour has carried out a massive loft conversion.i now see that the way they have done the flashing on the new unit majority of the water falls on to my roof .The company did not discuss the new roof design. The neighbours have water seeping in to the new wall when it rains .I got a roofer to make good any flashing etc..for my peace of mind
I am unhappy about the fact that it was not discussed prior to the build
I did sign a party wall agreement.
Are they allowed to sent water on to my roof?
A very concerned owner .
The eork only gimished in February and they have an issue with a damp wall
ThNkking uou
N Kelly
And damaging my property. Can i force them to get a down pipe for themselves..what are my rights?
Do I legally have promise to cap this off as I own my house?
Recently we had water seeping in on the inside wall of our building and had it investigated - they found that the down pipe was blocked and causing the water seepage. The neighbour has ignored our requests to get the down pipe drain unblocked.
What are our rights to get the drain unblocked and is there any recompense we can get for the internal damage to our property
My neighbour connected his sewage pipe line trough my property without my consent.. Is this acceptable..?? What should I do especially with noisy sewage rambling down the pipe from his toilet..???
Nkinga5
Freddie
What can I do.
Cheers in advance
Over winter it soaked my down stairs wall badly
He’s done his but again broke the join I don’t want his gutter my side and the constant cost I offered to separate us snd pay he said yes I said I need consent nothing please help I’m disabiled it’s causing me stresss
Just bought a property , its a semi detached and I now realise that my neighbour's waste water and toilet water runs through my property.
Can I ask them to re route so it does not run through my property.
Currently, there waste runs along to my property , joins my waste water then runs out of my property. Thank you
My problem is that my neighbour, who after years of refusing to have his garage re-roofed eventually had it done. He did not involve me in this decision He also had a pipe installed on my roof without permission which leads into the downspout pipe on my drive. This is the only downspout for the two garages. The way this pipe is fixed dominates the downspout and is affecting my timber roof. What can I do?
1. Is this ok under Uk regulations ?
2. does this constitute a shared drain for the purposes of building extensions
3. Can a request be made of the neighbours to make provision to take away their own rainwater on their own side of the boundary?
Both houses were built in the 1920’s and have each been extended over the years since.
Thanks
When I bought my house the gutter had intermittently overflowed and caused dampness and water ingress in my back room. The neighbour side of gutter is raised causing flow of water to come to my house and all debris from the roof and the neighbour side washes into mine and the dowmpipe in my garden.
I tried explaining this was causing a problem to my neighbours who did not show any interest and say it is my problem. I explained of my intention to have replacement guttering and dowmpipe which are on my property, and suggested they use the same builder to get the gutter on their side cleaned and repaired. Updated. I received no response . I went ahead and had my gutter replaced and my side separate and stop end. To prevent further flow of debris washing into mine and causing water ingress and overflow.
However the neighbour is not happy and threatens to take action saying He has a right to use my gutter and dowmpipe. I suggested he have his own installed which would solve the problem but he refuses.
What do I do next ?
watching all my online activities such as smartphone and laptop. They have spy devices in or around my house. I don't feel like I have any privacy in my own home. My room is bugged Everything I say or do is being hurd by neighbors next door. My WiFi is weird cause I haven't payed it this month and it's still working. I DON'T KNOW what's going on. Should I call the police to investigate????
I promise I'm not high ??????
In the end we had to hire a solicitor to write to her, and also a groundworks team to replace the downpipe, remove the wall, and construct a soakaway on the borderline under the lawn. This has cost us about £1500 and we haven't heard from them at all since the daughter accused us of trespass. I don't suppose we shall ever see any money from them.
This continues under "Overgrown and messy gardens".
Kind regards.
Bernie
What is our next step
They have also installed a pump further up the garden again with pipe going to my garden. Pipe is 3 inches max from my boundary fence. I know they are intent on flooding us. What are my rights (Scotland)
This is my situation. I have a detached garage. Which is connected to my neigbours detached garage.
Both garage are the same length. Neighbours sits slightly higher than mine.
Both garages have guttering at the end of the garages. The guttering have always been independent of one another. My neighbours guttering had an end cap. So it never protruded into my garden.
Recently neighbour has had some work done. His guttering has been changed. Now his extended his guttering across my boundary fence and positioned the down pipe so his water is dispersed on my guttering..
I’ve contacted my local planning office and provided detailed images of before and after... Awaits a response!
Does anyone know the build regs when it comes to this sort of thing?
I’m aware this could be deemed as anti social behaviour..
I have tried rodding the drain but the blockage continues causing deep water on my drive running towards my front door.
Who do I contact or consult on this matter as I feel this is not my responsibility to ensure the road drainage functions properly.
We live in semi detached house and attached garage with neighbour with shared rain water drainage.now she is blaming on us that due to this rain water your water come to my side which damage her garage.
Also, they suggest we have to keep the down pipe cleared at our cost. If they have a right to use our drainage system, are we entitled to ask them to share the cost of any clearing work.
Thanks for any advice
I can't say I've EVER seen flooding, pooling of rainwater or anything like that in the 2 years I've lived here, around my house or his.I asked him why this has just become a problem after all these years...to which he answered, 'I've only just found out i can take action against you to sort this out. When you bought the property, you bought the problem!'.
Trouble is, he's now threatening me with either me forking out thousands of pounds worth of building work to have a drainage system fitted to my side, or he's going to get his solicitor involved :( I'm so worried! I can't afford to do anything!! I have already emailed my solicitor regarding this issue. PLEASE HELP :( :( :( :(
The problem is where to dump the water, when it's pumped out.
There is an old drain pipe at ground level at the front, between me and my neighbour
which looks as if it once was connected to the roof gutter. Could this go out under the pavement to the main sewer in the road?
My question is this...Is my neighbour responsible for the rain water that comes off his roof, and should the drainpipe be on his side of the wall? In other words, Is it my neighbours responsibility?
We are at the end of the row which means our water waste (only serves for sink/washing machine waste - not sewage) has to pass through 2 neighbors before entering the main drain.
This has now become blocked and after numerous efforts to unblock has remain blocked.
Please could someone advise that as this is over more than one property we can have someone out to unblock without charge, as I believe a new law is in place which covers such situations?
I live in a mid terrace townhouse which consists of a flat roof. The material used for the roof is torch on felt. The building has 6 houses which is served by a single gully at the rear of the properties. Every other house has a internal down pipe for the rain water, so in total there are only 3 including mine.
I had my roof re-felted 5 years ago and recently had another leak. It appears I'm taking water from both My immediate neighbours (left/right) including mine.
I have checked the deeds and it clearly states its a shared responsibility in terms of the gully/downpipe. However my neighbours are ignoring the problem and the fact that I am taking all their rain water. On the other hand They have suggested that the roof should be cleaned once a year and they are happy to contribute.
My concern is, since gully/downpipe is shared responsibility can I legally serve them notice and proceed with the works and the reclaim the cost? Or can I block the gully to my boundary wall, prahaps raise my roof?
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance
Who’s responsible for rain water which comes of a neighbors roof?
Could anyone advise me on who has responsibility over a down pipe which is erected on my neighbours property, it’s clearing water from there extension. The pipe and water then comes into my garden, over the boundary. Should the pipe be erected in there garden or mine?
Thanks in advance!
I hope someone can give me a some advice on our matter. We are planning to build an extension with the planning permission. This will create a deadend for the rainwater of our neighbors. Instead of flooding our drive and using our soakaway, their garage will get flooded with their rainwater. Our houses are build on the slope and the water flows into our property naturally but not after we extended. So we are the opinion our neighbors should be responsible for their own rain water disposal and perhaps instal their own soakaway. We even suggested to pay for material but their seems to think, we have to house the soakaway in our garden and pay for it.... what’s your opinion? And how do I go about it without falling out? Is there an authority or company, that can give me advice?
Tia
I live in a ground floor (Tyneside) flat with one flat above me, my upstairs neighbour's down pipe is in my back yard and it is damaged resulting in some of his toilet waste running down the outside of the pipe. As you can imagine the smell is awful and I don't use the yard. I have spoken to my neighbour on a number of occasions, he has told me he will sought it out but has done nothing and more than 2 months have passed.
I also have damp in my spare room as a result of a leek in my neighbours bathroom, again nothing has been done to solve the problem.
Do I have any options to force my neighbour to resolve these problems he is causing detriment to my property and I'm unable to use my backyard?
Thanks
Andrew
So basically, we will have to pay to take him to court - this seems very unfair to me!
Where the court is satisfied on an application under this section that it is reasonably necessary to carry out any basic preservation works to the dominant land, those works shall be taken for the purposes of this Act to be reasonably necessary for the preservation of the land; and in this subsection “basic preservation works” means any of the following, that is to say—
(a)the maintenance, repair or renewal of any part of a building or other structure comprised in, or situate on, the dominant land;
(b)the clearance, repair or renewal of any drain, sewer, pipe or cable so comprised or situate;
(c)the treatment, cutting back, felling, removal or replacement of any hedge, tree, shrub or other growing thing which is so comprised and which is, or is in danger of becoming, damaged, diseased, dangerous, insecurely rooted or dead;
(d)the filling in, or clearance, of any ditch so comprised;but this subsection is without prejudice to the generality of the works which may, apart from it, be regarded by the court as reasonably necessary for the preservation of any land.
We since have guttering that was damaged in the snow in March and it is hanging off our roof. It is dangerous as they use this as a walkway and their car is parked below. Is this classified as essential repairs and they need to allow someone to stand of their drive in order for us to do the repair? i.e. they can't refuse on the grounds of trespassing?
We haven't asked them as they quite enjoy having the power to refuse.
My property is mortgaged but my neighbour is housing Association
(My internal supporting wall between my lounge and dining shows that it is wet..30 yrs ago the house had a full DCP both internal/external walls as it underwent modernisation the downstairs flooring removed and membrane lined and concreted through out so my floor is some 1.5 foot higher then my neighbour internal floor..11 yrs ago the internal wall plaster was removed wall re injected with chemicals to stop damp and replastered..3 yrs ago I removed the plaster again and again it was replastered in less then 4 months brown patches came through the plaster to which a line appeared both sides of the internal wall which has dividing doors of wood n glass so not brick the whole way across..I contacted Severn Trent Water who then told Me to contact my house insurer who sent out a construction company to advise to tank the entire downstairs at a cost of £16-20.000..also a DCP company who said to chop back plaster re damp proof replaster at around £1000. The house insurer wont help with the damp issue but will cover the cost of decorating. None of the above sought to see where the down pipe is sited
Ive removed wallcoverings and since this dry period the country as suffered the plaster on the wall looks to have dried out...then bam a thunderstorm and here we go again plaster as gone back to showing water but above the height of the light switches this time..I have been to my local council to ask advise as my neighbour is a community housing tennant who is aggresive and wont even keep their guttering clear as I do 2-3 times a year as less then a 100 meters from a line of Norweigian Maple trees...they suggest Environmental Health to come and see Me.
Other neighbours have diverted their down pipes towards the pavement but my neighbour wont entertain the idea of a water pipe running along side the boundary gravel boards to the pavement.)
Im at a loss what to do Im a lone parent with a 7.5 yr old Autistic Son Im his full time carer the stress of the above is making Me so ill, he gets angry and aggressive because he senses mummy is not OK.
The past yr as been hell over their three fence panels between us which as now registered as a dispute with Land registery.
Also when he bought and done up the property in 2008 he planted a fur tree by the drain, it is now a massive tree and we have raised concerns about possible damage to the drain from the roots as the tree gets bigger. We have been asking for years for it to be removed. He has never addressed this concern and I would like to know that if the tree has damaged the joint drain, how would we deal with it? as I would feel he would be solely to blame.
A month first it was the front guttering
That cost £20 a further £60 was had for replacement of 2 tiles which he said needed doing .then another roofer came and had another £20
To clear down pipe he said the neighbors had it done so it wasn’t fair on them? Then he replaced part of the down pipe £80 ? He’s coming back to do more work on guttering £50 he said he would not charge me too much because he said he knew what it was like being unemployed ?
Christ?
"Shared land also means shared responsibility for repair, and so if there are damaged gutters, it’s reasonable to share the costs of repairing them. If guttering and water egress drainage is shared between two properties (look at your deeds and it should say whether this is the case) there is normally a joint responsibility (and liability) for maintenance and repair.
Talk to your neighbour before you organise anything, once you’ve checked the deeds to make sure you’re in the right. Most neighbours will be reasonable, especially if you have the deeds to back you up, and a polite request should be all you need. If they refuse, you have no choice but to get the work done and then request reimbursement of their share in writing. If they still won’t play ball, you’ll have to get down to the county court – but the law is certainly on your side…"
Now my other neighbours (end terrace) guttering is overflowing and running down the front of his property when it rains heavily, all was fine before the recent work.
Is it legal to cap off/disconnect neighbours from shared downpipes?
Thanks Ann
The new neighbour wishes to re-route this existing guttering back onto our land, can he do this?
A flat in the next door property (2nd floor) is currently being renovated and they have moved the kitchen as part of the redevelopment. They are currently fitting the sanitary waste pipes for the kitchen and are hooking up the pipes to drain into the rainwater downpipe. As I understand it this is not right at all (illegal even?) as it means sanitary waste is going into the surface water waste.
I will obviously speak to the developer first, but if that doesn't work out, who should I report it to? My local Planning Authority? Or Thames Water (our provider)? Thanks for any help you can give.
MUG
I live in a semi detached and my neighbour had the shared downpipe on their side before having an extension built(before I moved in),I have the pictures to prove this. However, after the extension was built they placed the downpipe onto my porch roof to run down across my tiles and into my guttering which has caused damp on the outer cement and also my inside window cill. When I confronted my neighbour asking them to remove the horizontal pipe that goes on my porch and replace with a roof to ground downpipe they said you bought the house 'sold as seen' and therefore cannot make them move it back. Is this correct? And if not, what actions do I need to take?
Thankyou
My house has a small rear extension which was built in 1969 and as next door attached had no extension my 48 years-old guttering projected slightly past the edge of my extension wall next to neighour.
I mentioned this to new neighbour as he said he intended building a rear and side extension and told him amicably he could cut it off if needed.
That was in August last year and I have had a shock as just this week have noticed after having an avalanche of water crash onto my extension roof which gushed over the gutters onto my patio a few weeks ago, that he has left my end guttering in place and deliberately used it to send his roof rainfall into my gutters which is illegal.
Our only down pipes are at the front of detached side of houses. My slight projecting end gutter was capped. Neighbour's guttering falls short of his roof side ridge by indeterminent length and I see no gap which builders told me would be 2", then 4" then 2" again. I know that the 4" was too far away to be able to use my gutter.
He says he owns my end gutter as it is on his land and can do what he wants with it. Even send his water right across my property causing my gutter to over flow and clog up with his roof moss.
I paid good money to have my roof cleaned of all moss to stop it clogging up my gutters just 2 years ago and now he is causing his moss to clog up my gutters.
What do people suggest I do?
The downpipe meets the ground and goes straight in to a clay/concrete pipe and the join is sealed. All other downpipes on the property end about 1 inch from the ground and water drains in toa gulley pot. I am concerned that any debris from the roof falling down the downpipe could be building up at the bottom, and therefore the overflow could be as a result of blockages in the down pipe. I recently had a drain company out who suggested that as it is a shared pipe, our responsibility ends at the point at which the pipe meets the ground and ownership transfers to the water company. Is this the case? Could I be able to ask Severn Trent to replace the sealed join with a gulley similar to the rest of the property so that any blockages become apparent more easily?
When we bought the house Welsh water provided us with maps that showed the house as being connected to the mains. However the previous owner stated the above in the documents so we had an idea. The neighbour with the access point in her garden is always obviously very keen to get it fixed but the other neighbour is not interested in sharing even the rodding costs.
My first question is do you possibly know if there is any obligation by the water company to help us get onto the mains?
and secondly if we needed to upgrade the system or have to pay ourselves to get onto the mains, is there anything out there that might help us get the contribution from the third less obliging neighbour? (Do we pay first then try to get money from them or try to get money from the onset?)
Any ideas anyone!?
I have an end terrace on the end of a 6 house terrace. Every second home had a downpipe. 4 of the 6 have renewed their guttering and all have capped and downpipes their gutters.We are getting our roof we missed and all new guttering and downpipes I'm worried my neighbours moss will clog up my guttering and gulleys. If his landlord refuses to have a downpipes installed (I said I'd pay half) can i just cap mine off and make it stand alone so it essentially won't take his moss and debris?
Thanks in advance.
At some point, probably when having fascias done, my neighbour fitted an end cap stopping the use of the downpipe.
The previous owner of my property then must have decided to create another downpipe which then stretches out along the fence line to the railway line to the rear as there is no gulley to drop it in to.
Have I any rights to request reconnection to what is clearly the original guttering set up or has the previous occupant of my home created my problem?
I am lived in a terrace house and we are going to build an extension. The neighbour just found out the sewage pipe is shared between us. She wants us to separate the sewage work while we are digging the ground. In addition, my sewage is located at his land but it was being existed when they bought it.
Am I legally responsible to move the sewage pipe?
We do plan to extend down that side of the garden so damp may well be an issue later down the line but surely he has to keep the drainage on his own land?
Called and seen him last weekend before the felt and things were on the lean-to / 'shed, he assured me it would be fine and nothing coming over which was a blatant lie it now seems ... any suggestions? besides a strong gust of wind / sledge hammer at midnight??
Council seem reluctant to come out and was asking if it was under 3 meters which I think it probably is, just.
How can we take action, previously whenever we have tried to speak to her she has been uncooperative
Our drainage runs across the front of our house and our neighbours with the pipes then running underneath our neighbours house to the drain itself.
They want to build a wall down the middle of the drive (which will block our car door if we so wish to park parallel to the middle of our 2 drives) but this will cut off our drainage so water will just overflow and actually run into our garage.
The builders have tried to day we should legally have our own drainage system to drain the water so they can build the wall.
It doesn't sound right to me?
Thanks for any advice
My neighbour have removed their downpipe and replaced it with a length of guttering that now allows all rain water from their house to run along guttering and down my drainpipe.
Are they allowed to do this?
Regards
I have an rainwater issue with a neighbour, but no point in putting it up here because there are so many other unanswered problems already on this website. This page would be a lot better if responses were posted giving advice.
Just Saying...
Now here we are many years later and he has moved out and rented his house to what can only be described as a nightmare neighbour, we have tried talking to the neighbour with no luck, we have tried talking to the home owner but he won't do anything to help seeing as a letting agency manages the property..so any relationship we had has now broken down, my question is this.......can I have the "quick fix" reversed? I know I would have to notify him of this but I want to get any facts I can before I go ahead and contact him, or am I legal bound to let him continue to "piggy back" off my property?
It seems the local council have given him planning permission.
Does planning permission give the neighbour a God given right to remove my gutters and replace with a box channel gutter?
Thanks for any advice.
Water from joint garage runs into soakaway only side. This is now saturated. Both garages now letting in Water. Roof also has woodworm. Beams are connected through.
Solution- changing soakaway to drain and new roof and timbers. Verbally agreed.
Now neighbour not proceeding. If drain issue not resolved, water damage and woodworm will worsen. Manhole on neighbours land.
What can I do?
has converted his into a study. The guttering is joint across the
back but the down pipe is on my side . They have also had a
loft conversion with no guttering round the side of their loft conversion
so all rainwater etc. will pour down onto the roof and into my drainpipe.
My builder has made a soakaway into my garden for my rainwater as per my Architects drawings and Building Regs. for my bungalow but surely I should not have all their rainwater etc. using it awell. Should they not
have had their own soakaway built into their garden.
Am I right?
"Common law reqires requires that you use your property or land in a way that does not increase the risk of flooding to a neighbouring property
To reduce the risk of flooding to neighbouring properties, the law requires that you: Keep your drains clear in your property and to ensure that you do not drain water into your neighbour’s property or foul drain. There is a natural right of drainage that allows water that flows naturally across your land to flow downhill naturally to your neighbour’s land. But you are not allowed to artificially channel water a way that will cause damage your neighbour’s land. If you do, you may face a civil action. (Example: Yes - Rainwater that falls on your lawn is allowed to flow downhill through your neighbour’s land. No - You are not allowed to channel roof water through a down pipe on to your neighbour’s property.)"
There is no guttering along this wall and there is a lot of rain water that flows directing down the corrugated sheets and wall into my back yard that causes a lot of surface water.
Is the Police responsible for this and should they not have guttering to redirect this water run off into storm drains?
Shelly
In my eyes the pipe is a 'lateral drain'. This I think is the responsibility of the sewerage people since 2011. I have asked Anglian water to come out but they are backlogged and in the meantime my neighbour is getting more and more agitated that I need to start the work without delay and his plumber is ready to start. Thanks for your help.
Thanks
I have approached them verbally asking they look into it, however, to date have not done anything.
I now want to write to them and formally ask that they make repairs or I will be left with no choice but to get my solicitor involved. Naturally, this is the last resort.
What would be a reasonable time to ask them to have their guttering repaired? Any idea as to my rights here?
I have video footage of the water pouring onto our new wall and pathway. There is also weathering on the new dividing wall as a consequence of the water.
Any advice would be appreciated.
last year they had their buildings knocked down but have not replaced the down pipe to the guttering which they removed,the rain water is building up in my guttering and has nowhere to go they have been saying for months they will put it right but have done nothing,I am worried that my outbuilding will be damaged with the damp bricks as the rain water just leaks down
Help
The guttering pipe now has damaged my corner of the flat roof.
The pipe stops on the corner of my flat roof and now has caused my ceilings to mould as the water has gone inside the flat roof.
Please can you advise what i should do and what is right by law?
Started 18 month back garden wall damaged by a tree on neighbours side of wall went to a solicitors got them to send letter asking what they were going to do about it they did say they would remove wall now after the above time they removed the wall down to one block high also this property has flooded and has a level of water in front of her back door which for the last 4 years has sand bags there at the lowest point they removed on block and the water now runs into my garden ( SAND BAGS GONE ) i asked them by letter to stop this asp by making good the brick work nothing was done so went out and got some cement and refilled hole block that was removed i gave them 14 days to put the block back in place got a knock on the door today been reported for stopping the water police asked and they were told what is my next step ?
Would I be right in thinking that if our guttering /windows occupy that airspace then we would also own the land that it is over?
This would be equivalent to around 30 cms of the neighbours drive which runs along the length of our house.
(I believe a covenant in the deeds to our property and all properties in this area require owners to give access to their neighbours to enable maintenance of their property)
Who's responsibility is it and would the law support us to have it moved as the neighbours are considering refusing access to have it on their property.
I live in a terrace house, my neighbours who are council tenants are having an extension built which means their plans show that the rain water pipe is shown to be moved from their side to my property.
Q. Can they force me to have the rwp put on land and that I would have to pay for this??
Any help appreciated
Hi all,
I have a shared driveway which slopes towards my property, I have installed a channel of Osma drains, about half a meter from my property, running down the driveway and into my drain to try and combat the rain water that comes from my neighbours garden, as they have many sheds, out buildings and paved areas and no where for water to naturally drain. They also think nothing of going out on their pushbikes and washing them down on the drive, swilling the mud into my drain or emptying things (normally planters, buckets, etc that have been outside a while and have leaves and other bits of vegetable matter in the bottom) in my Osma drain! I think this is unfair! While I accept this is a shared driveway, I fail to see how they have a right to do this, as it's me that ends up shoulder deep, dragging all of the rubbish out of my fall pipe drain. Am I being unreasonable, can I stop them from doing this? Thank you for reading.
However, they said they have lived there for 10 years and never had a blocked drain so it must be us. The husband discovered lots of cotton wool and pads when he unblocked it. We NEVER put anything other than paper down. I lived in a house for 28 years and never had a blocked toilet/drain.
Could there be another reason as to why there were items in the drain that neither properties flush down the toilet?
Our water board insists the shared drain which runs under our kitchen is in good condition, but we had a private cctv survey of the drains done, and that survey shows there are many cracks and that the pipe is leaking sewage. Despite umpteen requests, the water board will not test the water for sewage. The sewage does not flood into our property, but seems to just seep out and sit below our extension). This is problem No.1.
The other neighbours in the semi will not allow us into their garden to run a hose pipe up against the wall of our extension to test if that is one of the sources which brings the sewage into our home (the extension runs about 20 feet into our garden, and they have no extension, just a paved area, with a pebble border which runs alongside our extension). We fear there is no membrane beneath these pebbles, and when it rains that the water is just sitting in a trough and running beneath our extension and into our property (and bringing in the leaking sewage from the cracked shared drain). This is problem No.2
What can we do to force our water board to fix this leaking shared drain?
Do we just have to put up with sewage flooding our home every time it rains? Both my partner and I have serious medical conditions. If the water board will not do anything, can we seal off the shared drain to stop the neighbours sewage from coming into our home?
What can we do about these neighbours who refuse to allow us to check that they have not set up a trough of water which is leaking below our kitchen and bringing in this sewage?
I live in a semi - detached property and my neighbour is having an extension to the side and rear of his property. The original gutter to the rear of the property was a continues gutter that linked both our properties with falls to suit. He has now replaced his guttering to the rear of the property but has capped his gutter at the building line leaving a gap between his and our gutter and has left my gutter hanging which will obviously cause water to drip/pour onto my property.
Is this is against building regulations?
Who should I contact so that he rectifies the error? He had a friend/private building control firm check his work during the building.
Someone new has bought the house next door and put up a small extension their side. They want me to divert the downpipe into my garden. This won’t be easy and will mean pipes everywhere, which isn’t really possible.
I have spoken to the building inspector and he doesn’t have any concerns. My extension and the down pipe have been there for 25 years!
Surely they can’t make me move it, as even though it’s in their garden it’s still my land and has been in place for a long time. I don’t want it to become a big issue and am meeting with next door to discuss, but would like some advice if they start insisting I have to move it and pay for it!!
Many thanks
Is there any law that I can quote that shows her that we are not responsible for her water and that she must take responsibility for it herself.
My neighbour has a small enclosed yard area, the western boundary which is the dividing wall between my garden and his yard. he has recently roofed over this yard with corrugated sheets, the water run off discharging directly into my garden as he has not allowed for any guttering or down pipes. He has also hooked up lights and power to this yard area, the cable of which he has nailed to my side of the boundary. He hasn't told or asked me what he was doing. can he do this?
Seems like the perfect place to ask for advice- I really appreciate any help!
We have exchanged and are about to complete on a new build property. Our garden has a fence to the right hand side but towards the back of the garden there is our neighbours garage which one side of the brick wall is in our garden and therefore this form part of our boundary wall.
On inspection- our neighbours garage has a drain coming of the roof that go's down into the ground in our garden.
Buying a detached property this seems unreasonable and unnecessary and i'm worried about complications in terms of maintenance and who is responsible- we are looking to put decking in this area and I would be worried if the drains get blocked and ruin it- who would have to pay?
Where do we stand? What should we do? Is there anything legally we can use to help challenge this?
Thanks in advance
New Home Buyer
together, as we use one gully jointly which is on my neghbours side.
My neghbour recently disconected my guttering and mover theres higher, and this has left me with no gully or down pipe for the rain water to go.
Is what they done legal, as the gully is shared as all the propeties are the same down our road, and my property has always been draining in the shared gully since i bought it.
My neighbours has built a conservatory aprox 0.5m from our boundary but the water from the drain pipe attached to the guttering runs into our back garden, is there any way i can make the neighbour attach the drain pipe directly in to the surface water drain. The drain pipe is on his property but i don't see why i should have his drainage water running into my garden!
Thanks
My neighbour has threatened us with legal action to repair the manhole and garden, and although I have remained calm, I am frustrated that he is dismissing any blam. Because my husband and I are reasonable people, we called the water board to come and repair the manhol.
I feel sad that my once friendly neighbour is now threatening us, but I also feel he should take responsibility for covering a damaged manhole and not alerting my builder to the hazard.
I needb advice and clarity please.
Recently and without me being notified one shopkeeper has built over the garden between shop and his garage a large storage building. There are no provisions for rain water running off of this flat roof other than a gutter at one end and a downpipe running onto my property!
The yard slopes towards my gararges and the yard and garages are flooded most of the time He says not his problem and planning dept at council say not their problem - what a country we live in! Has anyone any ideas please?
Could you please tell me if I have any right to ask them to redirect this.
Ps I live in a semi detached
Mick
was
I approached the owner and asked if he would re-direct the flow of water onto his own land as our field is already waterlogged.
He became very abusive and said he couldn't understand what the problem was.
What rights do we have please?
What can we do? Piping right down to the bottom of the field would be too costly. Our neighbours would have no intention of blocking their pipe. Can we block it at our end? If so, how?
He has been staying with us over Halloween and Bonfire night and is very upset with the bangers whch have been let off so he has been Barky recently because of this. As he is not with with us every day and night what can we do? He is a terrier and does bark when garden mowers or building work is being carried out and we try to bring him indoors when this happens. I have my suspicions as to who wrote the letter and think it is neighbours who I politely asked one afternoon to turn down their CD player in the Summer when we were out having a B&Q and they did not like it. They have constantly complained in the past because of our silver birch tree which casts the leaves and seeds in the Autumn. Unfortunately, I can do nothing about this as it has a TPO ( tree preservation order ) on it. Is there anything that they can do about the dogs occasionall barking as it is upsetting me and don't know what to do?
They do not have any down pipes or drainage there and I have realised that they have plumbed this waste water into my soil stack.
The plumbing is all correct & good but it is not their soil stack to plumb into.
These are privately owned houses.
They did not ask me or tell me or even show me once complete.
I don't want to fall out over this but this is plainly wrong.
Do you have any advice?
the attached house has been a nightmare.. they keep blocking their toilet and basically I have blocked sewage backing up the toilet outflow which seaps into my bathroom. They refuse to pay for bills we jountly incurred for a pkummbrr
the other neighbours took photos of whats gone down the drain.. the blockage: tena pads, large chunks of carrots, and wood chippings to name a few. With the evidencemI'm going to approch environment al health to get there support. Ive hadcto make a declaration of discharge from the septic tank and after the neighbours are using it as their bin I will have to write to the environment agency to ask them to revoke it.
., also rats have moved in right next to the drain.
Ive spoken to a solicitor but wary of going down the legal route. Any advice?
Since this work our drains have been overflowing after heavy rain and flooding our garage. What is the best course of action given that the neighbour refuses to accept responsibility?
What is the correct action should i take
I live in a mid terraced house. My neighbours with whom I share one wall of my house are causing me issues. Water from their wc is causing damp in my property. It has made few of my electrical sockets burst. Issue is that they never answer their door to anyone, as such I dropped them a letter to advise them of the issue. I haven't heard all, what can I do next? These are freehold privately owned houses. Please advise. Thanks
The house is a grassed garden belonging to a house off of the
MAin road. My fall pipe at the back of my house was running in to
The grass at the back as there seems to be no drain, this causes damp
Rising up from my cellar. I had my guttering replaced and the roofer placed my
Fall pipe at an angle straight accross my property to the end house next door and
Into their drain. The land lord has rang me to say it is with out his permission and if I don't
Remove it he will remove it n take legal action. What can I do. I don't have a drain and that is the only outlet. I thought a row of houses could use the same outlet. Please help and advise please.
h
I have original guttering to my house but both neighbors
have replaced their gutters one is a perfect job. The othe belonging to a local housing association is a botch job. They have cut my gutter at boundary but under lapped
plastic gutters unsealed coming onto my property. When it rains I get water flowing onto my conservatory roof. They have looked at it and said, it's on your property and your problem.
I had no leaks prior to their " modernization"
Any advice would be great full
Thanks.
Thankyou
I'd be very happy with some advice thank you
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