Leak in loft with adjoining house how to fix and who is responsible

[gunnag]

I have a 3 bed semi (2 stories) which is attached to a 3 stories house. The houses were built around 1986 as part of a small housing estate.

I've had a suspicion that there was a leak for a number of years as the ceiling in the spare room showed signs of rain damage, but when I went into the loft I could never find any evidence.

Today it was raining really hard and I ventured into the loft to check for any leaks, luckily I found the source which seems to be between the breeze block wall and roofing felt. Externally this corresponds with the flashing between next doors wall and my roof.

I placed a drip tray underneath the leak and it was dripping about once every 10 seconds. My guess is that this leak only appears when it rains hard and the wind is in the right direction, so not a serious of permanent leak, but it has discolored an area aprox 30xm by 30cm in my spare room ceiling and the artex is de-laminating.

I want to get this fixed and have a few questions:-
- is the neighbor responsible for fixing this leak or myself of a combination of the two? The leak seems to be on the boundary between the two properties, probably the flashing. Next door is a BTL property and the owner is notorious for not getting repairs done and apparently lives abroad and is hard to get hold of.
- should I claim on my buildings insurance, the excess is £250 but the repair to the flashing might only cost £200 (just guessing here). I could fix the spare room ceiling by just painting over. I don't really want to claim on my buildings insurance for fear of increased premiums next year.

All info welcome !

 

[big-all]

my thoughts
get someone reliable in to have a look
spend perhaps £250- 1k sorting it out and move on as far easier less hassle
insurance wont cover the lack off maintenance but will probably cover the damage but no gteed
they may also decide to fix the problem but may not as you say at ongoing costs will probably far exceed the repair costs

 

[noseall]

I have a 3 bed semi (2 stories) which is attached to a 3 stories house. The houses were built around 1986 as part of a small housing estate.

I've had a suspicion that there was a leak for a number of years as the ceiling in the spare room showed signs of rain damage, but when I went into the loft I could never find any evidence.

Today it was raining really hard and I ventured into the loft to check for any leaks, luckily I found the source which seems to be between the breeze block wall and roofing felt. Externally this corresponds with the flashing between next doors wall and my roof.

I placed a drip tray underneath the leak and it was dripping about once every 10 seconds. My guess is that this leak only appears when it rains hard and the wind is in the right direction, so not a serious of permanent leak, but it has discolored an area aprox 30xm by 30cm in my spare room ceiling and the artex is de-laminating.

I want to get this fixed and have a few questions:-
- is the neighbor responsible for fixing this leak or myself of a combination of the two? The leak seems to be on the boundary between the two properties, probably the flashing. Next door is a BTL property and the owner is notorious for not getting repairs done and apparently lives abroad and is hard to get hold of.
- should I claim on my buildings insurance, the excess is £250 but the repair to the flashing might only cost £200 (just guessing here). I could fix the spare room ceiling by just painting over. I don't really want to claim on my buildings insurance for fear of increased premiums next year.

All info welcome !

It's your responsibility.

 

[big-all]

It's your responsibility.

yes missed the bit about height difference and it is his flashing into the wall

 

[gunnag]

Thanks for the replies, looks like I need to find a roofer to fix the external flashing.