Water pipework - where does responsibility lie?

[felstead]

I have a query regarding where responsibility lies in relation to our water supply.

I live in a flat which is the two upper floors of what would originally have been a single Victorian terrace house. The downstairs floor is now a separate one bed flat and we both have a lease that relates to the same single freehold. The garden belongs to the ground floor flat.
Directly to the side of our house is a separate flat which was formed from what would have originally have been the garage and this has its own garden and freehold.

Our water supply comes from a Thames water point in the street and would appear to run directly underneath the adjacent flat (former garage). The pipework arrives from underground into the kitchen of the flat below me and then runs vertically into my own kitchen where there is a stopcock and water meter.
The downstairs flat has complained about a sound of running water in the pipe that supplies my flat and investigation seem to pretty much show that there is a leak at some point between the Thames point in the road and up to my stopcock. This noise has been there for at least a year and there hasn’t been any sign of water damage / issues but obviously the noise is annoying and Thames water are also about to put a meter at the point in the road.

We can carry out investigations into the pipework where it is within our freehold but obviously things get more complicated from there. Does anyone have any knowledge about where responsibility may lie for the water supply pipe - particularly in relation to Thames Water. I’m guessing that their responsibility ends at the point in the road and anything connected to the back of that is up to someone else. This may be wrong though?

I’m also assuming that if the fault lies within the cartilage of the property next door then the responsibility may well lay with them?

Any thoughts / observations would be gratefully received.

James

 

[adlplumbing]

1 don`t get meter till leak is fixed it will cost u a fortune
2 the stop outside is where thames water finishs after that it yours

 

[felstead]

thanks - the installation of the meter is out of our hands I believe - yes I'm quietly concerned about the rise in cost the leak is likely to induce!

re responsibility - thanks , I thought as much. Not sure who it works on the adjoining property though.

 

[adlplumbing]

they have to have your permision to fit water meter or owners concent
if renting (unless of course your behind on your payments or commercial property)
if renting how ever tell owner you want the leak fixing

 

[felstead]

we already have a water meter - Thames Water are simply moving it to the street to allow them to read it more easily.

We are leaseholders so it's going to be down to us somewhere. I just wonder how that will work if the leak is on next doors property

 

[Agile]

they have to have your permision to fit water meter or owners concent
if renting

Well Thames Water managed to fit a meter and mark it "for revenue purposes only" and then to charge according to the meter readings.

 

[Stoday]

The general rule is that if the pipe supplies only you, then you are responsible for its maintenance.

If it supplies you and others, then sometimes the maintanance is shared, other times it depends on who owns the property where the pipe is. I.E. if it's shared you are responsible for the part of the pipe that runs through your flat.

 

[expertgasman]

How cn you have a meter on a shared supply?

 

[felstead]

It's not a shared connection it only supplies our flat but I'm not sure the responsibility can be as stated above. If it runs through someone else's property and they but a spade through it surely that isn't my responsibility!