Drainage pipes and roots

[Banu]

Hello,
Me and my husband bought a flat and recently we moved in, there has been some building works we were aware of and scaffolding, but all put down just after we moved in , about 3-4weeks ago. At the same time we were told that we have a problem with the drainage and given estimated figure of total £4,500 (shared in 3). Shortly after that a drain/pipe cleaning company came to investigate and we were sent a report by our landlords. Now they say the new figure may be much more than they thought. And they will get quotes to let us know.

Today there was someone from the building company digging around the cracked pipes, finding out where do they heading towards. We have a shop below so they suspect it may go under the shop.
I am wondering now that landlords are not looking for different quotes and building company may end up doing the job for a very high price taken from us.

What can we do? How can we tackle this problem? We are on a leasehold and first time buyers. We are not sure about our rights. Can someone direct us to right people? or give us ideas?

Many thanks,
Yours sincerely,
Banu

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Firstly i'd check very carefully the legal standing. The law changed on the 1st October, with regard to drainage. Now the Water Authority have responsibility for far more of the drainage network than previously.

Any shared pipes are now usually in the Water Authority's remit, only sections serving one property are still private responsibility. The builders wont tell you this as its doing them out of a job!

You cannot be forced to pay anything anyway, if properties concerned with a problem drain cannot agree the usual solution is to involve Environmental Health at the council. E.H will mediate, and if no agreement is reached, E.H. then can take charge, order the works are done and bill the affected properties accordingly.

 

[HERTS P&D]

You could always get your own drain cctv camera survey, some charge as little as £99. They would give you a DVD of the drains with a full report of the condition and works needed to be done with a price.

This way you would know if someone was trying to 'rip' you off.

Andy

 

[Banu]

Thanks a lot for your suggestion Andy! I tried many companies today on the phone and they all say the same thing as someone needs to investigate with camera then can give us an answer. The problem is that I don't want to pay any money towards this as they have been hiding this from us.

We are more likely will look into legal options first, thanks for giving us some ideas Hugh. Today I called Thames Water to check if there has been any claim, they said no. Tomorrow I will look into the other parties.

Many thanks!