Guttering problem

[MeowKat]

My elderly mother lives in an end terrace. Last week her neighbour told her that the old guttering at the front of his house needed replacing as it was creating damp in his house. The next day the guttering was replaced. Yesterday I saw the guttering for the first time and was concerned to see that his guttering has been replaced but it’s been disconnected from my mum’s house, cappings have been fitted to the pipes so there’s now a gap in between the properties. I’m worried that this will create damp problems in the future, my mum’s lived there for over 60 years and her house has never had damp problems.

I’m thinking that the properties were built around 1900 and the guttering was designed to be joined like this for a reason and so they should stay this way.

I plan to speak to the neighbour about the issue but I just wanted to ask if my concerns are justified?

Also what happens if he refuses to connect the pipes - do I contact the council or speak to her house insurance legal department etc?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[^woody^]

The right to allow and expect rainwater to be conveyed over shared guttering and downpipes is within property law, but may be expensive to enforce, but insurance may cover it.

The council's environmental health team could (depending on how bothered they may be) deal with this via their powers under the Building Act or other public health legislation, and require the gutter to be reconnected.

Or, if the gutter has a down pipe, it could be just realigned and an end cap fitted.

 

[ETAF]

a photo may help, semi houses I have been in , the gutters have always been connected to each house and the JOIN is usually setup at a high point, so the water can go down either side , and then round to whatever downpipe is connected at the end, just depends how the water comes off the roof as to which way it would go.
The last house ONLY had downpipes at the back of the houses - so the gutter was at is very highest point at the join of the two houses at the front of the house
the water then went down the front , along the sides and around the back to each downpipes - identical setup on both sides of house
!904 built semi
we had an issue when the original cast iron gutter on our side remained and the neighbours replaced with plastic gutter, but good neighbours and we discussed with the fitters to ensure that we had a good water proof join - despite the different profile

 

[MeowKat]

Thanks for your replies.

I don’t have a pic, sorry.

The downpipe is on the lefthand side of each property so my mum’s pipe is almost in the centre of the both properties. A cap has been put on her guttering just before her downpipe. There are also downpipes at the back of the properties. I’ve got no idea how the water flows off the roof. I’m just concerned the water will pour down the brickwork in between the gap.

Unfortunately, he’s not a good neighbour, he doesn’t really maintain his property until there’s a problem and then he gets the cheapest job done, so long as he’s ok he doesn’t care about anyone else!

If he’d mentioned about the guttering problems before organising for it to be done my mum would have gladly had her guttering replaced at the same time and shared the cost.