Party wall dispute with neighbor - what are my rights here

[cdbe]

At first I thought you were being a bit unreasonable; given that until you removed your garage roof, that contraption was a shared drain and it was pot luck whose garden it ended up in.
Now the situation has changed as you (will) no longer need the drain. If I were you I'd strip out that rotting timber (it looks to me like your wall plate but you'll need to check it's not supporting their roof joists), build up the wall, incorporating a suitable flashing to ensure there is no risk of water getting into the wall from that felt trough at the bottom of their garage roof, replace that bent piece of guttering with a straight piece and tuck it down their side of the fence.

A good job for the next bank holiday weekend. I fail to see what of the above the neighbour could possibly (in a legal sense) object to after it's done. Your new garage roof will drain into your gutter via your extension, his will drain along that trough onto his own property.

You may subsequently want to offer to connect his trough into his existing rainwater goods if that's reasonably possible, to restore good neighbourly relations!

 

[platforminc]

Thanks for the thoughful reply.
The problem is that they have a 2inch timber or so leaning on the wall that i would have loved to build up.
I also dont want to remove the rotten timber as if that exposes thier roof, even though its partly exposed today it could lead to complications.
I also thought building up that wall requires thier approval also.
Your last paragraph is part of my offer at the moment, i.e do a good job of it and fix the mess.

At first I thought you were being a bit unreasonable; given that until you removed your garage roof, that contraption was a shared drain and it was pot luck whose garden it ended up in.
Now the situation has changed as you (will) no longer need the drain. If I were you I'd strip out that rotting timber (it looks to me like your wall plate but you'll need to check it's not supporting their roof joists), build up the wall, incorporating a suitable flashing to ensure there is no risk of water getting into the wall from that felt trough at the bottom of their garage roof, replace that bent piece of guttering with a straight piece and tuck it down their side of the fence.

A good job for the next bank holiday weekend. I fail to see what of the above the neighbour could possibly (in a legal sense) object to after it's done. Your new garage roof will drain into your gutter via your extension, his will drain along that trough onto his own property.

You may subsequently want to offer to connect his trough into his existing rainwater goods if that's reasonably possible, to restore good neighbourly relations!

 

[phatboy]

I can quite understand your neighbour simply not wanting to be inconvenienced in any way by your proposed development - you don't know their situation or underlying reasons they may have (health etc.).

The drainage has clearly been that way for a long time and I'd strongly expect now has rights to remain that way, despite what your conveyancer has said - they are often wrong. You can ask your neughbour to replace the pipework to make it safer, but I think that's about it.

I think you have gone about this completely the wrong way, and will struggle to recover the situation now.

I'd also be ****ed that the work was well underway before these issues were fully resolved tbh....

 

[platforminc]

In hindsight, what would have been the right way to go about it ? and despite what you said i.e. make the pipe safe, whose house is it going to go int ?

I can quite understand your neighbour simply not wanting to be inconvenienced in any way by your proposed development - you don't know their situation or underlying reasons they may have (health etc.).

The drainage has clearly been that way for a long time and I'd strongly expect now has rights to remain that way, despite what your conveyancer has said - they are often wrong. You can ask your neughbour to replace the pipework to make it safer, but I think that's about it.

I think you have gone about this completely the wrong way, and will struggle to recover the situation now.

I'd also be ****ed that the work was well underway before these issues were fully resolved tbh....

 

[phatboy]

In hindsight, what would have been the right way to go about it ? and despite what you said i.e. make the pipe safe, whose house is it going to go int ?

Ask the neighbour how they felt about what you planned to do, before you began. If they were onside, keep them informed of what you would do when etc. If they weren't re-design in such a way as not to inconvenience them.

I'd expect the pipe is allowed to be there, and you don't have any right to remove it so it needs to stay as it is unless you can find a way to deal with the water output within your plans, to no detriment to the neighbour.

 

[platforminc]

There has been some update which I feel I should share here. Since my neighbour has decided to go down the route of emplying a surveyor, I also did same. Initially I paid for a surveyor to do a initial site visit to ascertain the situation with things.

A few things came up.

I gave him a photocopy of the party wall notice signed by neighbour.

I gave him a copy of my foundation design, which was approved by building control.


He came to the conclusion that the party wall act does not apply here since I already have a valid signed party wall notice and did everything correctly, I did however tell him that the bit which I need clarification on is the drainage at the back, he promised to speak to my neighbours surveyor and to try to reach a conclusion.


Noticed yesterday that the neighbours have put the house up for sale.

Called my surveyor today to ask about what is going on, he told me that the party wall act does not apply, and that on the drainage issue, I would need to pay him again for another site visit, and the neighbour also needs to pay his own surveyor for a site visit to try to conclude on the matter.

I now asked him whether whatever they conclude is enforceable, of which he said no. In such a case, he said if I then went to court with the details of what was concluded, I could obtain an injunction on it.

It makes me ask the question, I did not bargain for all of this. We are now at a stage where we would both be spending money on surveyors and it makes absolutely no sense at all.


Any thoughts.

 

[Nakajo]

The seller is obliged to make buyers aware of ongoing disputes - which will be interesting.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The seller is obliged to make buyers aware of ongoing disputes - which will be interesting.

True. The OP could mention that to his neighbour and maybe use it as a lever to end the dispute.

 

[platforminc]

Any point in writing them a letter ? and whats the best way to approach it.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Any point in writing them a letter ? and whats the best way to approach it.

Could you not ask them to discus it like adults, in person?

 

[platforminc]

Could you not ask them to discus it like adults, in person?

Mate

Thats how I have always dealt with this matter, until they started dropping letters through my door, starting with the fact they believe a dispute has arisen and thus appointed a surveyor.
I then wrote them a letter asking them to sort out the drainage, knowing fully well that PWA does not apply. Its a drainage matter.
After I wrote them the letter, I got a surveyor out to look just to be sure that PWA does not apply and he agreed.
Now that it has been proven that there is no dispute since PWA does not apply, you can bet that they would feel stupid coming to talk to me.
SO I feel I need to make the next communication move, remember I do not live there yet. So its a case of whenever they see me, and I would hate to knock on the door to speak and be told, (go speak to my surveyor).

So I reckon, I need to write a letter and in that letter, there should be an option to invite them to talk this over so as to find an amicable solution.

 

[wwwebber]

I would inform their estate agents that there is an ongoing dispute with the neighbours and that they should be informing all prospective buyers. I bet that gets the ball rolling.

 

[Lower]

I would inform their estate agents that there is an ongoing dispute with the neighbours and that they should be informing all prospective buyers. I bet that gets the ball rolling.

I would make that point to the neighbour directly first before going to the estate agent.

 

[Notch7]

Why have they made such a fuss if they are moving anyway?

Surely their only interest should be whether it has any impact on the price of speed of sale.....

 

[platforminc]

Since the surveyors have said that the issue is not a party wall matter, I have not spoken to them and they have not spoken to me. So its like, I dont know what they are thinking or thier next move.

All I know is that the house came up for sale 2 days ago.

So its almost like I need to poke them with some kind of communication to know what thier intention is.