Dispute about roof

[RoofProblems]

House A and House B are mid-terrace neighbours.

The roof of house A was replaced shortly after a heavy storm in 1987. House B was unaffected and that roof is older.

When roof A was replaced, a row of curved ridge tiles was placed over the join between roofs A and B.

Roof B is now in poor condition. Several times in the past decade one or two tiles have fallen off after heavy winds. Tiles look uneven. (An observation, not by a roofer.)

The owner of house A bought the house in 2005, house B in 2022.

Recently the row of ridge tiles fell off (fortunately without hitting anyone) and needed replacing at a cost of £2000.

The owner of house B argued this was the responsiblity of owner A, because:

1. The work was poorly done on the ridge tiles (confirmed by two roofers);
2. The structure exists only as a consequence of replacing roof A.

Owner A disputes this arguing that it is a 50/50 shared responsibility because:

1. The structure stood for over 30 years without any maintenance, so any discussion of poor workmanship is moot.
2. A and B both bought the properties with this structure in place. There could have been a similar structure before 1987, no one knows.
3. It is obviously a shared boundary structure, as it sits on top of the party wall between the properties.
4. The roof of house B is much more than 30 years old, is in poor condition, and this contributed to the failure.

I am owner A.

Who should pay for the repair and why?

How do you know house B roof is in poor condition?

I ask this because i had a house (built 1905) whose roof was original slate tiles. Our survey suggested that our roof needed replacing, but a traditional roofer commissioned by us disagreed.

When we sold the property the issue came up again in the purchaser survey. Again the roofer they commissioned disagreed. He went as far as to say that it was a beautiful roof that stood the test of time.

Yes new roofs look neat and symmetrical, but as I was advised new none traditional roofs weigh far too much for the buildings design.

Secondly as you purchased a property whose ridges had been replaced by the previous owner I would have thought that you inherited ownership of the new ridge tiles.

You could ask/or commission a roofer to assess the situation.

Finally I would not want to fall out with a neighbour over £1,000.

So I would if i were you, suck it up.

IANAL.

You I’m afraid x

Check with your insurance company, there's usually a free helpline

The fact that tiles have fallen off from time to time makes me think that the roof is not in great condition, also that photos of roof B under where the ridge tiles sat look very uneven and that there has been possible movement there. I agree that age alone doesn't mean that a roof is failing. Not falling out with your neighbour over £1K cuts both ways though.

I think you’ve been royal ripped off with a £2k charge. We had ours replaced and it was £200!
Its a party wall issue so costs are split.

Scaffolding was required, also it's very hard to find a roofer at short notice round here. As it turned out, owner B had just renovated and is very keen to sell, so he caved and agreed 50/50 split.