Advice needed about property dispute England

[Richskz]

Was just hoping for some advice. I’m a landlord and my tenant recently had an underground pipe leak and we were advised by the water company we had 30 days to resolve it.

The old lead pipe was located underneath the concrete path in the alleyway between the tenants and their neighbours where they both have shared access to their back gardens. So we informed the neighbours were going to have to dig up our side of the path to change the pipe.

We then had to take up around 15m of path to actually find the leak and replace the pipe (All on the tenants side of the path) the neighbour was then furious saying we did not consult him on how much we were having to dig. We managed to agree that it needed to be done etc.

The path was then patched with concrete (which they have already had done on their path when their old pipe was most likely replaced) they are incredibly unhappy with the look of the concrete claiming it looks tacky, it’s slippy, it’s a trip hazard (I don’t feel like it’s any of these things)

He is now threatening legal action because I said I’m happy with how it looks and he’s not, where do I stand with this?

If the path / your “half” of it is entirely within your property boundary and there’s no shared element, or covenant of shared use and access, then their legal action isn’t going to go anywhere. They can’t make a legal claim because they don’t like the finish on your property, only if you damaged the finish on their property.

If you value neighbourly relationships and the finish really is a rough patch job, I’d come to some arrangement about resurfacing, if only for peace of mind that you aren’t going to risk a future claim of the surface resulting in an accident.

How was the water company not responsible for the leak?
Did you go through insurance? I'm thinking that if you did the way the path looks is between your insurance company & the neighbours?

The water company is responsible for maintaining pipes in the water supply system outside of the property boundary. The property owner is responsible for fixing leaks within the property boundary, including the water meter, and underground pipes.

Depending on the exact issue, insurance coverage typically applies if the damage was sudden and accidental rather than a gradual, neglected problem. In an urgent situation such as one where the owner has been given a deadline to rectify before penalty, many owners would prefer to address it themselves rather than wait for a claim assessor to evaluate the situation and then argue the point with their insurer.

But if insurance had covered it OP might not be in the current situation with neighbour.