Upstairs neighbours causing damage to own flat

[Freezingmyarseoff]

Not sure if this should be here or in the property thread.

DH owns a ground floor flat in a two flat house which he lets out to tenants. The problem is with the upstairs flat - every few weeks or so there is leak that drips (or pours) into his flat, causing quite a lot of water damage and disruption to his own tenants.
Whenever there is a leak, DH or his tenants contacts the upstairs landlord's mate, who is dealing with the property. The mate says he sends someone round to fix it but it has happened about 6 or 7 times now so either he doesn't actually send someone round or whoever does go round can't fix it or does a bit of botch job that doesn't address the problem properly.

It's so frustrating for DH, he's even managed to get his plumbers to go upstairs to have a look. They said the whole shower/bathroom was a bit of a mess, and it wasn't clear what the problem was because everything was really damp and shoddy and needed proper investment/replacing.

There is a shared freehold between the two flats, but DH isn't even sure who owns the upstairs anymore, as we think it's changed ownership since DH bought the downstairs. He struggled to upstairs owner to pay his share of the insurance, and I think he's now given up and just pays it all himself (DH, that is).

From a legal point of view, is there anything he can do to get the upstairs landlord to fix the problem properly, pay for the water damage and possibly even compensate DH for lost rent. (DH gave his tenants a discount on rent for a month because of the hassle they've had).

Was hoping for some of the usual brilliant mumsnetter advice, (and justify to DH why I spend so much time on here )

Can you not claim on the insurance?

The leaseholder of the upstairs flat is responsible in law for paying for any damage caused by the leaking water.

Speak to your CAB for advice in making a claim in the small claims court. Keep a careful record- pictures and dates, of the damage caused, of the times you have contacted the other leaseholder, and of any costs you have incurred in repairing or through loss of revenue in rent.

Also, it may be worth your while contacting the freeholder of the property. If the water is causing damage to the fabric of the building the leasehold will almost certainly be in breach of the terms of their lease.

For damage to his own flat, yes he can claim on insurance. (probably shouldn't have asked about the water damaage)

But it's more about getting the landlord landlord to fix the problem properly, because otherwise he's going to have to claim on the insurance every month

Thanks Thistle

Trouble is that the owner of upstairs is the freeholder. DH and upstairs owner share the freehold together.
We'll speak to CAB though anyway.

The threat of legal action should be enough to get him to sort it out, but the small claims court can issue an order for specific performance to get him to mend the leak.