neighbour has blocked our drain, what can we do?

[scaredofthecity]

We bought a new house last year and one of our neighbours is a bit difficult.
We are a terrace and boxed in on all sides, I pressure washed our patio a few weeks ago and accidentally flooded next doors garden. It was a honest mistake and i didn't realise the water actually just drained into their garden.
He has since blocked the drain so it no longer drains into his garden. But this means the water has nowhere to go.
As we are boxed in there is nowhere else we can direct the water. I'm seriously worried about what this will mean when it rains.
what can we do? and where did we stand legally? I'm not sure if it's relevant but I'm pretty sure it is a council house.

Contact your local council or water supplier for advice.

thank you, I've just emailed the council. I really want to make sure I've got my facts before I confront him.

Has anybody else got any experience of this please?

It seems odd that your garden drains into his is such a way that it floods. It would suggest that either it's not intended to drain this way or alternatively that their is something wrong with the drainage system
How is the drain formed and how did he block it?

Tricky one.

The questions engineersthumb has asked need to be answered really. I am surprised the amount of water generated from pressure washing caused anything to flood. Definitely indicates something is wrong.

Something like this will probably fall under common law, therefore the answer may not be very straightforward. However an over riding principle in common law is that individual owners are responsible for the drainage of their own land and for accepting and dealing with the natural flows from adjoining land. Owners must not permit an obstruction to natural flow without consent.

There are a few caveats there, and the mechanism of how his land flooded is quite important.

Maybe it wasn't the amount of water that blocked his drain. It could have been the debris - dirt, moss, leaves and garden waste that the OP washed away.

I think that your garden requires its own draining and not to use your neighbours . OP, what happens to the water that comes off your roof? Does it go into a down pipe on your back wall ? Where does that water go?

Surely if he's blocked it that means it'll flood his garden even more yeah I would be annoyed if I was the neighbour but these things happen, would have just asked you to clean it up and then sought a solution for future. I'd definitely get someone out to look at it if you can and see where the water should be going

How old is the terrace? You may have drainage rights over the other land, or potentially this has simply been caused by the way the land has shifted over the years.

Take a look at getting a soakaway installed, at least then you won't have the worry of your own property flooding.

Is it the back garden? Our terraced patio still has drains at the base of gutters from the roof. As another post says - were does the rainwater from your roof go?