Neighbours gutter causing penetrating damp

[SuperLambBananas]

Hello,

I need advice here as I am at my wits end.

I live in a terraced house and my next door neighbours gutter is broken causing all the rainwater to pour down the front of my house instead of down their downpipe. This has caused penetrating damp , damage to my plaster and mould on one wall in my living room. I'd imagine it's damaging the bricks and mortar too, it's certainly unsightly and always looks wet.

The house is let, so I've been in contact with the letting agent, submitted photos videos etc. and they keep saying they'll take action but they don't do anything.

I have submitted a claim with my insurance, hopefully they can help with the damage to my house but they've said they can't do anything until the original problem is fixed. I also have an excess to pay which I can't really afford, and am annoyed at when it's not my problem

Is there anything I can do to force my neighbour to fix their problem? and pay for my repairs? It's been over a month of hassling them now, and it's really stressing me out having a wet, mouldy, ugly wall. This is my first home and I thought my days of powerlessness against rubbish landlords were over :(

Have you tried finding the owner via the gov.uk Land Registry website? You can download the Title Register for next door and it should have the owner's name and address on it. It costs £3 for an instant pdf download. It's possible the owner is recorded as being at the property, in which case you are no further forward, but it's got to be worth a try? You can then write to them or even go round if they are local.

What about speaking to the tenants and seeing if they have problems with the damp and getting photos, etc? If they are being affected the agent and the LL might be more inclined to actually do something. If he doesn't, they (and possibly you) could contact Environmental Health at the council for assistance. They have powers to make landlords do necessary work.

Is there any way you can redirect the water so that it doesn't run into your property, just theirs? Or if it would be cheap to fix ie guttering just needs a new bracket then I would be tempted to just fix it yourself. Neighbour is unlikely to complain .

Has your house got a downpipe?

If so you could get a roofer to separate the gutters so that your gutter drains to your pipe, and tilt theirs so it flows towards theirs.

It will probably be quicker and cheaper to pay for the repair yourself.

There are lots of bodgers around so be sure to get a personal recommendation from someone you trust, not a website or a flyer stuffed in your letterbox.

I too would be inclined to get this fixed myself. New downpipe and guttering isn't going to be expensive, but leaving this longer than necessary is going to damage the structure of your house in various ways, in fact it is already doing so, which will end up costing you a lot more.

I would get a roofer in to quote for isolating your house from their guttering. Long term I wouldn’t want to have mine connected to theirs for exactly these type of issues.

Get a roofer in, they will be able to suggest a solution which stops the water before it gets to your house. It might also be a simple fix which in this case even if it means you paying for this, I would do it.

I thought about getting it fixed myself but worried about putting myself in a vulnerable position if something went wrong? At this point i dont care about paying the bill, i just want it fixed. Parhaps after christmas i can see if a gutter person would be willing to work on somebody elses gutter for me, but i feel like they wouldnt be comfortable doing that! I can't see a way of diverting the water without seriously messing with their gutter.

The row of houses change height at the point mine meets theirs if that makes sense. So my guttering is fine and feeds to a down pipe, then the level changes , their house is about a foot lower so the gutters don't connect, there is an alleyway between us and they have the house that owns the storey above the alley.

Thanks for the land registry tip, it was £3 and I have their name and address, and know a local business they own so will write to them directly.

Since making this post the estate agent called and said the gutter had already been fixed, I don't know if they are lying to me or if a workman has lied to them, but I sent them a new video of the problem.

I am struggling to understand how this looks in practice. . And chance of a diagram? A roofer might be able to suggest a solution that doesn't put you in a position of liability. From what I remember, in both cases where we had an issue with gutters and neighbours,, we did consult with the neighbours and opted for a solution that worked for all of us.