Neighbour problems

[mylovelydd]

I'm hoping someone here will know what to do.
We moved into our house about 5 weeks back and this week started having a shower put into a downstairs toilet that backs onto the next door neighbours garden. The back of our house gives out onto their garden so we would need to access their garden to maintain it. The previous owner said it had never been a problem to do this.
The shower would drain into a drain that is on the neighbours garden and our sink from that toilet already drains into it.
When the plumber started drilling at 9 in the morning the neighbour appeared at the window to tell him he had no rights to drill into the wall (the walls are about 3 ft thick) without asking their permission and that if we expected access to their garden we had to ask their permission. I had actually meant to pop round and tell them we were having the shower done but to be honest it slipped my mind.
DH went round and apologised for the noise and said what we were having done. The neighbour said that drain blocked up a lot and he had to clear it every month (DS who uses it is normally at uni so it isn’t used most of the time anyway), DH told him if there was a problem we would happily pay to get someone to come and sort it.
Today the plumber started work again and the neighbour appeared at the window to say that they had checked their deeds and they didn’t want us putting the shower in to drain into that drain and to stop.
The plumber said there was already our sink draining into it and what was the harm. She reiterated she wanted him to stop and kept slamming the window of the bathroom shut (it gives out onto their garden).
The plumber says he doesn’t have to pipe it to go out into the drain he can fix it to the wall to go into our pipe. But will still need access to their garden to do so.
Where do we go from here? The last thing we wanted was to have problems with the neighbours but surely we are still allowed to have a shower installed! Can they refuse us access to fit this pipe? Can they stop us having a shower installed at all?

You’ve been a CF. Time to get some flowers, wine whatever and go round and seriously apologise. Explain you have a solution, it will drain into your own land, but to do this you’ll need to be on their property. Ask them what time would be most convenient etc

I think you've gone about this completely the wrong way and no wonder your neighbour is cheesed off. It slipped your mind to consult with your neighbour, but you expected to connect into their drain without discussing it?!

Yes, unless there is something in your deeds which says you have a right of way across your neighbour's land for maintenance purposes, of course you need their permission to access their garden for any purpose.

Agree with pp's.. I'd be well fucked off too if I eas your neighbour.

Yup I think you’ve been completely thoughtless and cheeky too. If they dig their heels in and don’t allow access (and I bloody wouldn’t after the way you’ve behaved) then you only have yourself to blame.

I did mean to go round and inform them of what we wanted to do but we have been flat out with work and to be honest it slipped my mind until the night before the work started and then it was too late. I admit that is entirely my fault.
The drain is one our sink already drains into and their garden was the back garden of our property originally.

You really should have asked first. I would be annoyed too. Communication is the key here.

You need to check the legal position. Post your enquiry on the garden law forum, there are some real experts on boundaries etc on there.

Look at your deeds to see where the boundary is- the wall of your bathroom could be a party wall as it sounds like if forms the boundary between your properties.

Check with the water board whether you have a shared water supply/ drainage. We do with our neighbour.

You are actually allowed to access neighbouring land to do essential maintenance. Have a look on gov.uk all the rules are there. Don't trust strangers on a non specialist site like this who tend to make up what they think the law is!

@mylovelydd

I did mean to go round and inform them of what we wanted to do but we have been flat out with work and to be honest it slipped my mind until the night before the work started and then it was too late. I admit that is entirely my fault. The drain is one our sink already drains into and their garden was the back garden of our property originally.

None of this is relevant. You meant to tell them - not good enough. Your sink already drains into their drain and they've said that caused problems so why would they agree to the shower draining into it? Their garden was part of your current property originally, but it's not now so that's irrelevant. Stop making excuses for the fact that you have behaved badly in this situation. Go around and plead with your neighbour and hope that they will allow you to go ahead.

I’d be raging too! You’ve bought a rubber duck there, having an opening window into their garden is dodgy ground if not all out trespass and so is your waste water draining into their drain! So cheeky. I’d be apologising profusely and putting your own drainage in. This should have been dealt with along with the previous change in ownership for the land but unfortunately it is now your problem

@Movinghouseatlast Actually you need to be very careful about what constitutes 'essential maintenance' - and its quite a tight definition. If the OP has no right, she (or the plumber) would be trespassing on neighbour's land.

OP if your neighbour refuses permission then you probably need some legal advice.

@Africa2go yes, I know that's why I suggested looking on gov.uk

If you post in legal for the attention of collaborate you will find a poster who practices in this area and also happens to be part of gardenlaw.co.uk