I have a bit of a conundrum. We have a shared chimney stack that is unsafe, crumbling both sides and needs removing or re-building (repointing is no longer a safe option). Bricks have already fallen down from the neighbour’s side and it’s clearly dangerous, there’s no dispute between us that it needs resolving.
The problem is that our neighbour would prefer to fully remove it as this is the cheaper option and they have no use for it in their home. We, on the other hand, have a gas fire that we do use in the winter, which was also a generous housewarming gift from just 4 years ago (along with the marble mantelpiece) from my parents and so we still need the chimney. Neighbours are happy for us to do this but we would cover the whole cost.
My husband is saying that we would need to foot the whole bill for removal and then rebuilding the stack as it is us that want/need it, I think this is how our neighbour also sees it although I haven’t spoke to them personally. Does this sound right? It seems unfair to me that they would get a free chimney repair and 15yr guarantee when both our sides are damaged, although I understand that it is because of our need that the cost is higher. I’m not sure where we would stand legally in this.
Although not particularly close, we get along fine with the neighbours and don’t want to cause any problems with them because of this, if they would need to contribute would it be worth us just paying everything to keep the peace? If we had to pay off the whole cost alone we would struggle, I’m expecting and will be on maternity leave soon so we were trying to save some of the money for the future/emergencies, but we feel like the fireplace adds value to our home, not to mention obviously sentimentally as it was a gift. I’m torn on what to do.