Neighbour or council?

[noideareno]

Our neighbours have some weeds growing up the downpipe on their gutter which our gutter also connects to. The weeds have grown up the pipe and you can see the leaves coming out of the gaps. Our gutters are now leaking whenever we get heavy rainfall as our gutters connect to their downpipe.
We want to ask the neighbours to clear the blockage but we don’t see them much due to work schedules. Their house is council owned so would we be unreasonable to just ask the council to sort it as it’s the councils property anyway?
we want to sell the house in a few years so don’t want to do anything that could be seen as a ‘dispute’ but we’d only be asking for the work to be done, not making a complaint

yes contact the owner , ie council

or perhaps quicker talk to you neighbour and offer do it for them, just needs a ladder

@Wot23thank you we thought it might just be easier to contact the council themselves as the neighbours would probably just call the council out to do it anyway. I just worried that it could be seen as a complaint that we’d have to declare when we come to sell?

It's not a dispute though, you are just bringing the matter to their attention. I wouldn't expect to declare it.

I book council housing repairs, you cannot book a repair for a neighbour, we would need the tenants to be aware of the appointment and book it in.
the council own it but it foesnt mean we can rock up willy nilly

You can’t book maintenance on a property that you don’t own! That’s so wrong even if you think you are doing it to be helpful. It’s actually quite disrespectful.

Just have a chat with your neighbour - and if needs be, mention that it’s probably something the council can take care of for them - or offer to do it if you have a ladder. Unless they are total nightmares - and you haven’t said that they are - then why not just have a chat?

Saw this after I had posted - I’m glad that this is the officially the case as I wasn’t 100% sure. It’s also basic bad manners!

It's not a repair though - nothing is actually broken. Surely this is just "maintenance" the neighbours should be doing themselves. I'd just let them know.

We do clean gutters when requested and it would be requested through repairs as we have the tradesmen.
not everyone have ladders or the balance or skill to to do it…

Just report your gutters are overflowing not the reason the council will deal with or liaise with the neighbour

Report their gutters are overflowing to the council? Given the council have nothing to do with their property as it’s privately owned?

Spray the weeds with weedkiller

I suspect there is a blockage, though. It is usually either at the joint with the gutter, or where it empties into a gulley at ground level.

Gutter downpipes are deliberately built with unsealed joints, so in the event of a blockage, water escapes from the next joint above it. Have a look next time it rains to see where it comes out.

@Arlanymor We’re not meaning to be disrespectful. We’ve been meaning to speak to them about it for the last few weeks but as we work unsocial hours we don’t see them too often to bring it up, that’s why I thought it might just be easier if we asked the council to sort it as it’s affecting our property too, not just theirs.
Theyre generally good neighbours, they just don’t keep on top of the maintenance for the gutters/weed control so this isn’t the first time we’ve had this issue and last time it was the council who sorted it, not the neighbours themselves.

That’s fair enough and I appreciate you explaining because it did sound a bit odd without that additional knowledge. A nice note through the door maybe? But you can’t get in touch with the council on their behalf even though I know it feels like to do so you would be helping. I’m sure they would not feel that way. Nor would it be allowed at the council’s end. Hope you get a good and speedy resolution soon.

As far as I can see if there is an issue that could cause damage to an adjoining property then they should take action irrespective of who reports it

As Wot23 said i would just offer to do it for them, it is after all servicing your drainage too so they wont mind nor would it cause any offence. Its a nice neighbourly gesture. As Arlanmor says - if you don't see them much a nice friendly letter through the door 👍

agreed. Whilst it would of course be rather fractious to get that far, ultimately the council would be liable for damage to a neighbours property by not maintaining their "own" gutter clearance. Obviously in practical terms that would mostly make some lawyers rather richer.

Id talk with my neighbour

Put a polite note through their door saying you’ve been trying to have a chat with them about the gutter etc