boundary & guttering dispute

[barbie30]

Hiya,
Hope someone can help, I'm in the middle of a boundary dispute with my neighbour, as he has 4 of his gutters, (side of his house, car port, garage & back extension) running into my drain at the back of my property, the volume of rainfall we have is far too much & the drain is overflowing onto my patio. He says he is entitled to use my drain. Is he, & what is the difference between a public sewer or a private sewer please ?

 

[GRC]

Well, assuming he hasn't had access to your land recently to connect these downpipes to a drainage chamber or pipe, that implies that the situation has pre-existed you moving in.

Did the neighbour get permission from the previous owner of your house to do this?

Alternatively, has the pipework been in place since the houses were built?

 

[barbie30]

Well, assuming he hasn't had access to your land recently to connect these downpipes to a drainage chamber or pipe, that implies that the situation has pre-existed you moving in.

Did the neighbour get permission from the previous owner of your house to do this?

Alternatively, has the pipework been in place since the houses were built?

Yes, it is pre existing, But now that the rain is torrential, my garage is flooding, water is pouring onto the patio, as the drain won't hold it,(as I said, he has 4 gutterings going into one drain, & my own garage guttering makes 5) & also leaking from a join in his guttering. Not sure if he had previous permission or not, but, no the pipework wasn't in place since the houses were built. I don't think (according to the title plan (?)) that he has planning permission for the extension. It isn't shown on there.

 

[mattylad]

your not making sense.

How long have those gutters been there?

The extension, when was it built?

What ran into your downpipe before the extension?

When was each gutter joined to our downspout?

if it has been in existence for many years then he may have a right to use
your downspout & drain, however if he has recently added to it then he has not got the right to include the additions.

 

[noseall]

Private drains often run through several properties, collecting from each property as they go. Nothing unusual about that. Being private though means that you are responsible for the upkeep of the drains within your boundary. Publicly owned drains are the responsibility and the property of the water company.
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Some houses (pairs of semis or terraced runs) will collect the rain then discharge down a single spout, that is shared by the houses and eventually drain into a single soakaway. It may be that one of the semis deals with the front rainwater whilst the neighbour deals with the rear.

Aaaanyhoo, it is not unusual for a neighbour to be running foul or storm into your property, if it is such that you are down stream or that you happen to be dealing with the rainwater from that elevation.

 

[barbie30]

your not making sense.

How long have those gutters been there?

The extension, when was it built?

What ran into your downpipe before the extension?

When was each gutter joined to our downspout?

if it has been in existence for many years then he may have a right to use
your downspout & drain, however if he has recently added to it then he has not got the right to include the additions.

I have lived there for 14 years, & the gutters & extension were there when I moved in. My garage & his garage SHOULD have been the only 2 gutters going into the downspout & drain, But then he added another downspout to his extension,on my side, which is on the boundary line, running into my drain, & a car port guttering too. All were there when I moved in. Now there is far too much water going into the drain, flooding my patio, & leakig into my garage, which 3 of his gutterings go over. Why would he have a right to use my drain for his additions, if my property is being damaged.

 

[barbie30]

Private drains often run through several properties, collecting from each property as they go. Nothing unusual about that. Being private though means that you are responsible for the upkeep of the drains within your boundary. Publicly owned drains are the responsibility and the property of the water company.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some houses (pairs of semis or terraced runs) will collect the rain then discharge down a single spout, that is shared by the houses and eventually drain into a single soakaway. It may be that one of the semis deals with the front rainwater whilst the neighbour deals with the rear.

Aaaanyhoo, it is not unusual for a neighbour to be running foul or storm into your property, if it is such that you are down stream or that you happen to be dealing with the rainwater from that elevation.

Thank you very much for the explanation on private & public drains.
We live in detached bungalows, with a double garage link in between, but he runs his roof guttering over his car port & over my garage (along with his car port & his garage gutters) into my drain at the back, but the volume of water is far too great & my garage is wet through & patio flooded with it all. Ive asked him to re route his gutters over his own property & he says that he can't do that.

 

[mattylad]

why not, does he not have any drains on his property to route his water to?

Shared gutters for terrace & semi houses is one thing, bungalows is another if they are not physically connected.

Can you post a picture to show it all?

 

[barbie30]

why not, does he not have any drains on his property to route his water to?

Shared gutters for terrace & semi houses is one thing, bungalows is another if they are not physically connected.

Can you post a picture to show it all?

Ile try, ile get me camera out 2morrow & see what I can do. I think he's just taking the mickey, being as Im female. Thx 4 that, B.

 

[barbie30]

why not, does he not have any drains on his property to route his water to?

Shared gutters for terrace & semi houses is one thing, bungalows is another if they are not physically connected.

Can you post a picture to show it all?

Ile try, ile get me camera out 2morrow & see what I can do. I think he's just taking the mickey, being as Im female. Thx 4 that, B.

Hiya mattylad, just uploaded a photo, its called Barb's guttering. Neighbours bungalow on the right, showing his gutters under his eaves, & his gutter under his car port, you can't see his garage gutter going over my garage, but it's connected to his house gutter & his car port gutter is connected to my garage gutter. He will have drains of his own, but he has two extensions, & a conservatory, besides his car port & garage so it may all be too much for his drains, so he's tapping into mine.. Is all this guttering over my property & into my drain legal, please.

 

[gregers]

am i reading this right?he has entred on to your property to attach his guttering into your down pipe?
if so why not cut the thing off of your side and let his discharge onto his own property,dunno if this is legal?
but if you were to have an extension built would you have to ensure that he has a right to your drain?

 

[Alastairreid]

View media item 16568
if he aint willing to come to some sort of amicable compromise and assuming the gutter at the rear of the garage is a continuous run from his........i would dam it at the half way line.

 

[barbie30]

am i reading this right?he has entred on to your property to attach his guttering into your down pipe?
if so why not cut the thing off of your side and let his discharge onto his own property,dunno if this is legal?
but if you were to have an extension built would you have to ensure that he has a right to your drain?

Hiya gregers/alastair,
The problem has just got worse.... As you can see, the exact width between our houses at the front is 225 inches, his "half" is 118" & my half is 107", I only measured this, cos he said the drain on my patio was half his, & that his garage has always been larger than mine, so he was quite legally running his gutterings over his own space, & into a shared drain. I think that some thing had taken place between him & the builders (he was the 1st person to buy on the estate, allegedly) for his garage to be bigger than mine. On the outside there is a bricks width each next to the houses, the same size garage doors & 5 bricks inbetween the garage doors, so logically we should each have 2 & half bricks on the inside....but.. I only have one brick.. Would i be able to get a copy of the site plans from somewhere, from 1966.. I have a copy of the title plan which DOES NOT show his extension. Don't want to go down that line yet, tho. Thx.

 

[hotrod]

Surely his house roof gutter isn't discharging through a running outlet onto the car port roof and then into the car port roof gutter? The house roof gutter will be feeding into it's own downpipe and discharging into a separate drain on his own property.

 

[barbie30]

Surely his house roof gutter isn't discharging through a running outlet onto the car port roof and then into the car port roof gutter? The house roof gutter will be feeding into it's own downpipe and discharging into a separate drain on his own property.

Hiya hotrod, Wrong !! His roof gutter is joining another one of his gutters over his car port & then bending round to attach to his garage gutter over "my garage", then into my drain. (OR "our shared drain" as he tells me it is)