I purchased a detached bungalow (first time buyer) with a garage with the aim of significant renovation work, including a garage conversion, creating a kitchen behind this and 2 further rooms at the back of the house. Although it is a detached house, it is very close to the neighbour - in fact the garage wall (my own wall) is attached to the neighbour’s wall. Due to the style of the build, their roof overhangs (over the garage) significantly which made identifying the boundary a bit difficult (not clear in deeds either). Long story short, they were not happy with my plan and objected to every stage. Despite this I was successfully able to get planning permission and building regs approval to start work. One of the concerns the neighbours had was the proximity of the build and the effect this may have on their foundations. They invoked their rights under the party wall act (which I honestly knew nothing about). I therefore paid over £700 to get the party wall act, which I am obligated to do but also wanted to show I was willing to cooperate. I had to compromise on 250mm of space, which does not seem like much but for my plans is significant (it is a conversion to create a disabled-friendly room for my mum). One of the conditions of the party wall, or request, was that we allow the neighbour to replace their fascias. I therefore halted work to allow this to happen. For some reason they did not put a downpipe at the back at that time and stated they were happy for me to proceed with the work. The structure has now been almost complete. Due to the proximity of the houses, my building inspector (who is hired by the local council) advised a shared gulley to driain both roofs. I suggested this (as my roof is higher than theirs) but they had a second opinion and said for ease of selling in the future, they wanted this (drainage of each roof) separate. So we put our own fascias above theirs. So the drainage for my roof is sorted. But the manhole is in my garden (it is a public sewer which we relocated eith severn trent permission). I asked when the neighbour would put the downpipe on so we can connect it all up and she wants to put it on my wall (as the space is tight and not easily possible in hers). Note if she had done this before my build went up she would have easily been able to attach to her wall. I explained I was not happy to do this as if maintenance was needed then she would need access. I was also not going to accept responsibility for this downpipe as it is is solely draining her roof now. The other option is to relocate in to her garden and create a gulley but I think she is not keen to do this due to cost. She has therefore hired a surveyor and told me a solicitor will be writing to me. Originally the downpipe had been at the back of my garage and had drained both my garage roof and her roof into the gulley which connected in to the public sewer. The deeds also state that she has the right to drain rainwater via my land because of the way the pipes are laid presumably. I do not want to have to fork out a lot of money. Nor do I want the responsibility for her downpipe. She is arguing that as I have been the one wanting to build and forced the move of the pipe, I should replace it. However I would have done this had it still been a shared downpipe. It is now just her pipe though. Do I have a valid argument? If yes what else do I need to do? I have had multiple issues with this lady unfortunately so need to be sure everything I have done is legal and cannot be challenged wrt the build

Hi Guys, I had some guttering repaired last year, albeit a shoddy job, as I have now found out. We had noticed that the outside wall seemed to be getting wetter and upon further inspection by a friend, we have realised that instead of informing me that the guttering section was fitted incorrectly by previous workmen ( the section is roughly 1 inch lower than the joining section ) they just carried out a poor repair. This has now resulted in the guttering collecting water and it has been running down inside the cavity, causing damp to now appear on our interior walls. I have removed as much of the so called repair so that the water can run out of the gutter and drip away instead of causing further damage. I am now unsure as to who I approach to get the problem rectified, the workmen or my insurers

My daughter has just bought a terraced house within a row of ten properties. Each "pair" of houses has shared drainage and sewage piping as was common in many terraced houses. I was rather amazed to discover today when I visited her house for the first time, that she has THREE houses connecting onto her own single guttering down pipe in a "waterfall" like series of connections along the roof line. All of the other houses have shared downpipes between two houses. My daughter strongly believes that what she thought was damp walls caused by rising ground water might actually be caused by overloaded guttering. Is it legal to "discharge" rainwater like this.? I am sure that neighbours will not want to know but who should she approach once the neighbours walk away. Is there any point contacting the local authority planning office.? Who else might be able to assist.? Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Hi I really hope someone can help. I own a ground floor flat (and share a freehold in the building). My upstairs neighbors have a rooftop garden which has no guttering - when the roof garden was built the existing guttering for the house was cut short and a 1 inch pipe taken from what was left to the main sewer pipe (which I have been told is illegal) which runs down the wall past my bathroom. Because the pipe is too small to take water from the gutter the gutter has been overflowing and as a result has leaked into my bathroom and living room. My living room has original larve and plaster ceilings which has been spewing water onto my newly polished floors. The ceiling was so soaked earlier, and holding so much water, I had to poke a hole in it to drain the water away and prevent the ceiling from coming down entirely. When I asked my neighbors to have the guttering repaired and for someone to come round urgently to stop the leak they told me to sort it out myself and when I mentioned that I will have to put this through the insurance they became annoyed and told me that it is joint responsibility and not solely there's. As far as I am aware, because their roof garden is an alteration to the house myself and my other neighbor have no responsibility for its upkeep and repairs - and that we are jointly responsible for any maintenance/repairs for the rest of the roof. The roof was altered to create their roof garden and because it was done badly, and I'm told illegally, my home has suffered massive damage. Does anyone here have any experience with this sort of thing? Whether I'm right or wrong I would like to be a little more clearer on it when I have to speak to them again. Many thanks in advance