Neighbours Wall

[Mags22]

My neighbours wall runs parallel to my kitchen wall,18" higher,and the felt from my roof fixed to it, however said wall has capping stones/slates missing which allows water to run in during heavy rain. Last year she twice promised to have it fixed,which never happened. We wrote her a letter two weeks ago,( with a copy to her Estate Agent,as the property is in the process of being sold) asking her please to arrange for repairs. In the meantime we had an insurance assessor look at our property as our kichen ceiling was damaged after a very bad rainstorm, he looked at her wall from upstairs and was flabbergasted at the state it was in,and doubted we'd get our claim ,given the state of wall topping. We gave her three weeks to do something, which is almost up - can anyone suggest what we can legally do next? I was hoping to have heard from the insurance and give her a copy of the man's findings but haven't heard from them yet. The Estate Agent also said he'd mention it to her but so far we have heard nothing from her. I would welcome any advice please.

[woofgang]

i am a bit confused as to why your roof felt is fixed to your neighbour’s wall and why you think this gives them a duty to keep their wall repaired?

[Mags22]

If the felt didn't run the 3" up her wall rain would run in the join, similarly the lead on her roof is onto my roôf tiles so rain won't seep into her property

[woofgang]

So have you got any written agreement about keeping the wall in repair? I mean i might let my neighbour hang pots on the fence that I own, but it doesn’t commit me to keeping the fence in good repair.... I am not being difficult just trying to get at the facts.

[cassa333]

Is it a party wall?
How long has your kitchen wall been attached to the wall?
What was the agreement when the kitchen was attached to the wall?

[Mags22]

Its not a party wall, our kitchen wall is separate from it, and as we have lived here 55 years have no agreement in place. We are a small friendly community,neighbours normally accept that they keep their property in good repair, and not to the detriment of each other.e.g.the neighbour in question's roof rain downpipe runs onto my lower roof with suitable lead flashing to prevent it running into my house and we never objected to them doing that. Plus - when I told her the problem,and reminded her twice, she agreed to have her wall repaired, she's quite wealthy (unlike me) so it is no problem moneywise, and we have already established that her wall and my kitchen wall are'nt one and the same,as she intended having repairs done last year to the whole wall,
,but deferred it because of a nesting bird. Hope I've explained things better this time.

[Bazile]

Can you do a sketch and upload it unto here , in order that we can see exactly what we are looking at ?

[Mags22]

Sorry, I wouldn't know where to start. Its basically two separate walls,with the felt from my kitchen roof lapped onto her wall for a few inches to prevent water getting into the gap and causing problems. All her wall needs is the tiles lying on my roof put back onto her wall, and a capping put on the top.

[bednobs]

i am also struggling to understand how it's her responsibility (and how you know how much money she has!) i would suggest that if she won't do it, and there is nothing in writing, you get her permission to do it yourselves

[cassa333]

Is her wall part of her building or just a garden wall that you have attached your something to?

OR

Are they separate walls with a gap between? If that is the case then I would suggest you take down the lead flashing or whatever is attached and make your own wall and ceiling watertight.