Can I enforce the digging of a yard whihc has caused damp in my walls due to being laid right up against my gable end

[carlos73]

There is a concrete yard which has been laid right up against the gable end of my end terrace and over time, due to the inadequacy of water run off implementation, the water pools at the side of the house and has seeped into the stone work causing major damp issues in the lounge wall which when metered has gone off the scale!

I would like to gain access to the gable end which is underneath this concrete yard so as to effect remedial work on the wall's rendering

The damp has been caused by the yard but not completely by the yard's owner as he bought it with the yard already laid.

I have a dry stone wall which is solid up until about 2 feet of the back wall of the house and then it has fallen down so it does not continue along the side of the gable end and the gap between the remainding wall and my house has been filled in by persons unknown

[buildersmate]

On this one, I really feel that you are going to have to seek professional advice.
If you read the responsibilities of property owners here
http://www.environmen...org.uk/rte.asp?id=103
you will see that one landowner can't claim the water run-off from another landowner's land is his problem. But that's for free drainage. The whole situation changes if some cretin tarmacs over a big area, preventing water seepage through and it then runs off elsewhere to the inconvenience of another landowner.
From what you say, that's what has happened here.
The trouble is, it was a previous owner that did this - it really should have been picked up then - not now. I guess you didn't knwo what damage it would create.
If you are offering to pay for this work, that might be most of any potential argument about money settled overcome, but there needs to be some scope of work agreed in case you cause damage inadvertantly.
Google 'Party Wall Act' - it doesn't strictly apply here (not a party wall) but the sort of legal framework process for resolution could be similar.