CanDitch Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Hi there I’ll seek some legal advice on this in due course but I’d really like some opinions on a predicament we find ourselves in. We moved into our 1950’s bungalow in August 2020 and our new neighbours next door moved into theirs about 2 weeks ago. Our road is on a slope and their property is lower down from us. They have recently started discussing damp issues in the extended part of their single-skim garage. Apparently these issues were picked up on their survey and the previous homeowner confirmed they’d been rectified. (It turns out they’d only partially bothered to correct some of the damp issues). The damp wall in question was built ‘over-hand’ and added to their existing garage at least 10-12 years ago, and isn’t in the best condition. This wall acts as the boundary between their garage and our side path. Our side path is much higher than the DPC in the garage due to the sloped road, and the wall has been built butt up to our retaining wall. The neighbour has discussed the damp issue with a builder, and the builders solution is to excavate on our side to below the DPC - which is over a metre deep at the deepest part and approx. 3m long, and apply the necessary membrane/pea shingle for drainage. The neighbour is keen not to involve party wall agreements but I’ve insisted if there is any excavation there must be a PWA as our lounge and conservatory walls are within a metre of where they want to excavate. I feel like excavating is a bit overkill for some damp in the corner of a single skin garage that was built by previous owners. I’m also not sure I want them excavating so close to my home, nor can I afford to lose out financially by paying for party wall surveyors and would hope this is at the neighbours cost but I get the impression this is on us to pay for and correct. The neighbour hinted at us contacting the previous owner of our home and getting some money from them - except he was 92 when he was moved to a care home and I believe he has since passed. But I don’t think this is warranted and the new neighbours should be taking it up with their solicitor and the previous homeowner...! I am so stressed, we are keen to keep neighbourly and approachable but we have so much renovation work to do on a tight budget, I can’t justify or afford paying for something that I don’t feel is our responsibility... Any thoughts are welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyshouse Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 PWA will have to be paid for them, keep a diary and photos of everything. If they do dig then could undermine your foundations, you need to research PWA, as with this you can stop them. With it any problems are covered 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanDitch Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 6 minutes ago, tonyshouse said: PWA will have to be paid for them, keep a diary and photos of everything. If they do dig then could undermine your foundations, you need to research PWA, as with this you can stop them. With it any problems are covered Hi Tony Thank you for your reply. Is there any scenario (other than the neighbour changing his mind) where we don’t allow this to happen? I understand the reasons for PWA but I don’t feel the risk to our property is worth it for trying to correct some damp in a single skin garage that’s set below our property level and when it’s not designed to be water-tight in the first place. Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jimbo Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 You are under no obligation to allow your neighbour to come onto your land and dig anything. If you chose you could just tell them to F off. If you do want to be very nice, and would like them to be able to sort it out, then insist on a PWA. They have to pay for the surveyor. If you don't like what the surveyor says, tell them so, and they will have to appoint a second surveyor, which again they have to pay for. If the Two surveyors don't agree, they have have to appoint a Third surveyor, and he will draw up the PWA. He would have to pay for all three of them. If your path is about 1m higher than the bottom of his garage wall, then frankly, no digging out, pea shingle, etc, is going to give him a damp free garage. Don't be bullied......Good luck in your new house. When you start renovating we can be quite a useful bunch, We may have some good ideas for budget improvements. Not everybody on here is building a mansion..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timedout Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 My advice would be refuse to allow them to work on your side. They may go to court to gain an order under the access to neighbouring land act but I doubt it. You must insist on a party wall agreement. The preliminary costs will be so much they will almost certainly back off. The brickwork in your photos is rubbish anyway, sorry if it is yours. The wind would blow through that never mind water. The neighbours will have to engineer a solution themselves. I had a similar situation a few years ago on a bungalow we bought. In our case we were the downhill property and the uphill neighbour had raised his garden (in clear breach of a covenant to the contrary) that had promoted water ingress through the garage wall. Predecessors to us had tried to collect the water and guide it away by cracking out a channel in the garage floor. I applied a tanking slurry well up the wall and filled in the channel. It held while we lived there and will for a while yet but not indefinitely. Our masonry was much better though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jimbo Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 (edited) Can i just point out that, "The access to neighbouring land act" has nothing to do with somebody being allowed to dig up your path...Sorry Timedout, but that is giving the poster the wrong impression. The "Access" act would allow them to enter your land to re-point there wall, of cut branches of trees etc........NOT dig up your land..... I feel that your post, although in good faith, will now be frightening to poster, and should be corrected.... Edited March 19, 2021 by Big Jimbo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanDitch Posted March 19, 2021 Author Share Posted March 19, 2021 Thank you both so much, you’re replies have been incredibly helpful. The wall belongs to the neighbour and I do feel any excavation is going to create more problems for our neighbour than they’re set to fix. Not to mention I’m very concerned that any issues to our property that could potentially arise, although protected by the PWA, feels like an unwanted nightmare I don’t want the worry of dealing with. We are keen to remain neighbourly and happy to grant access to have the wall re-pointed but there is a limit to how nice we can be about it! Thank you again so much, I’ve lost so much sleep over this so you may have helped me get some rest from now on! ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 They may find that they can apply a studded membrane to their side of the wall, form a channel at the base for the water to escape and build up a metal stud wall in front. They would lose about 80mm from the width of the garage. I notice they have an overhanging gutter. Is there an easement for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanDitch Posted March 19, 2021 Author Share Posted March 19, 2021 (edited) Thanks for replying... I’ll be sure to ask what other remedies they’ve explored from their side of the wall as they’ve not mentioned anything other than using tanking slurry on the internal wall which their builder has said is a waste of time. No easement that I am aware of. You’ll have to forgive my ignorance but would an easement for the overhanging guttering mean that access must be permitted to allow for maintenance? Because we’re more than happy to allow access for this. Or can they make a claim on the land below the guttering? Edited March 19, 2021 by CanDitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 This is your neighbors problem, not yours, tanking/water management would be their least disruptive option or they could support the top part of the wall and roof from their side, remove the wall that abutts yours and then build in the DPM as they reinstate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timedout Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 3 hours ago, Big Jimbo said: Can i just point out that, "The access to neighbouring land act" has nothing to do with somebody being allowed to dig up your path...Sorry Timedout, but that is giving the poster the wrong impression. The "Access" act would allow them to enter your land to re-point there wall, of cut branches of trees etc........NOT dig up your land..... I feel that your post, although in good faith, will now be frightening to poster, and should be corrected.... Fair enough. I would edit that but I can’t see how. There are no edit tools available to me. If a moderator is available I would prefer to simply delete the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 18 hours ago, CanDitch said: The neighbour has discussed the damp issue with a builder, and the builders solution is to excavate on our side to below the DPC - which is over a metre deep at the deepest part and approx. 3m long, and apply the necessary membrane/pea shingle for drainage. As it's only around a metre deep if I were your neighbour I would simply paint the affected area of wall with https://www.promain.co.uk/interior-wall-and-ceiling-paint/basement-paints/watertite-basement-waterproofing-paint.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 (edited) What came first? If they built the garage with a gap and then you or a previous owner of your house filled it in and laid the path above DPC then you could be liable for fixing the damp. If it was them that built the garage and they back filled above DPC then its entirely their problem to fix. Edited March 19, 2021 by Temp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meechl85 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 I would get a PWA ASAP and establish the boundaries. They cannot excavate within 3 metres of your property or on your property without your consent. If you give them consent to dig on your property and damage occurs they would not be any obligation to rectify the damage. This is why they are keen not to enter into any binding agreements. They have already done their homework. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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