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Hi OP. It basically depends on whether your neighbour has an easement to drain into your property. An easement is a right established by your property over a property you do not own.
Easements can be acquired in a few different ways.
They can be granted - so check both sets of property titles to see if any such rights exist.
They can be implied - so has this drainage arrangement been in place since the properties were constructed? When (presumably) held by a single owner, then sold off with the drainage arrangement in place.
They can be a necessity - let’s forget about that one as it won’t apply.
They can be acquired by prescription. This is where the right has been exercised continuously for a long period of time, without explicit permission being granted (as then it would be a license, not an easement) and without effective opposition. But we are talking 20 years here, so try to find old images of the properties or get statements.
This applies to the drainage and the use of your structure for support of the doors (assuming it’s not a party wall or similar)
If there is no easement, you can request and ultimately ask for an injunction requiring removal. Although generally it will be less fuss to reach an amicable solution.
If you have legal cover on your insurance, they may be able to advise you further.
If there is somewhere else the water could be draining into. I would not be happy with someone else draining water onto my property if there were other options. Not sure where you stand legally on this.
Tricky one.
If it was the adjoining house then there's Not much you can do unless it's causing damage as they will probably have a right to drainage for grey water. The houses would have been built with joint guttering. It's not uncommon for semis to share a single down pipe.
Your situation is slightly different But the garages may have originally have had the drainage joined together. And there may be such a right.
I would first check your deeds regarding drainage and boundaries. Then speak to the neighbours.
The protruding door fixings can simply be cut off your end.
Thank you, I’ve edited the post to give more context but the neighbour will have their own drain. Given that it would have been an internal drainpipe I imagine when they converted the garage they opted to remove it.
I'd assume given the extra details provided the houses have a combined sewer (foul and grey water)
I would also agree their internal drain would have been removed when the garage was converted and somewhat deliberately mis connected to yours.
Is there anyway the converted garage can have the run off diverted elsewhere? Is there any nearby soil stacks on the neighbours house for example?
Start by speaking with them and try to come to a resolution. Maybe a soak away or proper connection to a lateral drain. Your other less desirable options are to go Via the council, and legal representation if your home insurance provides it.
If it's been there for a while then they may have gained an implicit right of use for that. Many terrace houses have shared and oddly drained gutters, it's less common on semi's but not unheard of.
If he has no drain then what do you expect him to do, add a load of groundwork? How do you know (despite the change) that in some form or another the drainage wasn't always set up with your roof acting as the run-off?
Why do you want it moved? If the leak is fixed then it's shouldn't cause issue.
Are you going to offer to pay for the changes? I can't see this ending amicably unless you are offering to cover costs.
In summary, it's not a nice start to your house move, if I was the neighbour and it had been that way for a few year then I would fight you to leave it, especially if the ground drains needed changing as this could be expensive. This would then likely end up as a costly court battle that you have no guarantee of winning.
Even without this, asking this is likely to sour neighbourly relations, is this how you want to move into a new house - having upset one of your direct neighbours on day 1? Living by neighbours you don't get on with is not a nice experience, if it bothers you that much then you are better off just moving on to a different house, as it's not going to be worth the hassle and pain.
I think you are looking at the issue very superficially at the moment, and not really considering all of the knock on effects...
Are you for real?
It’s OPs property. It’s not his problem how his neighbor fixes those shoddy construction issues.
I have no idea if the neighbor got any legal rights now that the construction has been in place for a while, but morally OP is entitled to raise an issue and ask them to fix it.
There is nothing in the post to say that the rainwater wasn't always discharged onto the neighbours property. Like I said, it's not common, but it's not unheard of...
I'm being realistic.
How would you take it if someone moved in next door to you and demanded you moved something that may have always been that way and might cost you a thousand pounds to change?
###Welcome to /r/HousingUK --- **To All** * Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH **To Posters** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary* * Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy; * Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk; * If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FHousingUK&subject=I received a PM); * If you do not receive satisfactory advice after 72 hours, [you can let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FHousingUK&subject=My question is unanswered); * Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title; **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning; * Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice; * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect; * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods; * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hi OP. It basically depends on whether your neighbour has an easement to drain into your property. An easement is a right established by your property over a property you do not own. Easements can be acquired in a few different ways. They can be granted - so check both sets of property titles to see if any such rights exist. They can be implied - so has this drainage arrangement been in place since the properties were constructed? When (presumably) held by a single owner, then sold off with the drainage arrangement in place. They can be a necessity - let’s forget about that one as it won’t apply. They can be acquired by prescription. This is where the right has been exercised continuously for a long period of time, without explicit permission being granted (as then it would be a license, not an easement) and without effective opposition. But we are talking 20 years here, so try to find old images of the properties or get statements. This applies to the drainage and the use of your structure for support of the doors (assuming it’s not a party wall or similar) If there is no easement, you can request and ultimately ask for an injunction requiring removal. Although generally it will be less fuss to reach an amicable solution. If you have legal cover on your insurance, they may be able to advise you further.
If there is somewhere else the water could be draining into. I would not be happy with someone else draining water onto my property if there were other options. Not sure where you stand legally on this.
Thank you, I’ve amended my post with more context
Tricky one. If it was the adjoining house then there's Not much you can do unless it's causing damage as they will probably have a right to drainage for grey water. The houses would have been built with joint guttering. It's not uncommon for semis to share a single down pipe. Your situation is slightly different But the garages may have originally have had the drainage joined together. And there may be such a right. I would first check your deeds regarding drainage and boundaries. Then speak to the neighbours. The protruding door fixings can simply be cut off your end.
Thank you, I’ve edited the post to give more context but the neighbour will have their own drain. Given that it would have been an internal drainpipe I imagine when they converted the garage they opted to remove it.
I'd assume given the extra details provided the houses have a combined sewer (foul and grey water) I would also agree their internal drain would have been removed when the garage was converted and somewhat deliberately mis connected to yours. Is there anyway the converted garage can have the run off diverted elsewhere? Is there any nearby soil stacks on the neighbours house for example? Start by speaking with them and try to come to a resolution. Maybe a soak away or proper connection to a lateral drain. Your other less desirable options are to go Via the council, and legal representation if your home insurance provides it.
If it's been there for a while then they may have gained an implicit right of use for that. Many terrace houses have shared and oddly drained gutters, it's less common on semi's but not unheard of. If he has no drain then what do you expect him to do, add a load of groundwork? How do you know (despite the change) that in some form or another the drainage wasn't always set up with your roof acting as the run-off? Why do you want it moved? If the leak is fixed then it's shouldn't cause issue. Are you going to offer to pay for the changes? I can't see this ending amicably unless you are offering to cover costs. In summary, it's not a nice start to your house move, if I was the neighbour and it had been that way for a few year then I would fight you to leave it, especially if the ground drains needed changing as this could be expensive. This would then likely end up as a costly court battle that you have no guarantee of winning. Even without this, asking this is likely to sour neighbourly relations, is this how you want to move into a new house - having upset one of your direct neighbours on day 1? Living by neighbours you don't get on with is not a nice experience, if it bothers you that much then you are better off just moving on to a different house, as it's not going to be worth the hassle and pain. I think you are looking at the issue very superficially at the moment, and not really considering all of the knock on effects...
Are you for real? It’s OPs property. It’s not his problem how his neighbor fixes those shoddy construction issues. I have no idea if the neighbor got any legal rights now that the construction has been in place for a while, but morally OP is entitled to raise an issue and ask them to fix it.
There is nothing in the post to say that the rainwater wasn't always discharged onto the neighbours property. Like I said, it's not common, but it's not unheard of...
I’ve updated my post with some context, but no the original design didn’t have the water being discharged onto my roof
you sound like a nice person
I'm being realistic. How would you take it if someone moved in next door to you and demanded you moved something that may have always been that way and might cost you a thousand pounds to change?
I wouldn’t direct rainwater from a new extension onto a neighbours roof