MOVED HOUSE, NO WATER.

[Graham Orm]

A wise decision Phil, although very easy to fall out with him over this, its much better to maintain a decent relationship given your workshop plans

Myself, after this I would ignore the fact that the guy lives there and build within regulations without any consideration whatsoever.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, but I'm building very close to his boundary, so I need access to his side to render and to fix fascia and guttering.

 

[Graham Orm]

Yes, but I'm building very close to his boundary, so I need access to his side to render and to fix fascia and guttering.

In that case, play him. Not a good prospect having just moved in. Good luck Phil.

 

[No skills]

Get your brother in law to do you a quote for doing the work and go see the neighbour with it and tell him he needs to pay.

 

[No skills]

Phil

Have you googled this at all?

Putting in 'my neighbour has cut off my water supply' brings up a fair bit of discussion about it...

 

[No skills]

http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/consumerissues/ ... upplypipes

 

[Max Power]

All depends on how co-operative you need him to be with your workshop build. If you will be stuffed without his co-operation then revenge is a dish best served cold. If you can build your workshop regardless of him then I would make him get it sorted.
The obvious thing though is its you who will be living next to him, so only you who will be affected by your actions, its very easy to dish out advice from the comfort of your arm-chair.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

We've had an hour's discussion this morning - I suspect his wife might have influenced him. It turns out that the junction is in his kitchen under the floor.
He's going to ring the water board on Monday and tell them that he wants a meter, and so do I (I wasn't intending to, but I think it'll become law anyway sooner or later), that his water is not potable, (apparently it's filthy) and that I and my family have to live in a property with no water supply (which isn't strictly true, although it could be). A neighbour two doors the other side has filthy water as well. He pointed out (correctly) that just because my main is under his property, it doesn't give him the right to cut it off, but neither does it make it his responsibility. It is really badly rusted up, (I've cut them before - I know what they're like) and if he reconnects it, it could block completely in six months time, by which time all his floors will have been re-laid and I can hardly expect him to dig his floors up for my main. He has offered to connect up temporarily, but I told him to wait for the outcome of the call on Monday and see what happens from there. So it's going to cost me, which I wasn't anticipating, but it'll be an end to it. I'll see how Monday goes. Things are calmer now.

 

[Graham Orm]

That's better news Phil. The dirt in the water is manganese. It's in all old water pipes and is like soil when dried. It forms on the inside of pipes and becomes sludge when disturbed.
Edit: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distributi ... D5940.html

 

[Max Power]

Good result Phil, better to have a friend than an enemy

 

[Flynnwood]

. . . snip . . . He pointed out (correctly) that just because my main is under his property, it doesn't give him the right to cut it off, but neither does it make it his responsibility. It is really badly rusted up, (I've cut them before - I know what they're like) and if he reconnects it, it could block completely in six months time, by which time all his floors will have been re-laid and I can hardly expect him to dig his floors up for my main. He has offered to connect up temporarily, but I told him to wait for the outcome of the call on Monday and see what happens from there. So it's going to cost me, which I wasn't anticipating, but it'll be an end to it. I'll see how Monday goes. Things are calmer now.

Couple of additional thoughts Phil.

1. There is probably some mention of joint responsibility in the deeds anyway with regard to a shared supply. Similar to if you had a private road/drive leading to two properties. Those maintenance costs are normally shared.

2. Consider the 'cost' in terms of shelf life and potential unfriendly relations with your neighbour. If it costs you (say) £400 and you intend to live there (say) 15 years then £400/180 months = £2.22 per month. Adjust numbers accordingly ...

No point having a PITA neighbour for that sort of money over that sort of time. And it does seem he is going to be 'reasonable' about it now.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, he may be responsible for the main from his boundary to where mine branches, but I doubt he's responsible for my end - and it's under his floor.
By the bye - your second point is perfectly valid : besides which, things like this have a habit of coming back to bite me, and I'd rather put this one out of the way knowing that whatever happens in the future, mine bit is 100% ok.

 

[heatherw]

Plus the fact that if you were to get solicitors involved, it would probably cost you at least that 400 pounds anyway.

Looks as though everything's turning out alright anyway.

 

[FarrellMackennon]

I’m not casting aspersions here but it does seem slightly odd to me that he chose to overhaul his plumbing system when there was no-one in the property - doesn’t it? I get the feeling from what you say that he was waiting for an opportunity to do what he wanted but perhaps knew it wasn’t right, so did the work when no-one was around to question it and now thinks that shrugging his shoulders means he has no responsibility! I would suggest you talk to the vendors again to ascertain there were never any issues with the neighbor about the water previously and also call your solicitor about any rights you have in this regard.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

No, that wasn't the case - the neighbour has only just bought the property, and has gutted it. He had to dig up his kitchen eventually, just to find my junction. Touch wood, it seems to be working out ok - I'll post further when I find out more.

 

[No skills]

The ofwat link I posted would suggest that the bit of pipe that supplies you that is on his property is his responsibility.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, thanks, I did look at it. I think it's more than a little unreasonable to expect him to dig up the ground floor of his house when there's a leak in my pipe (and that's a "when" not an "if"). Different if it was in the garden. I'm hoping the water board will give us a reasonable price for separating the two supplies so that we can have done with it.