New neighbour



MonkeyLove said:
Had our new neighbour come round earlier and already it seems like they are going to be a nightmare. He spoke to my wife and she said he came across as very condescending and a bit of a mysoginist.

Anyway he said there was a ‘problem’ as his survey had shown up damp in his living room caused by our gutters. He didn’t say what he was looking for - us to sort it for him to put right or just ensure they were cleared to stop it in the future.

Two things? Surely he knew this before he decided to proceed with the purchase so has little recourse to expect us to pay to fix it?

Secondly I’ve got no idea how his surveyor has determined we are the ones solely responsible for this. Where I think it’s come from is we both have conservatories which are side by side and nearly touching. Their house was a rental and although well looked after had been empty for 18 months as the owner died and it was in probate before the family could sell. When it was a rental it had Ivy in their garden that climbed along the fence and into both gutters as we frequently cut it back/removed it. The roots were cut out 2 years ago but it probably damaged both gutters and was from their side.

So 2 questions does he have any recourse to try and make us pay (I don’t know if he does yet) for something that happened before he lived there and he knew from the survey before he decided to go ahead and buy? And being that it was likely caused by a historical plant on their side how could we be blamed for that?

With the amount of rain recently I also don’t know how much it may have overflown their side and or how well their gutters were cleared whilst it was empty.

I have no issues ensuring the gutters are clear going forward. We try and do that anyway.
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Has he left his car keys in your fruit bowl?🤣
 
MonkeyLove said:
Nice one Andrew. Any experience in the building or legal trade before I go down this route
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Legally qualified (or thereabouts) and the most pedantic man in history.

If I was going to mount a vexatious lawsuit across multiple jurisdictions and time periods, Andrew is the first person I would hire. And the last.
 
Tuono said:
It's common for 2 houses have a shared down pipe. On terraced houses you usually get a down pipe on every second house.
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Correct, I've noticed that on our street, we have downpipe and drain. Next door the other way runs into his neighbour who has downpipe and drain. All the houses are ex council houses who used to maintain them.
 
Standards are dropping in here. Four pages in and not one saying " I've just bought a house which has stood empty and was previously was rented out. Popped round the new neighbours and spoke to the wife as hubby wasn't about" "
 
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