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Hi there,
This is probably going to be a fairly long read, so I thank you in advance for any and all help but also advise you to get yourself a coffee!
Images: https://imgur.com/a/2DJbYsY
Context:
- In September 2017 I purchased my first home, it was built in the ~1930's and at the back rear of the garden it shares a boundary (single skin brick wall) with a set of garages built in 1967.
- Prior to me moving in the owner of said garages power-washed the roof of his garages - They are white asbestos. There was a large cleanup operation and some of the neighbours took him to court over it. He lost the case and since then threatened neighbours saying he would "put fire doors into their gardens from the garages" and that he "owne
- Before I moved in the gardens were given the all clear after the cleanup operation.
- When I moved in it was apparent that there were issues with the boundary wall. 1) Bricks were crumbling. 2) When raining you could see water streaming down the wall. 3) The guttering was flexing and water was pouring out down the wall and pooling on the land against the wall. See image #1 in the imgur album for the brick damage.
- I wished to discuss this, however the owner (Mr A) had not appeared until just over a month ago. (Mr A isn't actually the owner, as far as i can tell he transferred ownership to his Wife (Mrs B) and Brother (Mr C). They define him as "managing" the site, however when I asked him myself he said he owned it. They purchased the garages in 2002.)
Just over a month ago Mr A appeared at my front door and asked "Can we drop a ladder down from the roof of the garage and have a look at the guttering". I thought great, it'll finally get sorted. So he and another climbed on top of the garage roof, dropped his ladder down into my garden and un-clipped the guttering. 2 days later they put it back, nothing was different. It still flexes and does not function correctly. They didn't actually do any work to it.
A week or two later myself and all neighbours who's gardens back onto this wall (there are 5 of us) received a letter that Mrs B + Mr C had paid a solicitor to send. The contents of which roughly stated 2 things.
1) They owned a meter of our gardens for what they claimed used to be an access path down the back of the garages.
2) We were to remove all soil to below the DPC and our fence panels on this meter. As the Soil was causing damp issues and they intended to erect a fence along this meter. We would be liable for reparation costs.
The solicitor explained to me that this was not any kind of legal action, they'd simply paid for a letter to be sent and told her what to write.
I called the solicitor, explained the situation with the guttering being inadequate and in my opinion this was the main contribution to any damage. I sent a copy of my most recent Land Registry outline and also a copy I have of the outline from the 1930's (I have A LOT of documentation from the previous owners). They both match and show there is no 1 metre access path. I confirmed via google earth images (1999 is as far as i can go back) that there is no 1 metre access path present. Interestingly it looks like i'm missing 5ft of land according to measurements, but i'm not bothered about that.
Since doing this they have not formally mentioned the boundary issue, and instead are proceeding to threaten action regarding the damp issue within their garages.
The next day I noticed Mr A climbing onto the roof once again and looking around. He spotted me watching him, quickly climbed down and came over. From here I began voice recording all conversations.
The first thing I asked about was the boundary issue, to which he stated; "I don't think it's a metre, its more like 40-50cm". I was shocked, but remained polite and explained my concerns, he then asked if a surveyor could come over in an hour - I obliged.
The surveyor, Mr A and his Son came over shortly after (again i recorded this).
The surveyor said a fair few things; "This was a Friday afternoon brickies job", "These [walls] have been thrown up", [the guttering] "looks like it has been like that for years", "I'd be interested to know why the DPC is at that level", "The roof is in a poor state", "you can see where the gutters bend".
Mr A also said a few things; "These bricks are crap, they're the worst bricks you can buy", "When they built these they put the bricks the wrong way around, when i rebuild them i turn the bricks around", "I want to rebuild all the walls in June", "I'll fix that guttering".
The conversation was interesting. It was evident that the soil on my side is higher than the DPC, and I do not dispute that, however I believe the DPC itself is too low as it is far below the land level on my and my neighbours sides. The gardens are level with our properties, and all of them are at the same level - I refuse to believe the idea that all of the previous owners decided to pour tonnes of soil into the gardens to raise the level by well over a foot.
I thought this would be the end of the matter as Mr A stated he wanted to rebuild the walls, when he said this the surveyor told him he should put blue bricks up to the level of the gardens to fix the problem.
As a gesture of goodwill I dug my land away from the wall and to below the DPC. However a week later we were delivered a copy of the letter that the surveyor had sent to Mr A and Mrs B, the letter stated 2 options. Remove all soil within a 50cm border and 30cm below the DPC on our gardens and create a low level slabbed run-off, or Tank the wall.
Given that the land is mine and i'd effectively be giving away a 50cm border, I assumed they would look at the tanking option, or simply rebuild as Mr A stated he wished to. However this does not appear to be the case.
My neighbour's uncle is a Master bricklayer and he came over to give his opinion; he stated that the single skin is inadequate, the bricks are very porous, the DPC was built too low, and the bricks have crumbled due to being weathered by running water. And so i'm certain this is a problem with the build of the garages (as the surveyor is recorded saying) and nothing else.
I've since had text message from Mrs B asking what I propose to do.
I asked her to confirm if they are rebuilding the walls; she stated they will not do any work until the damp issue is resolved.
I asked her if they will tank the wall, she said they will not tank it as they want the wall putting back to it's original condition at my expense or "we will go down the legal route".
I asked her to meet with myself and my neighbours face to face so we can all discuss, or send Mr C to do so, she refused.
I believe she is expecting me to provide them with the 50cm border on my land, and offer to pay for a full rebuild of the wall (I've counted roughly 50 bricks that need replacing, see image #2 in imgur).
I'm hesitant to get solicitors involved as I don't have the cash to afford a lengthy dispute. This is causing me a lot of stress now and I really need to look towards resolving it, but don't feel like I should be responsible for paying for what looks to be damage caused by a poor build, faulty guttering and lack of maintenance. I'm happy to provide access and even help with works that need to be undertaken, but the cost is not something i'm willing to pay.
Any and all advice is much appreciated and I thoroughly appreciate you taking the time to read this.
This is probably going to be a fairly long read, so I thank you in advance for any and all help but also advise you to get yourself a coffee!
Images: https://imgur.com/a/2DJbYsY
Context:
- In September 2017 I purchased my first home, it was built in the ~1930's and at the back rear of the garden it shares a boundary (single skin brick wall) with a set of garages built in 1967.
- Prior to me moving in the owner of said garages power-washed the roof of his garages - They are white asbestos. There was a large cleanup operation and some of the neighbours took him to court over it. He lost the case and since then threatened neighbours saying he would "put fire doors into their gardens from the garages" and that he "owne
- Before I moved in the gardens were given the all clear after the cleanup operation.
- When I moved in it was apparent that there were issues with the boundary wall. 1) Bricks were crumbling. 2) When raining you could see water streaming down the wall. 3) The guttering was flexing and water was pouring out down the wall and pooling on the land against the wall. See image #1 in the imgur album for the brick damage.
- I wished to discuss this, however the owner (Mr A) had not appeared until just over a month ago. (Mr A isn't actually the owner, as far as i can tell he transferred ownership to his Wife (Mrs B) and Brother (Mr C). They define him as "managing" the site, however when I asked him myself he said he owned it. They purchased the garages in 2002.)
Just over a month ago Mr A appeared at my front door and asked "Can we drop a ladder down from the roof of the garage and have a look at the guttering". I thought great, it'll finally get sorted. So he and another climbed on top of the garage roof, dropped his ladder down into my garden and un-clipped the guttering. 2 days later they put it back, nothing was different. It still flexes and does not function correctly. They didn't actually do any work to it.
A week or two later myself and all neighbours who's gardens back onto this wall (there are 5 of us) received a letter that Mrs B + Mr C had paid a solicitor to send. The contents of which roughly stated 2 things.
1) They owned a meter of our gardens for what they claimed used to be an access path down the back of the garages.
2) We were to remove all soil to below the DPC and our fence panels on this meter. As the Soil was causing damp issues and they intended to erect a fence along this meter. We would be liable for reparation costs.
The solicitor explained to me that this was not any kind of legal action, they'd simply paid for a letter to be sent and told her what to write.
I called the solicitor, explained the situation with the guttering being inadequate and in my opinion this was the main contribution to any damage. I sent a copy of my most recent Land Registry outline and also a copy I have of the outline from the 1930's (I have A LOT of documentation from the previous owners). They both match and show there is no 1 metre access path. I confirmed via google earth images (1999 is as far as i can go back) that there is no 1 metre access path present. Interestingly it looks like i'm missing 5ft of land according to measurements, but i'm not bothered about that.
Since doing this they have not formally mentioned the boundary issue, and instead are proceeding to threaten action regarding the damp issue within their garages.
The next day I noticed Mr A climbing onto the roof once again and looking around. He spotted me watching him, quickly climbed down and came over. From here I began voice recording all conversations.
The first thing I asked about was the boundary issue, to which he stated; "I don't think it's a metre, its more like 40-50cm". I was shocked, but remained polite and explained my concerns, he then asked if a surveyor could come over in an hour - I obliged.
The surveyor, Mr A and his Son came over shortly after (again i recorded this).
The surveyor said a fair few things; "This was a Friday afternoon brickies job", "These [walls] have been thrown up", [the guttering] "looks like it has been like that for years", "I'd be interested to know why the DPC is at that level", "The roof is in a poor state", "you can see where the gutters bend".
Mr A also said a few things; "These bricks are crap, they're the worst bricks you can buy", "When they built these they put the bricks the wrong way around, when i rebuild them i turn the bricks around", "I want to rebuild all the walls in June", "I'll fix that guttering".
The conversation was interesting. It was evident that the soil on my side is higher than the DPC, and I do not dispute that, however I believe the DPC itself is too low as it is far below the land level on my and my neighbours sides. The gardens are level with our properties, and all of them are at the same level - I refuse to believe the idea that all of the previous owners decided to pour tonnes of soil into the gardens to raise the level by well over a foot.
I thought this would be the end of the matter as Mr A stated he wanted to rebuild the walls, when he said this the surveyor told him he should put blue bricks up to the level of the gardens to fix the problem.
As a gesture of goodwill I dug my land away from the wall and to below the DPC. However a week later we were delivered a copy of the letter that the surveyor had sent to Mr A and Mrs B, the letter stated 2 options. Remove all soil within a 50cm border and 30cm below the DPC on our gardens and create a low level slabbed run-off, or Tank the wall.
Given that the land is mine and i'd effectively be giving away a 50cm border, I assumed they would look at the tanking option, or simply rebuild as Mr A stated he wished to. However this does not appear to be the case.
My neighbour's uncle is a Master bricklayer and he came over to give his opinion; he stated that the single skin is inadequate, the bricks are very porous, the DPC was built too low, and the bricks have crumbled due to being weathered by running water. And so i'm certain this is a problem with the build of the garages (as the surveyor is recorded saying) and nothing else.
I've since had text message from Mrs B asking what I propose to do.
I asked her to confirm if they are rebuilding the walls; she stated they will not do any work until the damp issue is resolved.
I asked her if they will tank the wall, she said they will not tank it as they want the wall putting back to it's original condition at my expense or "we will go down the legal route".
I asked her to meet with myself and my neighbours face to face so we can all discuss, or send Mr C to do so, she refused.
I believe she is expecting me to provide them with the 50cm border on my land, and offer to pay for a full rebuild of the wall (I've counted roughly 50 bricks that need replacing, see image #2 in imgur).
I'm hesitant to get solicitors involved as I don't have the cash to afford a lengthy dispute. This is causing me a lot of stress now and I really need to look towards resolving it, but don't feel like I should be responsible for paying for what looks to be damage caused by a poor build, faulty guttering and lack of maintenance. I'm happy to provide access and even help with works that need to be undertaken, but the cost is not something i'm willing to pay.
Any and all advice is much appreciated and I thoroughly appreciate you taking the time to read this.
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