Shared Drainage issues

[Strawberry22]

My neighbour has a clay pipe that runs along his house it collects roof rainwater from his downpipes. It ends at our boundary and all of his rainwater is discharged into a concrete gully that wraps around my property. Both properties share it as my rainwater also discharges into it. The water is then taken to a soakaway at the bottom of my garden. He is claiming no liability for it and the gully needs replacing it is cracked and not fit for purpose. He has claimed he has an unregistered prescriptive easement.

[des8]

IF (repeat IF) the prescriptive easement exists, your neighbour probably has no liability for repairing or contributing to the cost of repair.

On what basis does he claim the prescripitive easement?

a couple of links you might find useful:
https://democracy.north-herts.gov.uk...endix%202b.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...y-prescription

[Strawberry22]

He had no idea what a prescriptive easement was just said a friend had suggested he may have one due to 20+ years of use.

We are reluctant to pay £4000 in costs to replace it all unless he can prove it exists.

There is nothing in the deeds for either property regarding who's responsibility the gully is.

We have no information on what the previous owners knew or what arrangement they had in place. We have read that prescriptive easements give you a right to use someones land but we cant find anywhere thatvit is the burden owner that has to cover all costs to repair or replace.

[des8]

It is quite possible that he does not have a prescriptive easement.

Whilst use of the drain over 20 years gives rise to the claim this can be rebutted as the use has also to be "of right" i.e. neither by force, nor secretly, nor by permission
Now what is the possibility of making use of your drain without permission.
It might be that you have a rebuttal of his claim if it can be shown that use could not have been commenced without permission

Be aware that disputes over land matters can become very expensive.
If you can point this out to your neighbour, he may come to realise that contributing to the cost of repair will be a lot cheaper than trying to prove his claim in court

[atticus]

Are the repairs necessary? Will your property be affected if they are not done?

[Strawberry22]

Unfortunately it does need replacing its cracked, disintegrating in areas and causing damp. All we want is an agreement or easement put in place for shared costs in the future not asking for money and he said no he has no liability what is on our side of the fence is quite frankly our business.

[dslippy]

I think a detailed history is required. There is a clear argument that he has a right to discharge the water onto your land, and that how you manage it is up to you.

Does the channel start on his land?

Another way of looking it is that once the water is on your land, it is your water and it is up to you how you deal with it.

Best of luck

[Strawberry22]

The previous owners to both properties replaced the front gully and soakaways in 2009 and shared all costs. The sellers of both properties new nothing of a prescriptive easement. We are the forst yo hear of this.

[Strawberry22]

A clay pipe ends enters at boundary wall of both properties and is cemented into place the water poors out of the end of the pipe and straight into our gully. We have no problem with him sharing the gully or discharging his water onto our land.

We paid the full cost of £3000 for a roof box gutter which he refused to contribute towards in 2019 on a party wall. Now his refusing again its costing us a fortune. The sums of money add up to a small car

[dslippy]

Sharing of the costs in 2009 is a big detail.

[Strawberry22]

It's also worth mentioning that his property is 3 times the size of our property.

He also shares front concrete gullys with us that are identical to the back. But run along his boundary wall part of it is attached to his boundary wall and they measure 30 metres in length.

His property has 40 metres of drainage in total front and rear. Our property has 12 metres. Nearly all of his drainage comes onto our land into our gullies and soakaways.

We also have our own unshared area to maintain which is located on the other side of our house.

Is a huge financial burden to take on.

[dslippy]

It is not at all a question of fairness. Each of you paid what you thought the house was worth given these implicit issues.
Forgettin easements, provided he does nothomg to collect and build up the water before it is discharged onto your land, the law says that where two adjacent plots are at different heights one will naturally and lawfully drain onto the other.
Find out what you can about the time when the other side contributed to a cost. That is your best hope.

[Strawberry22]

Thank you for your comment it has prompted us to check natural roof rainwater runoff.

Natural roof rainwater is the flow of water that flows across a neighbours land and perculates quickly into soil or permeable area and can therefore cause no flooding, damage or nuisance to a neighbour.

Roof rainwater that is capable of flooding, collecting in large quantities on a neighbouring land in puddles is not natural roof rainwater. It is not lawful to allow water to flow onto a neighbours land if it is capable of causing damage.

My neighbours rainwater collects on my driveway in large puddles. The flow of water at the rear of my property if left to naturally flow would indeed flood my property and damage my foundations of my house if left to flow naturally. Which is why it would be regarded as artificial drainage it needs to be fitted to take the water away to a soakaway to prevent flooding and damage.

Your message has helped tremendously as it prompted us to check this information out. It is quite possible our neighbour believes it is natural flow which is why he is so unwilling to help. I'm sure our solicitor will know this already and advise next week. He is looking into for us at the moment as this is way beyond our knowledge.

[dslippy]

"Roof rainwater that is capable of flooding, collecting in large quantities on a neighbouring land in puddles is not natural roof rainwater. It is not lawful to allow water to flow onto a neighbours land if it is capable of causing damage."

Sorry, but you would need to establish, that as it contradicts what I understand to be the law.
The nearest and most obvious is Rylands v Fletcher, but that involved collecting and storing very large amounts of water which then escaped. Your neighbours have merely re-routed the water to one particular point which has helped you cope better with it.

Whether it gathers in puddles is defined by your land, not what happens on theirs.
Give your solicitor a good listening to. It is always easier to spot possibilities when you have a plan or even better, the land.

[Strawberry22]

This is what I read on Enviromentallaw.org.uk is this an unreliable Organisation/website. I am getting a file ready for my solicitor and I don't want to mention it and look stupid.

There is a natural right of drainage that allows water that flows naturally across your land to flow downhill naturally to your neighbour’s land. But you are not allowed to artificially channel water a way that will cause damage your neighbour’s land. If you do, you may face a civil action. (Example: Yes - Rainwater that falls on your lawn is allowed to flow downhill through your neighbour’s land. No - You are not allowed to channel roof water through a down pipe on to your neighbour’s property.)