Possible damage to my property by potential subsidence on jointly owned courtyard.

[crazyswede]

The heading of this post is quite confusing for which I apologise. I did not know how else to word it.

My home is (kind of) part of a grade 2 listed cobbled courtyard. Imagine a horseshoe shape and my home is above the access to the horseshoe.

The access to my home is not from the courtyard, and I have no legal rights to enter the courtyard.

I do not own any of the courtyard.

The courtyard is jointly owned by the owners of the cottages around the courtyard.

Several of the owners have banded together, and formed a company with intention of acting as one with regard to maintenance etc BUT not all of the owners are known, since a few of the homes are rented and managed via agents.

The owners that have banded together are reluctant to act on anything at all, because presumably they feel that costs for any maintenance will be unfairly borne by them (since they are not “all of the owners”). I have mentioned the state of the courtyard to them, they are ambivalent about its state.

The deeds of my house, say that I have to give access to those occupants of the courtyard, so they can drive their cars or walk across to my land in order to access the courtyard.

I own the small area under the archway, which is the access to the courtyard.

The courtyard appears to be sagging quite considerably in the last couple of years (possibly as a result of subsidence caused by a possible underground water leak, there have been problems with pipes in the area).

I am concerned that the sagging, if not repaired will eventually have a detrimental effect on the foundations of my house.

My question is, although I am not liable for the upkeep of the courtyard, is there anything I can do to avoid costly repairs to my home if I become affected by the lack of maintenance of it?

Is it something I can specifically insure against?

Is there any letters I could write to the other owners (bearing in mind I dont know who all of them are) which I could later rely on as proof of “I told you so” if my property gets damaged.

Is there anyway in which I can get them to repair it?

*♀️

[atticus]

You can identify owners by obtaining the Land Registry title details for each property.

And yes, insure against this risk.

[crazyswede]

You can identify owners by obtaining the Land Registry title details for each property.

And yes, insure against this risk.

yes, I realise this, although since I am not one of the owners, and several properties are involved, it would cost me quite a bit (even though each application is relatively small) - besides which, if I cant bring any kind of action in the event of a problem, I am not sure of the benefit of me going to that expense. Some folks have access to the courtyard who dont reside there, just to add to the confusion (a shop owner has shown me his deeds which clearly state he has access rights…so potentially, I could be applying for land reg info for x amount of properties, and over and above those people who actually live there, I wouldnt know which local shops and business also have access.

Thanks for the info re the insurance,