House water supply

[MrJay83]

Chancing my arm here...
NI water were out to change stopcocks on our street yesterday and the guys doing it chapped my door to show me my neighbour's pipe runs into my hallway (god knows where it goes after there).
Would anyone know the legalities and responsibilities in a situation like this? NI Water just said it's nothing to do with them and all my hunting on the internet gets me, at best, info on shared supplies which doesn't really cover this.
I'm assuming I'll need to speak to my solicitor (nothing on the deeds when I bought last year) but I'd like to have some knowledge about this before heading into that.

 

[MrJay83]

For reference

 

[Agentgonzo]

A friend of ours has a similar setup, I don't remember the details for certain, do I would advise you get some proper advice.

It's infuriating, but I think essentially you now have a responsibility for this (as strange and unappealing as it may be). You're not legally allowed to interfere with their water supply (even though it's in your land) without their consent. If something goes wrong with the pipes then you will have to allow access. I don't know who would be liable for the cost of repairs to your floor etc in this case.

If you want to move the pipes (so it's not under your floor anymore) then you'll have to get agreement with your neighbour first, and you'll have to agree between the two of you how to split the cost. And if the neighbour says no there's not a lot you can do about it.

This was a pita for my friend as the neighbour went "we don't want to spend any money" so they are stuck with it.

Again, this is all second hand, and from memory, so very get advice from someone with more knowledge than me.

Sorry it's not good news for you. It might be different in NI than in England, but I would doubt it.

 

[MrJay83]

From legal beagles I'm seeing similar to what you wrote but that was for shared supplies that pass through homes. I'm about to re-tile my hallway and I will never allow the neighbour dig that up if he is having issues.
Guess I'll have to give my solicitor a call. Yayyyy... more bills

 

[An Ankoù]

From legal beagles I'm seeing similar to what you wrote but that was for shared supplies that pass through homes. I'm about to re-tile my hallway and I will never allow the neighbour dig that up if he is having issues.
Guess I'll have to give my solicitor a call. Yayyyy... more bills

If the water passes over or through your property, you should be entitled to charge a levy on the supply.

 

[YeastFace]

Was it not raised when (if?) you bought the place?

I have on my land a shared drainage branch which serves the 3 houses in the terrace. As I understand it we're all liable to contribute towards the cost or it (I believe) but the water board sorted the last problem out, even though it wasn't on the mains.

 

[MrJay83]

No, nothing when my solicitor was doing her bit.
It's not a shared supply. It's two supplies entering my property (1 mine & 1 next door) from the mains in the street. Even the water guys doing the job were saying they had no idea where I stand with it.
I honestly don't mind if it stays there. I just don't want any hassle.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I honestly don't mind if it stays there. I just don't want any hassle.

I think your neighbour would be the one having hassle if something went wrong as you say its two pipes if their pipe burst and you refused to give them access to your land they would be screwed.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I think your neighbour would be the one having hassle if something went wrong as you say its two pipes if their pipe burst and you refused to give them access to your land they would be screwed.

From my understanding, that's exactly why you're not entitled to refuse access. Certain things like water/power/energy are essential services which I'm sure have special rules about them

 

[MrJay83]

That's the thing I'm worried about. I put my new floor in, something happens to their pipe at some stage and he has a legal right to repair/replace it. The chances of it happening a low but never say never.

 

[Agentgonzo]

That's the thing I'm worried about. I put my new floor in, something happens to their pipe at some stage and he has a legal right to repair/replace it. The chances of it happening a low but never say never.

Best get advice from someone who knows it properly.

 

[MrJay83]

Best get advice from someone who knows it properly.

I'm going to. I just wanted to find out a bit so I have some idea when I am speaking to someone. Lots here seem to be fairly technical and like I said above... chancing my arm

 

[Chippy_Tea]

That's the thing I'm worried about. I put my new floor in, something happens to their pipe at some stage and he has a legal right to repair/replace it. The chances of it happening a low but never say never.

Surely he would be liable for any costs incurred, as said best get some proper advice i am only kicking the tyres.

 

[MrJay83]

Surely he would be liable for any costs incurred, as said best get some proper advice i am only kicking the tyres.

Definitely he would have to cover costs but just imagine if you laid a new tiled floor and he has a right to take it up to fix a pipe. Pain in the **** whether he pays or not.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Definitely he would have to cover costs but just imagine if you laid a new tiled floor and he has a right to take it up to fix a pipe. Pain in the **** whether he pays or not.

And "cover the costs" doesn't necessarily equate to "cover the costs of restoring a beautiful floor". They could just cobble back the boards and be done with it. At this point we're all guessing.

 

[MrJay83]

100%. Probably show up with a couple of dip sticks that would put the tiles down upside down... Yes, I've seen it

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I have a similar yet different situation...

Mine and my neighbours water supply pipes run parallel with each other from the mains pipe about 200m under my other neighbours fields. This pipe is black pipe which is starting to get brittle and break so every so often I get a text from my farmer neighbour to say that the pipes burst. I'd like to change the pipe to the blue pipe but unfortunately although farmer is happy he doesn't actually own the field, it's owned by someone up north (somewhere up bodmin way) who isn't happy for me to do this. But is happy for me to dig up holes 3x a year to fix mine or neighbours leaking pipe.


Apparently I could force the issue and make him give me permission to go ahead but I don't want to annoy the bloke really. I also don't have the money at the mo to do it! Argh!

 

[YeastFace]

Sounds a bit of a cock after some coin, if it's a minor short term inconvenience for long-term gain which has no effect on the land or value thereof.

I would *think* you're ok under the Access to Neighbouring Land Act if you forced it. Allows renewal of pipes but whether what you're planning is renewal or improvement is a sightly different matter.

 

[MrJay83]

I'll post back after I get some professional advice. I'm in NI but it's much more closely aligned to England vs Scotland. I'll bet a utility like water will be treated almost the same throughout the UK.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Sounds a bit of a cock after some coin, if it's a minor short term inconvenience for long-term gain which has no effect on the land or value thereof.

I would *think* you're ok under the Access to Neighbouring Land Act if you forced it. Allows renewal of pipes but whether what you're planning is renewal or improvement is a sightly different matter.

I have a feeling he doesn't want me to put new pipe in as he would at some point like to sell the field for building on, not that it would prevent him selling, I guess it would be another obstacle to overcome.

Yes I spoke to someone informally who worked with South West Water and he mentioned that I would most probably be allowed to do it as long as the land was put back as it was, especially nowadays with the water situation down here as bad as it is (we've had a hosepipe ban for almost a year now).