Shared lead pipe water supply

[getcarter]

Hello ....we recently brought a late Victorian semi. Had the water board out and was told supply pipe was lead. We replace the pipe on our property and they do the part from the mains pipe to the stopcock....everything ok, all standard stuff. We then had someone from their sister comapany come and give us a quote for the work on our property and it turns out that the water supply feeds our house and also the attached semi nextdoor. They told us that means we are not eligible for them to replace their part as it is a joint feed, and that we wopuld have to pay for that part of the work as well. Is that right????

I was also wondering what are the legalitites if next door have a leak and need to work on the pipe that goes through our property...who would pay for this....just them or would we end up having to share the cost?? I ask this because I know I can get a seperate feed to my house, but that means the neighbours feed will still run through my property.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[sarahj]

we had this problem with our gas supply. However, the new owners next door were keen to modernise their property and as they instigated a separate supply to them, they paid. The gas company did try and get us to pay for a new white plastic junction box out side the house but we told them that we were not asking for anything! It did result in a nasty black tarmack strip across the red tarmacked pavement in front of our house though.

I suggest that you approach your neighbours with a view to sharing separation costs, pointing out that should anything happen to their supply while you were away from your property they may not be able to gain access to sort it out. Similarly, should you wish to have any plumbing work done - including emergencies - they could be very much inconvenienced by you turning off the water supply. Hope this helps.

 

[Nemesis]

May I suggest that you check with your deeds to see if there is any indication there regarding who is responsible? It may be that there is a legal agreement regarding this in existence.

And also post the question on

http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk

 

[mark_j_k]

We've got a drain that is shared with the neighbour and when it is blocked or stuff we phone the water board and they come and sort it for free.
We're only responsible for the part from out house to the shared bit.

 

[Peter]

Our old house had the stopcock for four adjacent properties. This was replicated throughout the street. We only found out when we were swapping radiators. Neighbours soon organised their own feeds.

 

[CHRIS]

I have become an expert in this matter over the last few weeks!!!!!

I live in 1 of 3 1802 terraces which had a single main water feed from 1 stop cock at the house nearest the road, the pipe which was put in in 1960 had been leaking for quite a while (over 2 months) and finaly fractured and flooded both mine and my neighbours cellar 3 weeks ago. We had over 3 ft of water which had to be pumped out and now we have a fan and dehumidifier running 24-7 - you can see the area that is saturated behind the lime washed flint and brick wall.

The way it was sorted was that all of our buildings insurance co were contacted and mine and 1 others said they covered these things and the others did not, so we had a quote which was divided into 3 and the uninsured had to pay cash whilst the other 2 insurance companies paid up.

So once the pipe leaves the 3 valleys valve it is shared and you are all resposible (it is very rare to find things in deeds etc so just plan on sharing the cost, this was explained by my solicitor) you will have to be put on a meter if you go on your own but you may well end up still having to share the cost with your neighbour if his leaks as it is on your property. We finally had all new blue pvc pipe moled under the gardens and fixed up last Friday which is a great weight of our minds and will last for many years.

I would try and keep things friendly (ours was) as it can be very expensive in legal fees and you will still have to pay your share - check in your building insurance and find out if they cover for underground supply pipes (Direct line did, but NFU did not).