Is my neighbours soil/waste pipe allowed to be over my driveway

[03CM83]

Hi, Im hoping someone could give me some advice please. I'm new to this site so please forgive me if I'm posting incorrectly or in the wrong place. I am looking for advice on my neighbours bathroom waste pipe. I'll try to explain this as best as I can. Our neighbours house is set forward from ours, but is connected at the side to the full length of our driveway. They have their bathroom in the front of the house which I believe they moved when they built an attic conversion years ago, however this means that their bathroom waste pipe, which carries their toilet waste, runs along the side of their house, raised up right over our driveway and then runs the full length of their house towards the back of our driveway and over the boundary wall in to their garden. Our house goes at an angle so the driveway narrows at the back meaning that to enter our garden we are literally right up against the pipe when entering the garden through the very narrow gate. We have never been comfortable with the way it's been done as not only is it completely unsightly, we constantly hear the water flowing from it and any problems with that pipe leaking means we could end up with excrement over our land and our cars or guests cars. This has been a major concern over recent months as we have noticed puddles of water at times and when we had the very cold weather at the start of the year, one day we noticed long icicles hanging from the pipes indicating that there is possibly a leak there. They were informed but he checked it and saw no major problems so it has been left, even though water still gathers on dry days. Now we are looking at the possibility of a structure being built to the side of the house and they have used the pipe as a reason to contest against us building as they need access to it to maintain it, however there would be no problem with access regardless of what we want to do as we have purposely left space on plans to allow them access anyway. I must note that this pipe was there before we bought the house however I strongly believe this should never have been put over our land the way it has to begin with. I have never seen a house with a waste pipe that goes over someone else's land/property like this before. I cant understand how this is allowed from a health and safety point of view, should the pipe fail/leak in any way, not to mention the potential to damage cars. So I'm wondering if anyone has any knowledge on this sort of situation, and if anyone can tell me if it's wrong that this pipe is where it is or is it allowed? Sorry if theres anything that doesnt make sense, its not an easy set up to explain.
Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[exedon2]

Some clear pictures of the problem pipework would be useful.

 

[SimonG]

Aye, a picture paints a thousand words.

 

[03CM83]

Some clear pictures of the problem pipework would be useful.

Hi yes i'm trying to get some, unfortunately we have awful weather today, so i only have one taken from by the front door, not one showing the full driveway. I have attached it to this reply. If the heavy rain does stop i will go out and try and take another showing the full length. This photo does give an idea how it looks. It comes down at an angle towards the back and the in to their garden.

 

[03CM83]

Aye, a picture paints a thousand words.

Aye, a picture paints a thousand words.

Have attached one now, i need to get more when the rain eases a bit

 

[Chuck]

Hi, Im hoping someone could give me some advice please. I'm new to this site so please forgive me if I'm posting incorrectly or in the wrong place.

Whether a drain is leaking or not is easily established with a pressure test.

Just because your neighbour has objected doesn't mean that their objection is valid. Talk to your planning officer. If you are polite and ask them for help rather than trying to lay down the law you'll find them very helpful.

The rest of your question is a matter for a solicitor or whoever conveyanced your house. This situation should never have been allowed to develop in the first place and sorting it out will need someone who knows about easements, boundary disputes, etc.

 

[SimonG]

Should have dug new underground drains.

 

[03CM83]

Whether a drain is leaking or not is easily established with a pressure test.

Just because your neighbour has objected doesn't mean that their objection is valid. Talk to your planning officer. If you are polite and ask them for help rather than trying to lay down the law you'll find them very helpful.

The rest of your question is a matter for a solicitor or whoever conveyanced your house. This situation should never have been allowed to develop in the first place and sorting it out will need someone who knows about easements, boundary disputes, etc.

Hi, thank you for reply. The planning part i'm not too worried about as that will all be sorted out as the process goes along. We've just always questioned how this was allowed even before any planning was put in and have wanted to find out our rights with it. Obviously if it turns out to be a factor in stopping the planning going ahead, if it shouldn't be there it would be annoying for that to end up with us being refused approval. I understand in some cases 2 houses can have their waste pipes go to the same drain, but in this case our houses are not connected and yet the pipe is over our land. The drive way already existed before the pipe was put in so seems strange how it was allowed. Unfortunately as the work was done before we bought our house we have no idea of how the situation went when it was put in. I will see about contacting a solicitor regarding the issue. I'm unsure how i will convince the neighbours to do a pressure test on the pipe as they are avoiding us since putting in planning objection lol

 

[snowhead]

Normally the foundations of a house will extend 150mm or 6" away from the wall built on them and the edge of the the foundation would also normally indicate the boundary.
So the neighbours pipe could be within their boundary.

It wasn't the case in older properties as the foundation was only the width of the wall above it.

You will almost certainly need a Party Wall agreement, which the neighbour would need to agree to, as you will be excavating within 3 mtrs of their foundations and most likely below

 

[03CM83]

Should have dug new underground drains.

This is what we think too, its not a nice sight to have right outside our front window

 

[03CM83]

Normally the foundations of a house will extend 150mm or 6" away from the wall built on them and the edge of the the foundation would also normally indicate the boundary.
So the neighbours pipe could be within their boundary.

It wasn't the case in older properties as the foundation was only the width of the wall above it.

You will almost certainly need a Party Wall agreement, which the neighbour would need to agree to, as you will be excavating within 3 mtrs of their foundations and most likely below

Normally the foundations of a house will extend 150mm or 6" away from the wall built on them and the edge of the the foundation would also normally indicate the boundary.
So the neighbours pipe could be within their boundary.

It wasn't the case in older properties as the foundation was only the width of the wall above it.

You will almost certainly need a Party Wall agreement, which the neighbour would need to agree to, as you will be excavating within 3 mtrs of their foundations and most likely below

Hi thank you for reply. The pipe is over the boundary line as the boundary line in this case is the join of our drive and the wall of their house. Its a very strange layout on all the houses on this street unfortunately.
The side structure may possibly only be conservatory panels so we've been told there shouldn't be a need for any party wall agreement.
As mentioned in previous comment, i'm not too worried about it in regards to the possible new structure, its more a general concern about possible leakage and just whether anyone agrees if it should be there or not. Cars are parked underneath daily and my son plays on the driveway too. Really just trying to find out if we are right in seeing it as being incorrectly placed.
I'm so grateful for all advice and comments so far

 

[king of pipes]

I can't see you getting any where with this to be honest I agree it's unsightly but it's attached to their property and really theres no alternative for them as you own the driveway, when the conversion was done it should have been registered with building control and signed off on completion ? Especially as it's a bathroom and the space has changed its use, in wet weather and or cold freezing conditions it's not unusual to see drips coming off external pipework it doesn't necessarily mean there's any leakage from it , what are you hoping to achieve you could quite easily fall out with your neighbors if you start making demands ?? . Regards kop

 

[WC1]

Sounds like you're both being a bit unreasonable. Try not to let the dispute blow up.

 

[snowhead]

If I was in this position I'd offer to replace all the pipework shown at my own cost, by dropping vertically to the ground, going underground and back into the neighbours property, with suitable access points where required.

They then have very little to maintain (and complain about) and what is there will be new and watertight so shouldn't leak.
There could be a flaw in my plan if the neighbours existing undergound drain on their side doesn't have enough fall to allow the newly located pipe to join onto it.

As above somewhere in a post, just because they've complained doesn't mean they'll succeed.

 

[03CM83]

I can't see you getting any where with this to be honest I agree it's unsightly but it's attached to their property and really there no alternative for them as you own the driveway, when the conversion was done it should have been registered with building control and signed off on completion ? Especially as it's a bathroom and the space has changed its use, in wet weather and or cold freezing conditions it's not unusual to see drips coming off external pipework it doesn't necessarily mean there's any leakage from it , what are you hoping to achieve ?? . Regards kop

Hi, thank you for reply. Its not necessarily about trying to achieve anything, i'm not saying we are definitely planning to do anything about it. The reason i have asked this question is purely to find out if it should ever have been placed there, there are ways it could have been placed over their own land, they've done it this way to keep the rest of their property looking nice, as its more out of sight to them on our side. Even if the pipe isn't leaking now, there are plenty of things that can happen to a pipe and i'm sure anyone would feel concerned about a pipe carrying toilet waste sitting above their cars.
Also, although i'm not immediately concerned about their pipe preventing planning, as adequate space for maintenance has been left, i'm sure you could understand that if our planning was turned down because of that pipe, and it turned out the pipe shouldn't even be there, then that would be a bit unfair. Having spoke to someone i know who works in planning today i know that they wouldn't take in to account if the pipe should be there or not when they make their decision as its nothing to do with planning.
As i say i have only made this thread out of general curiosity to see if my thoughts that it shouldn't be there are correct as its something that always puzzled me. Its not to be vindictive or awkward or anything, i'm too shy and quiet for that haha