Drainage law

[Pottersfarm]

Can somebody give me the basics please. I vaguely remember something along the lines of you cannot stop your neighbours water running or something like that?

I’ve got a field that is behind a house which sits in a cutaway into the field. The field is not drained as it’s a stoney light loam. Directly behind the house over the last couple of years some water collects during heavy rainfall. The house in question has had extensive building work done over the years with extensions and garage builds. The present owner is now telling me he’s seeking legal advice because my drains are blocked causing the pooling behind his house.
The field sits slightly higher than the house so the natural route for any surface water is downhill over his property. I suspect that any drains within the property have been damaged during the various alterations so now the water runs above ground instead of in drains below the property, although I’m not 100% sure if this as I don’t have any drainage plans for the property clearly.

I may well be wrong hence asking the question but I feel my water is being held up by the property in question.

Looking at it if the water doesn’t flow through the property via some kind of drain then it will have to be pumped around the property and out onto the access lane the property uses to get to the main road.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[spark plug]

You have to accept water that naturally flows from an uphill property, but you can’t intentionally diver water onto another property using drains, ditches and the like.

So if you feild hasn’t been drained and all the run off is natural, its fair game.

 

[Goweresque]

If he is below you then he has to accept water coming from above, and can't demand water runs up hill. And frankly even if your field was perfectly drained, there's still going to be surface run-off at times of heavy rain, such as we've been having for about 8 months now.

Would digging a ditch on your side of the boundary move the water sideways and away from the garden at all?

 

[Welderloon]

Down hill has to accept Uphill's water, Uphill has to ensure Down hill is happy accepting Uphills water & everything in each others power is done to maintain flow & reduce flooding including maintenance, drainage etc & any changes are agreed.
Basically neighbourly happy families.
You need the land drainage acts of the past for whichever country you are in & a knack of understanding the interpretation of law...... different years for different countries though they all go back to the original 1930's act think it was amended 1961 then 1991 for England...............some of it is hard reading.

 

[Pottersfarm]

If he is below you then he has to accept water coming from above, and can't demand water runs up hill. And frankly even if your field was perfectly drained, there's still going to be surface run-off at times of heavy rain, such as we've been having for about 8 months now.

Would digging a ditch on your side of the boundary move the water sideways and away from the garden at all?

No because the last few years where water has collected it’s created a shallow hole making it worse. See attached picture as it might explain it a bit better.
If I dug a ditch basically around his property then I’d end up probably 6ft down by the time I got to the adjacent lane as it’s a good 150m run around. Looking at it I just can’t see it being possible as I’ve got to make it flow up hill initially for the first 70m to then get it down.
Just because it’s collecting in my field he thinks it’s my fault .

The only thing I could do is fill the shallow hole in with soil to build it up. That would stop the visual surface water but I can’t see it stopping the run off. And I have actually got a pile of soil at the other end of the field.

 

[Wombat]

Down hill has to accept Uphill's water, Uphill has to ensure Down hill is happy accepting Uphills water & everything in each others power is done to maintain flow & reduce flooding including maintenance, drainage etc & any changes are agreed.
Basically neighbourly happy families.
You need the land drainage acts of the past for whichever country you are in & a knack of understanding the interpretation of law...... different years for different countries though they all go back to the original 1930's act think it was amended 1961 then 1991 for England...............some of it is hard reading.

Downhill has to accept natural flow, ie uphil cannot concrete over an acre and expect downhill to take the run off.

 

[Pottersfarm]

Downhill has to accept natural flow, ie uphil cannot concrete over an acre and expect downhill to take the run off.

So because they could argue I’ve let the shallow hole form from the lying water then I ought to build it up with soil?

Could the hole forming be argued like I’ve altered it such as laying concrete? Different things entirely but hopefully you get what I mean.

 

[Goweresque]

So because they could argue I’ve let the shallow hole form from the lying water then I ought to build it up with soil?

Could the hole forming be argued like I’ve altered it such as laying concrete? Different things entirely but hopefully you get what I mean.

Its not going to make it better if you fill the slight depression in with soil, if anything it'll make it worse. At the moment the depression has to fill up with water before it flows over into his garden, if the depression is filled level with the hedge then the run-off goes straight into his garden instead.

You haven't altered anything. If you'd drained the field and put the outfall opposite his garden, or something like that, then he might have a case, as it is its entirely natural forces at work, and you aren't responsible for them. Any solicitor who is honest (a long shot I know!) should tell him he's not got any case at all, and he needs to direct the water around his house in some way.

I guess it depends how much of a d*ck he's being. There are probably things you could do to help, or allow him to get done on your land at his expense, like create a sump in your field at the low spot and then dig a trench and pipe it round the corner to the lane (which presumably has a ditch?). But if he's behaving like a complete idiot over it then ignore him, and let him stew in his own new garden pond.

 

[teslacoils]

I guess it depends how much of a d*ck he's being. There are probably things you could do to help, or allow him to get done on your land at his expense, like create a sump in your field at the low spot and then dig a trench and pipe it round the corner to the lane (which presumably has a ditch?). But if he's behaving like a complete idiot over it then ignore him, and let him stew in his own new garden pond.

Non-farming neighbour gets an initial 6/10 on the Dick rating.

+1 if they own horses
+1 if they have recently moved from London or the home counties
+1 if they drive a BMW of any kind
+1 if they are early retired civil servants, or work from home in IT.

 

[lloyd]

Non-farming neighbour gets an initial 6/10 on the Dick rating.

+1 if they own horses
+1 if they have recently moved from London or the home counties
+1 if they drive a BMW of any kind
+1 if they are early retired civil servants, or work from home in IT.

You were doing well until you got to the bmw bit.

 

[e3120]

Non-farming neighbour gets an initial 6/10 on the Dick rating.

+1 if they own horses
+1 if they have recently moved from London or the home counties
+1 if they drive a BMW of any kind
+1 if they are early retired civil servants, or work from home in IT.

What's the delta factor for a plant-based diet?

 

[Thick Farmer]

No because the last few years where water has collected it’s created a shallow hole making it worse. See attached picture as it might explain it a bit better.
If I dug a ditch basically around his property then I’d end up probably 6ft down by the time I got to the adjacent lane as it’s a good 150m run around. Looking at it I just can’t see it being possible as I’ve got to make it flow up hill initially for the first 70m to then get it down.
Just because it’s collecting in my field he thinks it’s my fault .

The only thing I could do is fill the shallow hole in with soil to build it up. That would stop the visual surface water but I can’t see it stopping the run off. And I have actually got a pile of soil at the other end of the field.

Fill the hole

 

[serf]

You were doing well until you got to the bmw bit.

Nope , he's still doing fine with the BMW bit

 

[Pottersfarm]

Its not going to make it better if you fill the slight depression in with soil, if anything it'll make it worse. At the moment the depression has to fill up with water before it flows over into his garden, if the depression is filled level with the hedge then the run-off goes straight into his garden instead.

You haven't altered anything. If you'd drained the field and put the outfall opposite his garden, or something like that, then he might have a case, as it is its entirely natural forces at work, and you aren't responsible for them. Any solicitor who is honest (a long shot I know!) should tell him he's not got any case at all, and he needs to direct the water around his house in some way.

I guess it depends how much of a d*ck he's being. There are probably things you could do to help, or allow him to get done on your land at his expense, like create a sump in your field at the low spot and then dig a trench and pipe it round the corner to the lane (which presumably has a ditch?). But if he's behaving like a complete idiot over it then ignore him, and let him stew in his own new garden pond.

He’s becoming a nuisance. He’s given me 8 weeks to rectify it before contacting a solicitor. I’ve always been taught not to ever enter into correspondence with a solicitor if possible as then they have a point of contact. If you don’t reply there’s no point of contact until there’s a court order. So I’m inclined to do nothing. Alternatively I put it in writing to the house owner the field isn’t drained so there’s nothing I can do and if anything he’s holding up my water and causing me financial loss.

 

[betweenthelines]

Write to neighbour saying you give him 6 weeks to stop blocking the natural flow of water off your property.

 

[Goweresque]

He’s becoming a nuisance. He’s given me 8 weeks to rectify it before contacting a solicitor. I’ve always been taught not to ever enter into correspondence with a solicitor if possible as then they have a point of contact. If you don’t reply there’s no point of contact until there’s a court order. So I’m inclined to do nothing. Alternatively I put it in writing to the house owner the field isn’t drained so there’s nothing I can do and if anything he’s holding up my water and causing me financial loss.

Ignore him. Let him waste his money on solicitors, he won't get anywhere. Its all bluff.

 

[nelly55]

First step look at his planning applications,they will have had to deal with all his drainage issues with new buildings.If the field didn’t cause problems before his drainage is wrong.Check that building regs signed his drainage off.See if test sites where done for suds and soak aways.Is the water actually running off your field or is it just his patch thats wet.