recouping costs from county council for sewage damage

N

NannyO

Guest
The council sent out a contractor to sort out a problem with next doors drains ( Council Tenants) which were leaking into a communal area between the two houses and also onto our back path ( going on since this time last year )

The last job they did resulted in a load of sewage backing up into a granny flat we have in the back garden ( they were using pressure hoses) - covering the bathroom , kitchen and livingroom.

The Tenant had to move out immediately - we're been told we have to put her up in alternative accomodation (and this will cost more then the rent we get from her (rent supplement ) till flat fixed which could take three weeks- as we have to take up the wooden floors , replace some of the furniture and effectively sterilize the entire flat - also we both had to take a day off work to sort things.

How do we go about getting our costs back from council.
 
Talk to your solicitor without delay.

Its not clear from your post but do you have a tenant in your granny flat? or is the tenant referred to the local authority tenant next door?

When you say "the last job they did" what do you mean? When was the last job done?
 
Unless your flat has planning permission for use as a separate dwelling unit (unlikely as it's being rented out and not occupied by a "granny"), it may not wise for you to pursue costs against the Council.
 
The tenant in the flat was the one who had to move out due to the sewage - and the tenant is paid rent allowance.

The flat was build 26 years ago - we pay the NPPR charge to the council and we are registered with the PRTB in answer to the ref about keeping our heads down.

I was wondering about the solicitor idea cause we have rung the council three times asking for an inspector / engineer to see the damage and we're getting the runaround on this. We have taken photos etc. - my concern to move things on again asap as the poor tenant is currently moving into the B&B( has had to put their dog in a kennel ) and we want to get everything sorted.

oh and the last job the contractors did was about two weeks ago ( they had done some basic remedial work last year which stopped the sewage flowing into our garden) They only finally sorted the problem today after several phone calls to council last night and this morning !
and they helped us clean up the flat when they saw the mess, which was pretty decent of them.
 
Your granny flat appears to be an unathorised development.

You may be immune from enforcement action as it is there for more than seven years, but check.

E.g. if the granny flat or it's present use is in breach of a condition attached to any planning permission for that property, there may be no time limit to enforcement proceedings.

You need a solicitor and an engineer. good luck
 
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