i thought i would ask on here to see if anyone can help me with an issue i have at my home.

Basically my house has a mains water feed, comes in from the main road.

My house is 3 floors and the basement is infact the kitchen, so first floor is road level.

The water supply comes in and i have a stop tap, it then enters my property, runs along my front wall of the "basement" in my property, then there is a t piece on the pipe, which for reference leaks, then runs straight through the middle of the "basement" at eye level, then passes through my wall.

Then, it goes to meet my boiler and there is another shonky t piece in the corner (floor level) that then passes through my wall again.

I have now found out these feed 5 of my neighbours with water. These neighbours all pay water bills to the local water company.

So in winter, i have no way of turning my water off, if i am doing work on the house, i can not shut the water off as to do so shuts all 5 houses off. The water pressure is rubbish it is impossible to actually have a shower, because odds are one of my 5 neighbours is using water.

So i have decided to cut them out, i have sent letters telling my neighbours i am doing so, and they have all given varied replies, 1 is alright about it but 3 weeks on he has not done anything, 1 has threatened me, and 1 has told me to "desist from making threats"

the other 2 i have no idea, what more can i do really?

Local water company said they will not get involved, it is a private matter, but in the same instance have told all 3 neighbours what i am doing is illegal! causing all this grief.

Does anyone have any knowledge on things like this? as i can not see how there is any law whatsoever that says i can not cut the pipes out, as A. they are inside my property and causing problems, B. they should never have been put there.

A company owned all the houses at one point and cut corners by taping in to one supply to save money, this company has gone bust and seizes to exist.

Its such a shit situation as i obviously do not want to cut off my neighbours water, but giving them time to fix it and them not doing, really is not my problem.

any help / advise would be great, i have spoken to citizens advice, environmental agency, council, no one is remotely interested!

What do you and neighbours property deeds say ? If they have rights to access or supply i seriously doubt you will be able to cut them off .

Normally in these situations the water company are responsible for the supply up to your property , then you and your neighbours are responsible for your respective sections.

Have you spoken or written to OFWAT ?

no mention of it in my deeds, and my neighbours deeds from what i see are fraudulent anyway.

i totally understand being between me and my neighbours, but I'm just wanting to check legally where i stand in removing it, I've told my neighbours they need to apply to water company, it is not something they will action until then

ofwat again said, not water companies problem, I'm like once i am out of the equation it is theirs and my neighbours problem!

I'm passing this on from p3kano as he works in property and i asked him about your situation...

The water board will maintain the supply upto the boundary of the property,on your property its your responsibility,,if the supply runs through your property for other properties your best bet is to try and re-route there supply of your boundary then it becomes the neighbours problem and they will have to then get it routed into there properties,or you can get a new supply main put in for you and cut your side of the shared supply....

Yeti again:

Had a think about this and I can see it being an offence if you shut off their supply permanently. Probably a bad idea involving the old bill showing up on your doorstep.

I can't see anyone having a problem with if you ask them nicely if you can turn the supply off while you have a stoptap fitted to your bit of the line. A plumber ought to be able to do it in an hour. I wouldn't DIY if because if you fuck it up everyone's gonna go nuts at you.

I'm not shutting it off tho, I'm removing it and giving them warning.

stop tap does not fix the problem as i still have cold water that can freeze passing through my pipes and house.

I've been down all the legal routes as far as i can see there is nothing stopping me turning it off, I'm just wanting to check the laws on my removing it.

If there are no easements in my deeds and they have not been there for over 20 years, there is nothing to stop me doing it as far as i can see.

If my neighbours do not act that is not remotely my problem!

Way I see it is if you've bought the house, you've taken on that responsibility whether you want it or not.

Didn't this come up in the survey? Seems a bit obvious.

you are right, and removing it is me taking responsibility of it!

but all that is by the by as it is getting removed regardless, i just want to see what i need to check know about first

clear on water search as i have a fine water supply, the illegal connections wont show up as they have been done on the shy

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/proper...ting-pipes.html

normal once the water pipe is on your property its your responsibility

the water board don't care and wont be interested

can you not step the pipe size up off the incoming main ? and all 6 off you spread the cost ?

normal once the water pipe is on your property its your responsibility

the water board don't care and wont be interested

can you not step the pipe size up off the incoming main ? and all 6 off you spread the cost ?

This is incorrect dude, regardless of where it is, it is not your right to touch anything at or before the meter. This is property of the water company and it is illegal to do so, there are actual laws for this, this isn't a bit of wind.

DKnight you didn't mention anything about the meter BTW. the meter will be in the connection before the mains stop tap, where there will be another stop tap before the meter. Anything after the meter you can modified within your property, assuming you are the property owner and it's not rented etc.

You have the right to have your own meter if your neighbours are on the same meter, the water company may not have records of how many homes are actually on the same meter, if that is the case it is your neighbours responsibility to contact the water company to sort them out a meter.

If it is the case where the meter is in your house and your stop tap does cut off water to your neighbours then you cannot just cut them off.

This isn't just a private matter if you are talking about separate properties and you should make the water company fully aware of the fact you cannot isolate your water connection without affecting others ( a good example would be boiler change)

The mains water pressure should be more than good enough to supply 3 or 4 houses, possibly the incorrect size pipes are being used

cheers for the replies, finally spoke to the legal team at yorkshire water and they confirmed it is not illegal what i am doing

the confusion here is people thinking it is a joint supply, there is no meter, i have a stop tap in my cellar and then it enters my house, basically the water goes to my cold tap in the kitchen, and there is a t piece off this feeding my neighbour!

it is not a joint supply, it is my supply and my neighbours daisy chain tap in to my supply.

I've made the water company fully aware, and told my neighbours of the situation and given them 3 months to fix it, so really nothing more i can do now.

I've covered my back by recording me telling them the situation, so if they try the "we did not know" it covers me.

Very strange situation tbh!

Personally I would shut it off at the point it enters your house, and re-pipe it to supply only your requirements, just make sure you cap off the disconnected neighbours supply incase it feeds back once they have been reconnected with new supplies. I have come across shared external water mains (usually in old terraced houses) but not shared ones that pass inside property. The houses/water company will have to arrange new individual water mains connections for each property.

cheers for the replies, finally spoke to the legal team at yorkshire water and they confirmed it is not illegal what i am doing

the confusion here is people thinking it is a joint supply, there is no meter, i have a stop tap in my cellar and then it enters my house, basically the water goes to my cold tap in the kitchen, and there is a t piece off this feeding my neighbour!

it is not a joint supply, it is my supply and my neighbours daisy chain tap in to my supply.

I've made the water company fully aware, and told my neighbours of the situation and given them 3 months to fix it, so really nothing more i can do now.

I've covered my back by recording me telling them the situation, so if they try the "we did not know" it covers me.

Very strange situation tbh!

The meter might be somewhere near the road on the pavement or a drive way, it's a small square man hole with a circular cover and may or may not say water on it, it can also be infront of your others neighbours house, you shouldn't need any special tool to open it, it has a lock off valve beside the meter, some of them are labeled up some are not...

Something like this

It truly does sound as someone's tapped off your water supply, so find out if you are on a meter your self or tapped off someone else...

cheers for the replies, finally spoke to the legal team at yorkshire water and they confirmed it is not illegal what i am doing

the confusion here is people thinking it is a joint supply, there is no meter, i have a stop tap in my cellar and then it enters my house, basically the water goes to my cold tap in the kitchen, and there is a t piece off this feeding my neighbour!

it is not a joint supply, it is my supply and my neighbours daisy chain tap in to my supply.

I've made the water company fully aware, and told my neighbours of the situation and given them 3 months to fix it, so really nothing more i can do now.

I've covered my back by recording me telling them the situation, so if they try the "we did not know" it covers me.

Very strange situation tbh!

The meter might be somewhere near the road on the pavement or a drive way, it's a small square man hole with a circular cover and may or may not say water on it, it can also be infront of your others neighbours house, you shouldn't need any special tool to open it, it has a lock off valve beside the meter, some of them are labeled up some are not...

Something like this

It truly does sound as someone's tapped off your water supply, so find out if you are on a meter your self or tapped off someone else...

by the sounds off it he aint on a meter

more than likely paying rates