Property Law question

Howdy,

Just wondered if anyone knows where I stand. I'm wanting to expose my fireplace to put a woodburner in there but I've been talking to my neighbour who says I cant. The two properties, my end terrace and his next door, were owned by the same woman and I bought it from her. She told all residents here not to open the fireplace as when my neighbour has a fire the front room here fills with smoke.

Okay, the question is surely it is her responsibility to stop smoke from entering my house even before I put a log burner in!

Cheers

As usual I preface my comments with (a) I don't act for you and (b) I specifically disclaim liability.

If it were me, this is what I would do. Is there a restrictive covenant to that effect in the title to the property. If there is, then who has the benefit and would they enforce - costs quite a bit.

The decision would be made anyway if the property is in an area affected by a smoke control order (the local authority will tell you). It is an offence to breach a smoke control order and in this environmentally-sensitive age the penalties are severe. Jabba will know them, that's his day job.

If there's no control order and no restrictive covenant (well, even if there is - is it enforceable and would anyone do anything) then there is freedom to smoke. I'd check that the chimney is OK first and whether it needs a liner with inert material to fill the void. If my neighbour were smoked out then they might have a claim in nuisance but that is really fairly esoteric litigation and if they started threatening action then I'd review the situation and I might for example put a cowl on the chimney.

Thanks a lot Ed!

So if there was a fault with the chimney and I wasnt using it (but was planning to very soone) and was getting smoked out would the cost of repair be 50/50 or theirs as its is being caused by them?

Cheers

No, they are subject to the same rules as you most likely. So if they smoke and you get the smoke coming into your room, well that's too bad as they're entitled to have a fire. Get a builder in to find out what the problem is. It's possible that there might be a hole in the chimney. If the properties are very old, there might even be a common chimney. More likely is that you're down wind of them. You might want either a cowl or alternatively to raise the height of your pots to stop the downdraught effect. We had exactly this problem at our old house, our smoke went into our neighbours. Turned out we were upwind and the problem was easily solved by a cowl.

Bugger, so I'll have to pay for it! I thought i'd be able to get them to cough up for at least half.

Originally Posted by furrybean

Bugger, so I'll have to pay for it! I thought i'd be able to get them to cough up for at least half.

Well you can but ask, they can only say no.