Mukhtar Sanders

Hi Heartland thanks as far as I know these properties were built in 1940s. I have no idea if there were other premises before the units were made. Not sure how to find out.

Hi Lain, yes I have reported to them since May but has taken until now to get a reply saying it is my responsibility. Yes that is correct that the forecourt is below the water level of the canal.

Hi our small commercial unit building sits parallel to the canal in West Drayton, Greater West London. We have a wall that separates the canal and our forecourt. Water has been leaking through the wall since earlier this year due to an Elderflower tree growing out of the side of the bank that has died and the roots have receded causing the problem. I assumed that this was the responsibility of the Canal River Trust since the tree is behind a fence and on the bank of the canal. We have carried out independent reviews of the situation and the reports concluded that it is the Canal River Trust's responsibility not ours. I have spoken to our solicitor whom we arranged the conveyancing and unfortunately the Land Registry does not indicate who's wall it is. After more than 5 months of chasing them up finally they sent us an email telling us that "The 'offside canal wall' belongs to the landowner, who has the responsibility to repair these defects". Confusingly, they want us to make a non refundable application for the works (£456) plus give them a purchase order for £5,000 for future billing purpose. Does anyone have any advice? We are a small business and this is the last thing we need to have to deal with! Thanks