House in tatters

lanes

my partner and I purchased a house in 2006, it is a leasehold, new build Barratt home, we recently decided to put a one storey extension on our home. We applied for planning permission this was granted we also had to apply for building regulations which has been turned down as unbeknown to us we have two public sewer foul pipes running through the boundary of our property. We contacted the water board and have now discovered that these pipes were adopted in 2008. These pipes did not show up on our searches and we cannot seem to see anything in our deeds of lease stating these pipes were situated in our garden, we were at no point told about these pipes as we would not have bought the property. We contacted the solicitors who acted as our conveyensor when we bought this property, they were looking into it for us but we have tried to contact them a few times to discuss our situation but we are being told by the secretary she will pass on the messages we are leaving but this is to no avail as they are not returning our calls. We have asked one of our neighbours if they were informed about this and they have stated they are unaware of these pipes, The neighbours on our other side have erected a large conservatory in their garden and on discussing this with the Water board we have been informed this structure is illegal and it will be removed if they need to get at the pipes for any reason, this is just an overview of our current problem we are obviously very upset about this as it is going to effect us if we want to sell our home and the value of our house will fall significantly, if we can even find a buyer willing to purchase a property with such downfalls,


What we basically want to know is if we legally need to be informed of sewer pipes within the boundary of our property before we purchased the property.

paddyrg

We contacted the solicitors who acted as our conveyensor when we bought this property, ... they are not returning our calls

That's a bit strange - try another solicitor?

MrRedundant

I would expect there to be something about the water boards right to access. Is there anything about access rather than stating a pipe exists?
Also I would be surprised if unless the estate was complete that Barratt didnt have a clause about facillities for the rest of the estate being involved having seen a set of their terms fairly recently.

I suspect you will find that all parties are well covered here. Does your neighbour not have the right documents for the conservatry? If not well thats there fault. At least you found out beforehand.

lanes

It does state in the deeds that the water board have access to the estate sewers but it also states that the easement strip is 6.5m, whereas they have told us the easement for the pipes in our garden are 4m either side of the pipes i.e. 8m. It also does not state that the easement strip goes directly through our boundaries. Two of our neighbours have built conservatories within this easement strip, a conservatory only needs planning permission, however, an extension needs planning permission and building regulations approval, which is when the water board are informed. The water board where not informed of the other two conservatories and therefore did not object. We want to know if by law we must be notified if there are sewer pipes within our boundaries and therefore an easement strip.

Reciprocater

We backed out of a house purchase several years ago for very similar reasons. Just prior to completion our Solicitor received search results from the water company which showed a public sewer running through the rear garden of the property close to the house where we intended building a conservatory. We have always purchased freehold properties. Private sewerage networks are fairly common. When we purchased our current property our Solicitor stressed our joint responsibility, with neighbours, to maintain the system up to the point where it joins the public sewer. The last government had plans to compel the water companies to adopt all the private networks in England in a few years time. I do not know if this has been deferred. 'Lanes' scenario is slightly different. The property is leaseshold and built (new) in 2006 but the drain in question was apparently not adopted until 2008. Paddyrg gives good advice. I would seek help from another firm of solicitors experienced in these matters. If I understand correctly 'Lanes' suggests that the existence of the drain in question is not shown on the ground plan/map attached to the deeds. Who was informed in 2008 that the drain in question was to be adopted? The leaseholder,freeholder or both? Did 'Lanes' have to seek permission from the freeholder to build the proposed extension? Has the freeholder any knowledge of the drain issue? Without the expert knowledge this looks like a nightmare to sort out. The existence of what now appears to be a public drain should be obvious on any future searches in the event any attempt is made to sell the property. It may cost to see another Solicitor but it is probably proportionate to what could be lost in property value if the matter is not properly resolved.

lanes

we were never informed of the pipes at any point this problem only affects 4 houses on the whole estate of approx 44 houses , we think barratts failed to tell us about these pipes because they would still be trying to sell these houses as no one in their right mind would buy a house with this problem i think as far as it goes we have been stitched up like a pair of kippers

ILW

Why buy a new house and then drastically alter it 4 years later?

The_Pixi

ILW wrote: »

Why buy a new house and then drastically alter it 4 years later?

Why buy a 10 year old house and then drastically alter it 4 years later?

Why buy a 40 year old house and then drastically alter it 4 years later?

Why buy a 100 year old house and then drastically alter it 4 years later?

Just a thought.

lanes

millions of people want to improve there houses ie with conservatories or extensions so it doesnt really matter how many years you leave it

lanes

ILW wrote: »

Why buy a new house and then drastically alter it 4 years later?

to add value ???

Gavin83

So to get this straight, the water board are allowed to come into your garden and dig it up? Do they not need your permission to do this on your property?