Cottage next door is on the market

sleepymans

hearts wrote:

Why not pay for the whole thing and thats your problem sorted.

Legally - I couldnt do that without next door owners agreement
Practically - The mains access route would be through their land
Financially - I couldnt afford the total cost but could beg borrow or scrape together my half. The additional cost on the water rates for both of us would mean we would both have to agree to it.
Lastly - If I paid to go on mains and then the other owner still insisted on their right to use my septic tank I still havent resolved my problem.

sleepymans

mikael wrote:

From what I know about septic tanks, they are supposed to work well and not require emptying. They only cause problems if they are too small, have a problem with their soakaway or the wrong detergents are used in the hoam that kill the bacteria within them. If I were a buyer I would rather see it fixed as in years to come the owner of the property will see large savings in water rates.

Yes I strongly suspect that the tank is noe too small for modern water use, could be defective and could need replacing, the use of chemicals by neighbour is nothing I can control although I do restrict my use to good old stardrops occassionally.
If we were to replace the septic tank (if environmentally allowable even) I think it would cost more than going on the mains anyway.

sleepymans

mossstar wrote:

.....

So - what i'd do is get a drainage/sewerage engineer round to do a quote for 'fixing' or 'replacing' the tank, then take that quote to your neighbour (who i suspect will be oblidged to contribute 50%). Once he sees that figure as compared to the 2k gdp for public sewerage, your problems will probably be over! :T

good luck!

Steph

Thanks Steph
I think that would be a positive step to try but I'd better do it soon I think!!

david29dpo

i think it could be a simple soak a way problem. tanks dont where out.

sleepymans

MJMum wrote:

I understand, from your posts, you are asking whether you can effectively "spoil" any sale and ransom your neighbour into switching to mains before selling, but this isn't something that I would personally persue. I'm not sure how you would go about it anyway.

No I honestly dont want to spoil their sale but I just want them to see that there is a problem and co-operate with me to solve it in the cheapest and best way.

From their point of view they are in debt and want to cut and run asap. They would have to be more considerate if their sale was held up or jeopardised because of a real problem that they have been able to otherwise ignore.

clutton_2

do you want to jeopardise their sale "if their sale was held up or jeopardised etc" or do you want to fix the sewage problem ? If they dont have the money (isn't that why they are selling up ) - they dont have the money - no amount of jeopardising will produce the money.

a friend with a similar "tree" problem bought next door, felled the tree, and sold the house again.

callmelinda

Firstly, from reading the OP's posts throughout the thread, it seems clear to me that the OP is very sincere about not wishing to hinder their neighbour's move in any way.

The financial status of the OP's neighbour is not the OP's fault and therefore he should not have to suffer himself because of it - the next neighbour might move in and have gone into debt to make the move or may run into debt so this is not really the point in my opinion.

I appreciate that the neighbour may be thinking "I don't have the money" or "I'm moving, why would I pay £2k for something I won't benefit from?" And both these are valid questions.

However, everyone has a right to live with fully working sanitisation systems which comply with the law. In my mind, the OP's basic right in this regard far outweighs the right of someone with poor finance, who has the shared responsibility for the maintenance of the system, to hinder changing something which NEEDS to be changed - I stress "needs" since it will likely have to proven that it's not fit to use to have anything done about it. Let's not forget, as it is located in the OP's garden, it probably causes the OP more distress than his neighbour too so even if the neighbour wasn't moving, the neighbour may not feel inclined to change what doesn't really affect them too much.

If the environment agency, or the local council's environment people, investigated and found the tank was not fit for purpose or not compliant with law, it's my understanding that it would be deemed unfit to be used anyway and action would have to be taken. And by the amount it seems to be emptied, it doesn't look like it is fit for the purpose it is there for.

This is where I think talking to them and utilising their expertise would come in - if it is unfit, I do not know the options available and whether or not they would help fund the move to mains if it's not viable financially for the parties concerned. I would think they are mostly concerned for the environment so, if you can't be left with something contravening law and you can't afford to comply with law by going with a new tank or mains, I would assume there must be some way they can help achieve the right outcome. But again, only the professionals will be able to say.

mossstar

david29dpo wrote:

i think it could be a simple soak a way problem. tanks dont where out.

they do! they're man made structures subject to the same wear & tear as any, and as such need 'looking after' and occasional repair.

Ours is concrete, 50 years old and has a crack in it.

I think the problem is probably as the op says the volume of water! And the only thing the op CAN'T do is nothing! get a quote for fixing/replacing - compare that to the cost of going onto public, pick the cheapest! simple!

Steph x

clutton_2

see if the outlet pipe is blocked first of all .... look for the simple solutions first

david29dpo

most sepic tanks and glass fibre these days, or you sure you dont have a sess pit?