Thinking of Buying a House with a Septic Tank

srn

Hi,

We are in the process of looking for a buyer for our house, so are looking for our next house. We viewed a property today, which was lovely, but in passing the owner mentioned that there is a septic tank. This wasn't mentioned in the details from the estate agent. We have no experience of septic tanks and just wondered if anyone has any advice for us for what we should be asking about the tank if we are lucky enough to sell ours and are in a position to make an offer on this house.

rolandpull

Is the house in a conservation area? If so the septic tank needs a permit. One of the houses in our chain had a tank but no permit. We nearly lost the chain because of the lack of permit.

Surrey_EA

Private drainage is rather common in the more rural areas of the country.

I would suggest that it is wise to arrange for a company to inspect the septic tank system on your behalf to ensure that it is in correct working order and that it is adequate size for the property.

I have recently sold a property where the soakaway had failed, and the system itself was not large enough for the property in question. To upgrade both to meet current standards would take circa £20k.

First things to ask the sellers are exactly what type of system it is, when it was installed, how often they have it emptied and how frequesntly it has been serviced. Bear in mind when someone inspects the system for you it needs to have been emptied!

srn

Thanks for those replies.

Will check wether it's in a conservation area.

Goodness 20k is a bit scary, will definately have it inspected and get as much info as possible from the vendors.

eddddy

Oh, I see... that was nearly very awkward.

I saw the thread title and thought it might be a question about jointly purchasing a property with a US citizen - perhaps in the East End of London.

G_M

It's not all negative.

Providing the tank works, the cost of periodically emptying it every few years will be far lower than the cost would be for sewerage via the local water board.

Wicked_Lady

Our previous property was a cottage with a septic tank in the garden. We just phoned to have it emptied every six months and it was no problem at all.

phoebe1989seb

Our last (rural) house had a septic tank. Was emptied for the PO just before we purchased then not again during our ownership (three years)......no issues during that time and I wouldn't have any probs buying another property with one

G_M

Wicked_Lady wrote: »

Our previous property was a cottage with a septic tank in the garden. We just phoned to have it emptied every six months and it was no problem at all.

Every 6 months! What's wrong with it? A properly funcioning tank should not need emptying.

You sure you don't have a cess pit....??

DKLS

Wicked_Lady wrote: »

Our previous property was a cottage with a septic tank in the garden. We just phoned to have it emptied every six months and it was no problem at all.

How many people in your household, between me and my wife we only had to have the tank emptied once in 5 years.

I wouldn't be put off by a septic tank, a LPG tank I would run a mile from but not a septic tank.

downshifter

I have a septic tank, it gets emptied every 3yrs/5yrs/whenever I think of it £120 a go. Cheap, no trouble, no smell - wouldn't even consider being concerned about one in my next house. A very efficient mini-sewerage system.