Surprise septic tank

wilts0

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster said:

Hold on a cotton picking minute.

We don't know this tank drains anywhere yet. It might need emptying, in which case, the new regs won't apply and you can stop scaring the OP half to death. 

Many, many rural properties have cess pits, sceptic tanks, whatever you want to call them. It's not enough to put people off buying them. 

The system definitely drains, the property has an attached private woodland which apparently contains the tank and drainage field.
Waiting for more info as the original listing/estate agents advised: the property has mains electricity, gas, water and drainage

greatcrested

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster said:

Hold on a cotton picking minute.

We don't know this tank drains anywhere yet. It might need emptying, in which case, the new regs won't apply and you can stop scaring the OP half to death. 

Many, many rural properties have cess pits, sceptic tanks, whatever you want to call them. It's not enough to put people off buying them. 

If it's a septic tank, it's a septic tank! Not a cess pit. they are entirely different animals!

Now it's possible the OP has still not found out what is there, but he says it's a septic tank so we must assume that's what it is unless or until he comes back and says "Oops! Made a mistake. It's actually a cess pit."

youth_leader

I had a septic tank I shared with the porter's cottage at my station,  and about 150 questions about it from my buyer's solicitor, please update us when you have found out more.  Have you looked at https://www.gov.uk/permits-you-need-for-septic-tanks yet?

AdrianC

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster said:

Hold on a cotton picking minute.

We don't know this tank drains anywhere yet. It might need emptying, in which case, the new regs won't apply and you can stop scaring the OP half to death. 

Many, many rural properties have cess pits, sceptic tanks, whatever you want to call them. It's not enough to put people off buying them. 

I am sceptical that you are aware of the difference between a septic tank and a cesspit.

The difference between a cesspit and a septic tank is more than just terminology, as you imply.

A cesspit collects and retains everything that goes into it. Including all liquids. It needs emptying VERY regularly - every few months - which, as you can imagine, gets very expensive very quickly. If they aren't emptied in time, they simply overflow.

A septic tank collects and retains solids, but filters liquids and drains them to groundwater via a drainage field. It needs emptying every year or few years - depending on capacity versus usage - but some people regard never emptying them as a matter of pride, ignoring the fact that means they don't/can't work properly.

ciderboy2009

wilts0 said:

Waiting for more info as the original listing/estate agents advised: the property has mains electricity, gas, water and drainage

OP - If you're hoping that you can use that as a way to claim back some of your costs then forget it.  I can guarantee that there will be a disclaimer on the listing basically saying that you can't rely on any of the information in it.

AdrianC

Indeed.

You have no grounds to complain to the EA. You have no contract with them. They're very sorry, it was a mistake/they were misinformed by the vendor. If you want, make a mental note not to use them if/when you sell...

You have discovered the error before there is any contractual obligation to purchase the property. If you go on to purchase, you are doing so in full knowledge that your pre-purchase due diligence uncovered the real situation.

Of course you can ask to renegotiate your offer. The vendor does not have to agree. Do you want to walk away?

Davesnave

If you go into them thoroughly, many agents' details contain errors if the property is of any age and size. It's often  a lackadaisical attitude and partly Chinese whispers, but either way there is usually no intent to deceive and a caveat somewhere absolving the firm from responsibility in the event of errors.

If you know where the tank is and where the drainage field lies, that's a good start. You will want to be properly consulted if any upgrading is necessitated by the sale, so do your homework and don't just accept whatever they decide to give you.

Here, we weren't even told about one of the tanks, so it was a nice bonus to discover it, though not where the outflow goes. It's used only when visitors stay in a caravan and even the guy who installed it can't remember anything useful. It's never been emptied and I doubt if it will be until those who've filled it up pay to have that done. Even aerial photos in dry summers give us no clues.

martindow

agents advised: the property has mains electricity, gas, water and drainage

You could read that as being correct, couldn't you?  Mains could apply to everything, but equally just to electricity.

Mains electricity

Gas - LPG tank

Water - mains or possibly a borehole

Drainage - septic tank