Septic Tank Survey

magpie

I am selling a family  house and the prospective buyers have requested a survey of the septic tank, which I have done. It was built pre 1958 and a brick build. I have always been told that it empties onto a field across the road. There are no watercourses in the area. It serves 6 houses with 17 bedrooms between them, but only 10 people. When it was surveyed, I was told it was working perfectly, however perhaps the tank was too small for the number of houses. The tank surveyor asked me to visit the houses to confirm they still use the tank and the number of bedrooms they have. This turned out to be quite awkward as some said the tank had worked perfectly for 11 years and had only been emptied twice in that time. They were very, very, very reluctant to the idea that anything should change. I do not really know these neighbours as the houses are not particularly close.
I have had the contractor on the phone trying to persuade me to buy a larger tank/buy a tank for myself and one neighbour to share. Lots of different options. when I said that some of the neighbours would rather go on mains sewerage. He said I had to do something about it by law. Either replace or reduce the house price. i would willingly reduce the house price if the buyers agree, however he said that they would have to sign an agreement to have the septic tank updated along with the neighbours. I do not think they are willing to do this. Their attitude is "why fix it if it ain't broke"
So my question is BY LAW what am I or the buyers required to do, if anything. I feel that I am being pushed by this contractor to buy a new tank. I just wanted a survey.
The septic tank was built in 1953, there have been no problems, It works perfectly and discharges onto a field.
I have tried to read the legislation regarding this and as far as I can see if the tank was built before 1983 and does not discharge onto a watercourse, then we are OK. The surveyor said he would have to put a camera down and see where it discharges to confirm this and this is for another day and a different job, as there are no maps of septic sewer pipes. Is he required to do this if I have not requested it. I just feel I am being hoodwinked
Any advice would be greatly received

ProDave

The General binding Rules only state that a septic tank draining to a watercourse must be upgraded to a treatment plant.

As there are no watercourses nearby, it is fair to assume it does not drain to a watercourse.

Point this out to the sellers and offer to have it pumped out (desludged) which you should do every 2 or 3 years.

You say the houses are far apart.  It seems odd for it to be serving so many houses if they are not close together.

AdrianC

Mickey666 said:

New regulations did indeed come into force in 2020

Not quite... They came into force in 2015, but 2020 was the end of the transition period...
https://www.gov.uk/permits-you-need-for-septic-tanks/general-binding-rules

Frankly, a tank shared between half a dozen houses several of whom have signed up to the "It doesn't need emptying until the solids are spilling out the lid" myth, taking pride in how long it's gone unemptied, scares me a bit.

magpie

ProDave said:

The General binding Rules only state that a septic tank draining to a watercourse must be upgraded to a treatment plant.

As there are no watercourses nearby, it is fair to assume it does not drain to a watercourse.

Point this out to the sellers and offer to have it pumped out (desludged) which you should do every 2 or 3 years.

You say the houses are far apart.  It seems odd for it to be serving so many houses if they are not close together.

Thank you. The house is in a rural area, so they have a certain amount of space between them and are detached and sort of form a circle around the septic tank.

magpie

AdrianC said:

Mickey666 said:

New regulations did indeed come into force in 2020

Not quite... They came into force in 2015, but 2020 was the end of the transition period...
https://www.gov.uk/permits-you-need-for-septic-tanks/general-binding-rules

Frankly, a tank shared between half a dozen houses several of whom have signed up to the "It doesn't need emptying until the solids are spilling out the lid" myth, taking pride in how long it's gone unemptied, scares me a bit.

AdrianC said:

Mickey666 said:

New regulations did indeed come into force in 2020

Not quite... They came into force in 2015, but 2020 was the end of the transition period...
https://www.gov.uk/permits-you-need-for-septic-tanks/general-binding-rules

Frankly, a tank shared between half a dozen houses several of whom have signed up to the "It doesn't need emptying until the solids are spilling out the lid" myth, taking pride in how long it's gone unemptied, scares me a bit.

They weren't taking pride in not emptying, they were just being matter-of-fact. I actually looked into the tank and it was emptied last about three years ago. There was still a large capacity.  It was an eye opener 😳

Section62

magpie said:

...across the road.

That is the one thing that as a buyer would be ringing alarm bells for me.  If the pipe under the road ever needs maintenance or replacement the costs would be considerably more than for a pipe under someone's garden or field.

Restrictions on digging up roads are now far greater than they were even 20 years ago (=££££) and councils are less flexible when it comes to turning a blind eye to the legalities of private plant laid in or across the highway.

magpie said:
They weren't taking pride in not emptying, they were just being matter-of-fact. I actually looked into the tank and it was emptied last about three years ago. There was still a large capacity.  It was an eye opener 😳

Do you mean the capacity when it was full, or when it was emptied?

When full of liquid the volume of space above the water level depends on the depth of the outlet pipe - if it has to cross the road to reach the drainage field the the outlet pipe might be laid unusually deep to be protected from traffic loads and/or to avoid clashing with other pipes and cables in the road.

The volume above the outlet pipe isn't spare capacity, it is necessary wasted space caused by the design constraints.

Davesnave

Roads vary as much  as tanks. 12 properties near me share a tank across a road, but they own the road  collectively too.

You can only judge as you find. If I was buying your house, I'd be looking at the title documentation in order to discover if  an owner would be tied to this shared arrangement legally. That can happen. Provided I was free to go my own way, I'd then look at the ease with which I could connect to the mains or make my own arrangement for a private treatment system.

Only if I received a positive answers to the above questions would I start negotiating. I have prior experience! However, such situations and the problems they may bring are not usually irresolvable.

princeofpounds

Davesnave said:

 Provided I was free to go my own way, I'd then look at the ease with which I could connect to the mains or make my own arrangement for a private treatment system.

Wise words. This is probably the way ahead for the property in the longer term.