Public sewer on property boundary - is this an issue

Welshspacechick

Hi can I ask for advice please? Having only ever lived in leasehold flats I'm finding the purchase of a house a bit of a minefield.

The latest is a query raised by my solicitor having received the drainage search, he's asked:

 We note that there appears to be a public sewer within the boundaries of the property. Please ask the Seller to confirm that this has not been built over. If the extension has been built over the public sewer, please provide evidence of a build over agreement?

Would you be worried about this?
Thanks

p00hsticks

Welshspacechick said:

Would you be worried about this?
Thanks

It'd depend on what answer the seller gave.... 

davilown

Hi

A lot of house have ‘public’ sewers on their property now. I think it was 2011 when all sewers than connected more than one household were adopted by the water company.

Conveyancer is correct in asking if it has been built over but you should be able to see the sewers through the search iirc.

The owner of the house will be responsible for their pipe work from the house to the point it enters pipe work and comes from another property.

Lewist123

Think of it like a series of strings that go from everyone's houses in your road direct to the sewer. Every house gets their own string. The minute your string touches someone else's string (the minute a pipe is used by more than one house) it is then the responsibility of the water company. Most people will have their own string going direct from their house to the main sewer, some however span across 3/4 back gardens. The main issue if you have a public sewer under a building (if an extension has been built over the sewer) is that they have every right to then start digging up inside the extension if they need to work on the sewer underneath.

Doozergirl

Lewist123 said:

Think of it like a series of strings that go from everyone's houses in your road direct to the sewer. Every house gets their own string. The minute your string touches someone else's string (the minute a pipe is used by more than one house) it is then the responsibility of the water company. Most people will have their own string going direct from their house to the main sewer, some however span across 3/4 back gardens. The main issue if you have a public sewer under a building (if an extension has been built over the sewer) is that they have every right to then start digging up inside the extension if they need to work on the sewer underneath.

Bit dramatic!  

Before answering every question under the sun, incorrectly, let's work out what the individual circumstances are.  The
string theory is a simple explanation but it isn't quite right.  

OP, is there an extension?  

If there is, please look at your drainage searches - the CON29DW - it will
have a drawing of the location of the drainage around the house. 

Ideally you'll post us a picture of that.

ultimately, it shouldn't be a huge issue and drainage survey at the cost of around £200 id money well spent on any house, regardless. 
 

AAZ

Welshspacechick said:

Hi can I ask for advice please? Having only ever lived in leasehold flats I'm finding the purchase of a house a bit of a minefield.

The latest is a query raised by my solicitor having received the drainage search, he's asked:

 We note that there appears to be a public sewer within the boundaries of the property. Please ask the Seller to confirm that this has not been built over. If the extension has been built over the public sewer, please provide evidence of a build over agreement?

Would you be worried about this?
Thanks

This is important to know what right sewer company has ... they generally have right to dig over if they suspect a problem , but it is hard to imagine that if appropriate paper work has been done for house extension would have been allowed over public sewer before having a legal permission from them

davilown

Doozergirl said:

Lewist123 said:

Think of it like a series of strings that go from everyone's houses in your road direct to the sewer. Every house gets their own string. The minute your string touches someone else's string (the minute a pipe is used by more than one house) it is then the responsibility of the water company. Most people will have their own string going direct from their house to the main sewer, some however span across 3/4 back gardens. The main issue if you have a public sewer under a building (if an extension has been built over the sewer) is that they have every right to then start digging up inside the extension if they need to work on the sewer underneath.

Bit dramatic!  

Before answering every question under the sun, incorrectly, let's work out what the individual circumstances are.  The
string theory is a simple explanation but it isn't quite right.  

OP, is there an extension?  

If there is, please look at your drainage searches - the CON29DW - it will
have a drawing of the location of the drainage around the house. 

Ideally you'll post us a picture of that.

ultimately, it shouldn't be a huge issue and drainage survey at the cost of around £200 id money well spent on any house, regardless. 
 

Hardly dramatic

Doozergirl

davilown said:

Doozergirl said:

Lewist123 said:

Think of it like a series of strings that go from everyone's houses in your road direct to the sewer. Every house gets their own string. The minute your string touches someone else's string (the minute a pipe is used by more than one house) it is then the responsibility of the water company. Most people will have their own string going direct from their house to the main sewer, some however span across 3/4 back gardens. The main issue if you have a public sewer under a building (if an extension has been built over the sewer) is that they have every right to then start digging up inside the extension if they need to work on the sewer underneath.

Bit dramatic!  

Before answering every question under the sun, incorrectly, let's work out what the individual circumstances are.  The
string theory is a simple explanation but it isn't quite right.  

OP, is there an extension?  

If there is, please look at your drainage searches - the CON29DW - it will
have a drawing of the location of the drainage around the house. 

Ideally you'll post us a picture of that.

ultimately, it shouldn't be a huge issue and drainage survey at the cost of around £200 id money well spent on any house, regardless. 
 

Hardly dramatic

How many times have you read of water companies digging up people's extensions on this board?  Or even threatening to do it?  16 years here and the answer for me  is zero.

 IF they ever needed to, they would take the path of least resistance, which is not through a house.  

The water companies only adopted the majority of shared drains 10 years ago and they have no idea what was built after drains were laid, or even where drains were originally laid in many circumstances. 

Yes, dramatic.  Particularly without enough info from the OP.  

Bendy_House

This is a very helpful thread. I'd never understood string theory before this.

Welshspacechick

Thank you for your responses. I haven't seen a copy if that particular search yet i think but I'll check what I've had back far. It's a Victorian terrace and yes there is a small extension where the kitchen is so I guess I need to get a copy of what's been received and wait for the venders answer.  Reassuring to know that this is fairly normal though.

theartfullodger

Had a large such sewer under back lawn of big house in Maidenhead.  Never a problem, legally or otherwise.  If investigation flushes out problem just going through the motions should resolve matters