The nightmare of a house purchase with a septic tank

Statex2_2

I think that is the best option to walk away. The locaion and the land that makes the property so attractive, when you stand on the land all you hear is nothing except the stream running over rocks and the birds chirping. There is a  country lane near the property but  any traffic is very infrequent. You don't even hear the drone of any traffic in the distance. The owner has planted hundreds of trees and built a lake on the land.  Even the surveyor commented  "that the property was in a pleasant location even on a dull wet day and that it would be wonderful on a sunny day."

You are right about walking away. The best  option would be to hire a Cat D8 and demolish it and rebuild if you can afford that option. Although parts date back to 1768 it is not listed. From my research, planning permission is not required as it is not in a conservation area or an aonb. A planning specialist told me once, if you want to get rid of a tree on your property  and it is not protected, cut it down because if you ask the council they will put a preservation order on it.

youth_leader

Well done for using your head, and not your heart Statex2_2.

My husband was a director and worked all the hours god sent to earn £110,00, I bought in about £10K with part-time lecturing and the self catering.  It wasn't ever enough and we used to joke about burning our cash on the fire.  Just before he died at the age of 63 (cardiac arrest) we paid £900 to get the gutters cleaned because of the 'height' - they did have tall enough ladders, just trades tripling/quadrupling the price because a big house represents big income in their eyes, even if you haven't got it.   

I hope you find somewhere you can afford easily, enjoy the life you make there, and treat every day as a holiday.

PS Put all the information/research/estate agents brochures in a file and don't look at it again.  It's not the one that got away, it's the bullet you missed.

Statex2_2

youth_leader said:

Well done for using your head, and not your heart Statex2_2.

My husband was a director and worked all the hours god sent to earn £110,00, I bought in about £10K with part-time lecturing and the self catering.  It wasn't ever enough and we used to joke about burning our cash on the fire.  Just before he died at the age of 63 (cardiac arrest) we paid £900 to get the gutters cleaned because of the 'height' - they did have tall enough ladders, just trades tripling/quadrupling the price because a big house represents big income in their eyes, even if you haven't got it.   

I hope you find somewhere you can afford easily, enjoy the life you make there, and treat every day as a holiday.

PS Put all the information/research/estate agents brochures in a file and don't look at it again.  It's not the one that got away, it's the bullet you missed.

I think that the best option as you mentioned earlier is to walk away . We love the place but it is not worth spending all our savings on something that we would probably be a money pit and if that happened we would probably hate it.  The location and grounds are wonderful but the house is just needs so much work. The problem is I may lose our buyers but fortunately there are 2 other properties that have this week come back onto the market. Not the same area and not as nice but nothing that requires attention. We could buy one of those and save ourselves a headache. Thanks for all the advice.

ThisIsWeird

It sounds dreamy, Statex

What's the worst case scenario here? A £12k bill for a new TP? In which case, since you are genuinely prepared to walk away because of this, why not just let the EA know you'll need to reduce your offer by, say, £10k, as it will otherwise be simply unaffordable for you for this reason. You have looked into the matter in some detail, and the seemingly only option is a new TP. And it is - unless you do manage to connect to the mains. The current setup is a non-starter.

Be honest (at least one of the parties should be!) and confirm you love the house, but the failed ST is a deal-breaker; it's one sizeable bill too much. £10k off, or regrettably will have to walk away.

You never know. 

Have to say, it sounds like the type of location where 'heart' matters every bit as much as the head.

ThisIsWeird

Oh, and £12k (+vat?) Sounds high for a new TP - is it particularly complex, or involve longish pipe distances? Most - I understand - come in less than this.

propertyrental

I don't understand:

Statex2_2 said:

I think that is the best option to walk away. The locaion and the land that makes the property so attractive, when you stand on the land all you hear is nothing except the stream running over rocks and the birds chirping.
Perfect. That's not a money decision, that's a 'how do I want to live' decision.


There is a  country lane near the property
And does  this lane have a drainage ditch? Run-off from the road? Run-off from the surrounding fields?

 but  any traffic is very infrequent. You don't even hear the drone of any traffic in the distance. The owner has planted hundreds of trees

and built a lake on the land. 
Perfect!

So upgrade the house (adding value) and drainage system by installing a treatment plant with the outflow leading to either the lane or the lake.

And that's only if you can't connect to either the public sewer or 'neighbour's' drain.

I'd not let this issue put you off what is otherwise clearly a dream house, not just for today but for the coming years.

And as thisiswierfd says, negotiating the price is also an option.

Weathergirl_76

I would contact the water board to see what information they have. They were very helpful when I contacted them. They have maps with information of what goes where that we don’t have access to. 

You can also have a survey done, where they use cameras to evaluate the system and spot any concerns. 

sheramber

Weathergirl_76 said:

I would contact the water board to see what information they have. They were very helpful when I contacted them. They have maps with information of what goes where that we don’t have access to. 

You can also have a survey done, where they use cameras to evaluate the system and spot any concerns. 

The OP has done that

Just phoned Anglian Water drainage department and they said they do not know if the present drain has been adopted by them or not. I explained the layout and they still could not tell me

Statex2_2

Government departments are a nightmare, no one wants to answere any questions they all refer you to someone else. The waterboard don't know the ownership of the drain on the property serving next door. The council referred me back to the waterboard  etc. I have downloaded the planning consent for the next door property but nothing is mentioned about ownership of the drain. There are no copies of deeds on the Land Registry and the present owner does not know. I have contacted the agents and asked the present owner if he can approach the owner of the next door property and obtain a written authorisation or any new owner for him/new owner to connect to the manhole on his property.

The 12 k  required is not a deal breaker if it was the only problem but there are so many problems with the property and so much that needs doing that this is the straw that will break the camels back.

youth_leader

Don't give it a second thought Statex2_2.  The current owner must have gone through all of this and could have helped you, so ridiculous.  

I thought you had already filed this one away as the dodged bullet!