Extension built by vendor causing massive headache.

itsthelittlethings

Can you find out if the manhole is private or public?

housebuyer143

itsthelittlethings said:

Run! When I bought my property my solicitor advised me not to buy because of a clause in the lease saying they will not rebuild if the building is destroyed in a natural disaster. She said this clause needs to be varied and this may cost me. I wish I’d taken her advice. I feel like morally I will have to tell the next buyer, although my neighbour sold her property ok so some solicitors must not be as conscientious as my solicitor was. I used a specialist shared ownership solicitor.

This is completely not the same thing? 

Section62

housebuyer143 said:

If it goes into next door and your house wasn't built before 1947 I believe then it's probably public.

If it is a shared drain and discharges into a public sewer then it will be a public sewer regardless of the date the house was built, with some possible exceptions post-2011 where adoption hasn't been completed.

Dmv18

itsthelittlethings said:

Can you find out if the manhole is private or public?

We tried finding out through SW, but they had no information. Just the mainline sewer running across the road in front of the house. No information at all at the rear of the house 

Dmv18

anselld said:

Dmv18 said:

housebuyer143 said:

Did they move the manhole or literally seal it up? If it's not accessable then that's a real problem for you if something blocks your drain

They redirected the sewer system so below the manhole is literally closed off from the house. We just don’t know if the sewage system is public so going through the neighbours etc. 

In terms of accessibility, unless we lift the floor I don’t think it would be accessible. Although they do have another manhole outside the property

If they genuinely redirected the sewer so that it does not go under the extension then there is not an issue because the manhole is redundant and nothing active has been built over.  The question is how to prove that.  If there are other manholes outside the property it might be possible to map the new route (if indeed there is one), camera survey, etc.

We have asked for a CCTV survey. But even then the other manhole is less than 0.5m from the extension so SW have said it’s an illegal build since it doesn’t meet their regulations. So if it is a public sewer we would need to go about moving the manhole. At the moment we have to pray it’s a private manhole cover

Dmv18

housebuyer143 said:

Dmv18 said:

housebuyer143 said:

Did they move the manhole or literally seal it up? If it's not accessable then that's a real problem for you if something blocks your drain

They redirected the sewer system so below the manhole is literally closed off from the house. We just don’t know if the sewage system is public so going through the neighbours etc. 

In terms of accessibility, unless we lift the floor I don’t think it would be accessible. Although they do have another manhole outside the property

Well that's less of a concern if the man hole has been moved because you just need access, and if it were sealed and no access it will cause problems. You can you an indemnity for lack of a build over agreement if you are happy with everything else regarding the construction. Maybe get a drain survey to assess the moved drain?

Have you had the a look at the water searches because it should be on there.
Which direction does the sewer run? If it goes into next door and your house wasn't built before 1947 I believe then it's probably public.

I would likely go ahead if all looked well and you had the indemnity tbh. 

Yep went through water search. Only sewage line running at the front of property. No information at the rear of the house. Even called SW and they had no information- house was built in the 50s I believe. 

They can’t get indemnity as they went to the council asking for certification. So they literally told on themselves. 

ThisIsWeird

This other manhole outside the extension, is it new, built at the same time as the extension?
I'd pass the buck on to the vendor to (a) confirm the drains layout, (b) whether this one is shared with any other property, and (c) have a CCTV inspection carried out.
Also ask them if they took any photos during the build - anything showing the foundations, for example?

Dmv18

ThisIsWeird said:

This other manhole outside the extension, is it new, built at the same time as the extension?
I'd pass the buck on to the vendor to (a) confirm the drains layout, (b) whether this one is shared with any other property, and (c) have a CCTV inspection carried out.
Also ask them if they took any photos during the build - anything showing the foundations, for example?

No the manhole was always there. Pretty much it’s where the bathroom use to be so but they moved it upstairs and redirected the system. Fortunately they didn’t build over this manhole cover but like I said the extension is still very close to it- which SW have said, if it’s a public manhole, then they consider the extension as an illegal build. We have told our solicitor we want them to get a cctv check. We know the structure is sound but we also wanna know what’s down there. 

We asked about photos during the build, no luck. 

Section62

Dmv18 said:

itsthelittlethings said:

Can you find out if the manhole is private or public?

We tried finding out through SW, but they had no information. Just the mainline sewer running across the road in front of the house. No information at all at the rear of the house 

This isn't unusual.  Most of the water companies have very little information about the drains that became public sewers in 1937 and in 2011.  The records they do hold relate primarily to what were known as 'main drainage' - the sewers in the streets and trunk sewers.

housebuyer143

Ah well that's a different story. Without a build over agreement or an indemnity I wouldn't touch a house built over public drains. 
Private however, then it's all okay. Suppose it comes down to that proof they can show you that it's in fact private.