Buying house with manhole in kitchen

Bookworm105

as others have said, building regulations are not applied retrospectively, so a manhole inside what is now an extension is still perfectly legal provided it was done in accordance with the regulations in force at the time it was built.

In simple terms when you lift the lid there should be another lid under it, ie double lids.
Not uncommon and not something to lose sleep over.

whether your vendor can produce the relevant documentation is a matter for you to investigate. It may, or may not,  have been required depending on date and size of extension. You need to check on "permitted development rights" for your area.

Top11

The person I'm buying from has only lived in the house for 4 years. It was the person before him who did extension. But there's no record of when this was done. But believed to be around 2005 to 2008.
So at moment there is no planning permission, no building regs and no buildover for manhole in kitchen( assuming it was needed if built over before 2011)

My options are as I see it:
1. Ask for a small reduction in price to cover inconvenience.  He has currently laid new flooring l directly over the manhole in kitchen,  so currently it's not visible.
2. Ask for indemnity insurance for extension as well as a seperate on for the manhole in kitchen...
3. Pull out and look for something out.  

Martyn_H

Aside from the lack of planning permission and building regs, I personally don't like the idea of rodding a sewer indoors and would worry that a buyer might be put off when I come to sell.

user1977

Martyn_H said:

Aside from the lack of planning permission and building regs, I personally don't like the idea of rodding a sewer indoors and would worry that a buyer might be put off when I come to sell.

How often are people around here rodding sewers? I'd have thought that's a once-in-a-blue-moon sort of event, not a regular task. Most properties I've lived in have never had any sort of trouble with the drains.

Martyn_H

user1977 said:

Martyn_H said:

Aside from the lack of planning permission and building regs, I personally don't like the idea of rodding a sewer indoors and would worry that a buyer might be put off when I come to sell.

How often are people around here rodding sewers? I'd have thought that's a once-in-a-blue-moon sort of event, not a regular task. Most properties I've lived in have never had any sort of trouble with the drains.

Personal preference. Next door is at the end of our line of four and had repeated call outs until the problem was identified.

FreeBear

Bookworm105 said: In simple terms when you lift the lid there should be another lid under it, ie double lids.

Unlikely. The lid will be double sealed - That does not mean there are two separate covers, just two seals for any odours to get past.

stuart45

I've had to raise the brickwork on quite a few manholes in the past for making them inside an extension. I always used to think it was a bad idea. There's a lot of weight in the cover once it's full of floor screed.

GDB2222

Top11 said:

Currently that tiled flooring has had luxury vinyl flooring tiled over it. The owner has showed me that pic before he laid the new flooring directly over it...

So, if there’s a problem with the plumbing, the first thing you would need to do is take up the LVT flooring to expose that manhole. Unless you have lots of spare LVT, that’s possibly going to mean completely replacing the flooring? 

What type of LVT is it? Loose lay? Click? Or stuck down? 

ThisIsWeird

Top11 said:

The person I'm buying from has only lived in the house for 4 years. It was the person before him who did extension. But there's no record of when this was done. But believed to be around 2005 to 2008.
So at moment there is no planning permission, no building regs and no buildover for manhole in kitchen( assuming it was needed if built over before 2011)

My options are as I see it:
1. Ask for a small reduction in price to cover inconvenience.  He has currently laid new flooring l directly over the manhole in kitchen,  so currently it's not visible.
2. Ask for indemnity insurance for extension as well as a seperate on for the manhole in kitchen...
3. Pull out and look for something out.  

It would be worth finding out what sewer this MH serves, as it would be quite a bit more complex if it's shared. Also find out where it runs.Your vendor would hopefully be able to provide this, or perhaps you can obtain it yourself from the Water Board.
If it just serves this home, and if there is space outside for its ultimate replacement, then the worst case scenario would/should be the cost of moving it, if and when the need arises, but there's every chance it'll just carry on doing it's jobbie without issue for decades.
If there isn't any external space for a replacement, and/or it's a shared, public, sewer, then potentially things can get messy. You can guess what the worst case scenario could then be. Let's just say, following an event, you will unlikely to be baking any brownies for quite a while.
Your options, as you state; 1) yes, ask for a reduction to cover the worst case scenario - the cost of moving it if needed. I guess a compromise sum, somewhere between full cost and zero. 2) I cannot see what an indemnity would cover here. The extension and covered mh are beyond any retrospective action, afaics. Perhaps you could have 'drain' cover, often provided by the WB with a very cheap first year starting premium? But you'd need to ensure it would cover all the work in making everything good again. Or, perhaps you can add that protection to your home insurance, but again you'd need to read the fine print. If such 'drains' cover is available, then you could again negotiate a small reduction to cover these premiums for a few years? 3) walk away. If this is a shared sewer, and if there is no room outside the house to reposition the MC, then perhaps that's worth seriously considering.
I see this as a situation that's actually unlikely to raise its ugly, smelly head. But, if it does, then the opportunity should be taken to move the MC - some expense, yes, but it's what many homeowners need to do quite often. Cost? I dunno - £2k? But if moving the MC is just not an option at all, and especially if it's a shared system, then I'd be much more concerned - the WB would need to rip up your floor every time a blockage occurs; really not a nice thought.
So, sewage location plan?

GDB2222

user1977 said:

Martyn_H said:

Aside from the lack of planning permission and building regs, I personally don't like the idea of rodding a sewer indoors and would worry that a buyer might be put off when I come to sell.

How often are people around here rodding sewers? I'd have thought that's a once-in-a-blue-moon sort of event, not a regular task. Most properties I've lived in have never had any sort of trouble with the drains.

Just being pedantic, a blue moon occurs once every 33 months, on average. So, rather frequently!

We have been in this house 25 years and we have had the outside drain cover up two times for different reasons.