Water Company Blocking Extension - Planning Permission Granted! Where Do I Stand?

kimber95s3

Hi everyone,

I'm in a really frustrating situation and hoping someone can offer some advice. I recently received planning permission for a side and rear extension on my house. However, the water company that supplies the main water pipe & sewers running through my property has now said we cannot proceed with the build, effectively putting a stop to everything.

The kicker is, my architectural design consultant, who I hired to handle the planning application and building control submission, provided a utilities drawing as part of the application. You'd think this would have flagged any potential issues with the water main before planning permission was granted? Apparently not. They completely missed this, and now I'm stuck.

To add another layer of complexity, my house deeds do not restrict further extensions. So, there's no legal covenant preventing me from building but it does state "you cannot make any structural alterations in or additions to the premises without the previous consent in writing of the Council's Chief Housing Officer." - which as I understand that's what planning permission is for, right? Which is done! The deed does also mentions various easements and rights that the council and neighbouring properties have over the property. These could include rights of way, access for utilities, and rights of support.

I'm at a loss. I've spent a considerable amount of money on the architectural plans, the planning application itself, and other preliminary work. I've done everything by the book that they asked for....even down to a bat box!! I've also wasted a lot of time, and the whole process has been incredibly stressful. I feel like there's been a major oversight by the planning department at the council, as they clearly didn't catch this issue before approving the plans.

So, my question is: where do I stand legally? Can the water company overrule planning permission in this situation? Is my architectural consultant liable for not identifying this issue sooner? And what recourse do I have against the council for granting permission in the first place when there was clearly an issue with the water main?

Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated. I'm feeling incredibly frustrated and unsure of what to do next. Thanks in advance for your help.

Robin9

Planning permission does not override the legalities of easements.  Nor would the council even consider any restrictions due to services.

What does the water board say the main/sewer is \? Normally they would simply ask for a build over agreement. It may cost in legal fees and building costs

kimber95s3

From what I understand you can get a build over agreement for sewers but not for a fresh water mains which is what the water company has picked up on. You can't build within 3 meters of a fresh water main - which is believe to be 3 inch cast iron. Thanks for your reply. 

Green_hopeful

Can you provide a bit more detail on the water company assets and the proximity to your house. Perhaps the utilities plan with your house marked. Have the water company indicated the sizes of the assets. You can get water and sewer pipes moved at your cost and sometimes you can build over a sewer pipe but if it’s a large pipe it is unlikely to be financially possible. The right to divert is under section 185 of the Water Industry Act 1991. 

Building regs requires the council to consider at least the sewers because they shouldn’t allow them to be built over without the water company’s approval. You can’t build over most water mains. Some water companies have demolished buildings built over very large water mains because it is not safe. 

Whether your consultant should have spotted the issue sooner I don’t know. 

kimber95s3

Green_hopeful - bear with me, I shall try and explain this as best as I can. So my house is semi-detached and the main runs up through my driveway, vertically (if you were to stand at the front of my house) down the side of my house and then T's off in the back garden to supply the rest of the road - it's a pressurised ring main. The proposed extension will be an 'L' shape and watermain will be a meter away from the extension on the side and the back of the extension (in the garden) will be ok distant wise. So I think it will be impossible to have the main up the side of the house moved unfortunately. We have 2 man hole covers for the sewers within our property, one will be built over and the other one not. This is 4" pipe then going into 6" pipe in the neighbours garden. I do feel this is quite an oversight from many. Trust that makes sense and thanks for your reply.

Green_hopeful

Yes. Ok I hope you didn’t mind my questions. 

Section62

kimber95s3 said:

Hi everyone,

I'm in a really frustrating situation and hoping someone can offer some advice. I recently received planning permission for a side and rear extension on my house. However, the water company that supplies the main water pipe & sewers running through my property has now said we cannot proceed with the build, effectively putting a stop to everything.

The kicker is, my architectural design consultant, who I hired to handle the planning application and building control submission, provided a utilities drawing as part of the application. You'd think this would have flagged any potential issues with the water main before planning permission was granted? Apparently not. They completely missed this, and now I'm stuck.

To add another layer of complexity, my house deeds do not restrict further extensions. So, there's no legal covenant preventing me from building but it does state "you cannot make any structural alterations in or additions to the premises without the previous consent in writing of the Council's Chief Housing Officer." - which as I understand that's what planning permission is for, right? Which is done! The deed does also mentions various easements and rights that the council and neighbouring properties have over the property. These could include rights of way, access for utilities, and rights of support.

No, consent required by a covenant is entirely separate to the planning process.  The Chief Housing Officer would be responsible for council housing (not planning) which suggests you property is ex-council?  The consent from housing would allow them to consider the impact of your changes on their infrastructure and rights.

kimber95s3 said:

I'm at a loss. I've spent a considerable amount of money on the architectural plans, the planning application itself, and other preliminary work. I've done everything by the book that they asked for....even down to a bat box!! I've also wasted a lot of time, and the whole process has been incredibly stressful. I feel like there's been a major oversight by the planning department at the council, as they clearly didn't catch this issue before approving the plans.

The planning process doesn't investigate issues like this, the applicant is responsible for identifying constraints like underground services.

kimber95s3 said:

So, my question is: where do I stand legally? Can the water company overrule planning permission in this situation? Is my architectural consultant liable for not identifying this issue sooner?

Yes.  And very understandable if the main is cast iron.  They can fracture very easily with ground movement, which would leave the water company liable for losses caused by the ensuing flooding.

Whether your consultant is liable will depend on the detail of the contract you have with them.

kimber95s3 said:

And what recourse do I have against the council for granting permission in the first place when there was clearly an issue with the water main?

None. (see above)

Your best bet is to negotiate with the water company to see whether they are willing/able to relay the main in a way which allows your development to go ahead.

Bear in mind that building over manholes is also usually prohibited now - you'll need to find out for sure whether they are on public sewers, and if so talk to the water company responsible.

casper_gutman

I'm afraid you have fundamentally misunderstood what "planning permission" is. The council's planning department doesn't carry out an exhaustive check of every possible things that could prevent you from building. They only consider "planning" issues, meaning whether your proposed development is appropriate to the location, adheres to local planning policies, has an excessive impact on neighbours and meets some basic design standards.

They don't check anything to do with the thickness of the walls, the amount of insulation, the size of any steel beams needed or the internal layout. These are down to you, your designer and builder to sort and get approved by building control (a completely separate part of your council). They also don't check private legal issues like whether there are any covenants you need to worry (even if these also involve the council, it will be a different part of that organisation). They don't even check whether you own the land!

Plus, as you've discovered, they don't concern themselves with whether any pipes etc. are in the way. That's just not their job.