We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
Bought house, found damaged drains
Comments
-
I already have a house. No need to pretend this question is about my house. I mean, it isn't something embarrassing that I am asking.
I am sure I'm not the first person who sometimes misses out full grammar in sentences.
But ok: "I shall inform her that it might be prudent for her to set aside additional monies to facilitate additional expenses she might incur". 😉
Weirdly enough, I have noticed that sometimes people are kinder when they respond to post where people are asking on behalf of others. As if it is somehow more rude to be sarcastic and dismissive when it is not directed at the person posting it.
In the end, those details are irrelevant to the question anyway.
1 -
incorrect, plenty of properties have "public drains" on their land. For example a semi detached may have next door's drains join their own in an inspection chamber on their land. That makes the "combined" drain from the chamber into public ones and thus the responsibility of the water company.
see the diagram here:
Responsibility for pipes and sewers - Ofwat1 -
Just for clarity - "combined" is used in drainage to refer to a sewer or drain which carries both foul and surface water. A single property may be served by a "combined" drain/sewer. A drain or sewer serving more than one property is known as "shared".
Also, in the scenario where the neighbour's drainage comes into a manhole* in your garden, the pipe becomes public** from the point it crosses the boundary, not at the manhole*. So a pipe can be public even though it only serves one property.
(*There doesn't have to be a manhole or chamber, it could just be a junction)
(**Assuming the pipe 'communicates' with a public sewer, along with other specifics)
1 -
We see a lot of people start threads about "a friend" but in reality it is them. But you have cleared that up 👍
Buyer beware is always the saying banded about and house purchases we always have a contingency of a minimum of £10k for unforeseen issues.
0 -
Well in an ideal world, people would have a fund like that. But the vicious cycle of high rent means no savings means no deposit makes this nearly impossible. Skipton gave her a 100% mortgage but she wasn't really able to seriously start saving money now that she has bought the house with a mortgage that is much cheaper than the monthly rent previously was. Saving the thousands of pounds just to finance the cost of buying the house and moving in was incredibly hard for a single mother with 2 teenagers.
She'll be fine as she has friends who will help, but the rental trap is a really hard thing to escape. I am working hard to help her understand that this is a temporary setback and that it does not mean she should not have bought the house at all.
0 -
Bloody hell, this is complicated. My friend's manhole only contains her drains. On the CCTV footage, there were no drains joining the pipe that went down the garden. Sadly…
0 -
Which means it is very unlikely - but not impossible - they are public.
0 -
"the pipe becomes public** from the point it crosses the boundary, "
not according to ofwat
0 -
"from the point it crosses the boundary" is indicated by the blue bits (from the link you shared earlier) which are public (aka "responsibility of sewerage company").
They form part of the public sewerage system, but since they serve only one property they are technically 'laterals' rather than 'sewers'.
0 -
OK I was looking at the supply pipe diagram which leaves it as the owner's responsibility even across into another garden. Hope that makes you happy, but no one ever reads links on here, they prefer to play one up games with respondents instead.
0
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 355.6K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.8K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 456.1K Spending & Discounts
- 248.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 605.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 179K Life & Family
- 263.5K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards