Shared supply?

Mojo29 · 19 December 2018 at 10:43AM

Hi all

We are in the process of buying a new house and on the survey it came up that the property may have a Shared supply.

I got in touch with the water company's 'Developer services' team who advised me that it did, and there would be a cost in exceeding £1,000 to have this rectified.

When I asked the seller if they would reduce the price accordingly to take into account this, they said they were adamant that it did not have a shared supply, but that it had a shared communications pipe.

Now as far as I can tell, this is exactly the same thing, and with a single communications pipe going off the main and feeding four properties we will still suffer with low flow rate and possible low pressure.

The seller is however saying, that this is not a shared supply!

Could someone please be so kind to advise?

Cardew · 19 December 2018 at 3:26PM

If you do a search on this forum there are several threads on shared water supply. This is one and post#2 by spiro sums up my understanding:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4169789

This is a direct copy from the FAQ page (see text in green):

Separating your supply

If you are thinking about separating your supply from your neighbour's, your plumber will be able to lay the new pipes. Please note that we do not carry out the work on your side of the boundary and you would need to arrange for your own contractor to carry out the work. If your external stop tap is within your property boundary (i.e. not on the public footpath or road), your own plumber can make the connection to our mains, subject to the usual water regulations.

Usually, you or your contactor, will not be allowed work on the public highway, so you will need to ask us to connect the new pipe to our water main, if it is outside your boundary. You will need to contact our Developer Services team to arrange this connection. We may make a charge for this service and the Developer Services team would be pleased to help. You can fnd their contact details by clicking here

Please do not undertake any construction works on your side of the property boundary until you have informed Developer Services of your connection requirements. This will help to prevent delays to your application and any unforseen costs or further construction works should the wrong pipe be installed or the wrong route followed.

You should also note that, in the absence of a soil analysis report, the pipe material specified will be barrier pipe.

I think the confusion(by the vendor) is that many people think a 'shared supply' is only when the water supply passes through or under a property and on to the next property. Obviously this is far more common in flats, but does happen in some older semi/Terraced houses.

deanos · 22 December 2018 at 1:33PM

check if the supply into the property is lead (scratch with a key if it goes into the pipe its lead as lead is soft) , if so some companies do a lead replacement for free, you still need to do your side though and get the pipe to the boundary, difficult if you are in the middle of the terrace and you may need to go via the front of property

https://www.unitedutilities.com/help-and-support/your-water-supply/lead-pipes/lead-replacement-scheme2/

Shared supply?

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