To get neighbours septic tank off my land?!

[Ladyoftheapple]

My neighbours septic tank is in our back garden.
It is all a bit odd but basically before we moved in, the prior owner owned both houses.
Anyway, we recently replaced the manhole cover on top as it was quite corroded but in doing so could see that their septic tank was pretty full with poo (its comings probably about 100cm from the top). About a month ago we spoke to the neighbour to say it needed emptying. He also said he wanted to look as he doesn’t feel like he’s seen it before 😳 since then, he has not done anything about it. We have messaged since and he said he forgot and he will come around and look on the weekend which he did not.

As this is on our land and no benefit to us other than the hassle of asking him to empty it which he is yet to do!! Would it be wrong to get him to sort his own on his land?! Is this even possible?! I have young children running around in our garden. He had it emptied once when he moved in which was about 5 years ago 😳

I think you need legal advice-this sounds like it could be a nightmare.

Was this all crystal clear on the legal documentation during your purchase? was there any stipulations?

Sounds like an absolute nightmare about to begin

I would not have purchased this house. I think you need to contact a solicitor.

My septic tank is also on neighbouring land and my water supply but I own the rights in perpetuity. I have reasonable access to repair/ empty etc and if necessary replace.

If the sale was handled by a decent solicitor then he should also have these rights. Have a read of your deeds they will be listed as servitudes ( I think)

Hi yes it was clear on the legal documentation. We also share a septic tank out the front of our house with another set of neighbours. This is also on our land.

Definitely legal advice needed. If the houses were split and sold it's worth checking what was written into the legal paperwork at the time as you would have thought that would have been covered.
We are in a similar situation as your neighbour. Our sceptic tank is on land adjacent to ours. We do maintain it, unlike your neighbour, but it was all raised when we bought the house. It all went through solicitors at the time and was all in order. You need legal advice , but if it's anything like our situation then you can't just evict them unfortunately.

There is likely an easement in place which means you can't force him to move it - you need to check the deeds.

Not uncommon in rural areas. Yes it would be possible for them to put their own in, but I believe it would have to be a sewage treatment plant to be in line with current regs, they wouldn't be allowed to just move the old one - I don't think that's even possible. Sewage treatment plants are not cheap, probably a min of £10k, so mot something they're likely going to just sort. Plus it's likely they will have the rights to the current tank etc all on the deeds. Perhaps just ask them again?? 5 years is crazy - we get ours emptied every 12-18 months.

Even if he is not emptying it regularly like he is supposed to? 😔

Would it be an environmental health issue? I don't know, but if it is, report it if he refuses to take any action himself. Well that would be my first approach anyway.

You'd need to get him to agree then to create septic tank elsewhere. Honestly this is not cheap. You need reports. Land for soak away, planning permission, Sepa needed to give the thumbs up (am in Scotland) this was just to change use of outbuilding as would increase use of septic tank. Then the cost of a new tank.

I think you’d be looking at upwards of 15k which I suspect he’d want you to pay for to remove his benefit over your property. Personally I’d just put a big slab (movable) over the cover and forget about it unless it smells ( mine doesn’t)

Your neighbour needs to maintain his own tank and it is entirely reasonable to ask him to do this. However, you would need to allow him access to do so. It depends on the type of tank and a number of other factors as to if it is too full. If it needs emptying, your neighbour simply needs to call out a tanker. It is a quick and straight forward process, though has a cost- which rests with your neighbour. Unless there is a prior agreement I cannot see how you can compel your neighbour to move the tank. This would have a material cost, likely to involve a new tank, digging out the old one and reconnecting drainage. This would be a four figure if not five figure sum. In rural areas often things of this nature at not clear cut and it is best to try and reach an amicable solution rather than to resort to law.

You could probably get him to empty it, very very unlikely you could make them move it. As I posted upthread, this is a substantial amount of work that costs thousands.

Where does it drain off to? They should only need emptying every 4 or 5 years and the level is meant to stay high so the excess can flow off. If you aren't getting nasty smells from it then it suggests the system is working ok.

As @vandelier says, I would think it was an environmental health issue. Maybe give them a call and ask for advice?

You will have given him an easement when you bought the property. This gives him a right to have it there.

You could take him to court for damages if it overflows I expect, but that's not much use to you. First port of call would be Environmental Health if it does overflow. If it discharges to a water course he is required by law to update it though.

It depends on the house and the size of tank. DM was advised by the company who emptied hers to call them roughly every 5 yrs when she was living alone. A large tank with a single occupant on the soakaway type may well only need 5 yearly visits if that. As you say - tanks on someone else’s land is very common to fit with the sewage supply.

I’d wonder if the neighbour is aware of how septic tanks work after the initial visit or if he asked the disposal company for advice on intervals.

I don’t believe it drains off anywhere 😬 I think it all just sits in the large tank under the ground 😬

Its not an environmental health issue unless there is leakage/damage to the tank.

The OP’s situation is entirely normal in many rural areas as tanks are positioned for the sewage supply rather than modern property boundaries.

Yes that's true - it may be a really big tank that only needs emptying every 3 or 4 years. A metre from the top doesn't sound too full to me.

If it’s a septic tank then it will have a soak away with it as well which the liquid will flow into and soak into the ground. If there is no outlet at all then it is a cess pool and will need regular emptying to avoid it overflowing. Cess pools are less common and it’s more likely to be a septic tank.

Septic tanks still need emptying to remove the solids that do not drain into the soak away part.

Normally they have some sort of soak away system. Otherwise as all the waste water runs in it’d be chockablock in no time. They did calculations on mine and allowance for each person was hundreds of litres per day plus rainwater.

Are you sure about this? Septic tanks nearly always discharge the wastewater through a soakaway and the solids are what builds up in the tank.

Edited to add if it really doesn't have a soakaway then it's actually a cesspit but I don't think these are very common anymore, septic tanks have been around for years.

That sounds like a cesspit then, they are two different things. A septic tank uses bacteria to munch away at the nasties then soil-safe run off just disperses into a designated area. It doesn't need emptying often. But a cesspit is literally a container that needs frequent emptying. Aren't the details on your house particulars?

Well in that case you can ask him to have it moved onto his land, but he would be well within his rights to ask you to pay the entire cost of relocating it. I know nothing about septic tanks but would imagine this work would not be cheap.