Public combined sewer running under living room (1905 house) and no build over agreement

[BBLondon91]

Hi all

So, I'm nearly at the point of exchange on the house I'm buying. There's been a lot of bumps along the way - damp surveys, structural engineer checks etc. and now I've just received the final report from the solicitors and it mentions that there's a public sewer running under the house but that there's no build over agreement for it. The seller's solicitor is unwilling to pay for indemnity insurance either so I'd have to cover that if I choose to go ahead.

My concerns are...

1. If I get the indemnity insurance I believe it becomes null & void should the council or water company ever find out that there's no build over agreement? So I'm assuming then all repairs etc. would be on me to pay up for
2. The pipe runs right under the side of the house (assuming also alongside the neighbour's) and its the pipe that runs the sewage from all the houses down under the road (everyone else's pipes are across their garden)
3. If it were to crack/burst then I believe I'd have a major problem on my hands with potential sewage flooding my house/garden - is that right?
4. This could be a huge re-sale issue (the buyers before me dropped out at this stage and I'm wondering if this is why)

My solicitor has said "It is not uncommon for properties to be built over or within 3 metres of a sewer and there be no build over agreement, most lenders are happy to proceed with an indemnity instead of the build over agreement. As the property was originally constructed over the sewer it’s likely the developer would have taken this into account and the water company would have been made aware at the time. I would strongly suggest speaking to the water authority to see generally what their stance is in relation to drains under properties and how they go about accessing these if the property has been built over one." (I am awaiting a reply from the water company)

The issue is that I don't know where the access to the pipe is, whether its under the house or not. The surveyor said they could only get limited access via an inspection chamber in the back garden and that most of the drainage system is hidden from view. Would the water company be able to access via that inspection chamber should they need to do any work? I assume not.

Thanks in advance!

I think you'll have to wait for the water company to confirm their stance. They might have to dig up your house otherwise.

Definitely see what the water people say but I think this is fairly common in houses of that age? There wouldn't be a build over agreement as the house was built so long ago, these are a much newer thing and generally come into play when you're building an extension etc. We have the neighbours' sewage pipe running into ours and then under the house, when we did a rear extension we had to build around the inspection chamber and put in a new rodding eye further out. I would have thought the risk of having the whole house dug up for sewage problems is fairly remote.

If it's actually under the house then do not buy the house. Reframe your position - you are not "about to exchange" you are not yet in a position where exchange is possible. You may not be buying this house because if this situation can't be resolved then the house is fundamentally worthless and you should not buy it.

We bought a house where there was an easement in the deeds that allowed the sewage company access to the back garden because the sewer from a nearby retail park joined the main sewer under the road in front of the house via a pipe running under the side passage - but house pre-dated the sewer and the documentation was all in order, the only problem was that no-one knew exactly where the pipe was. After we had owned the house for about 5 years the sewage company needed access and they had to dig up a fair bit of garden to find the pipe, locate where the issue was, and sort it out. They found it in the end and put things back how they should be, and that was all OK.

But in your case there is a very real possibility that there could be a huge amount of structural damage if the pipe is actually under the house. I shudder to think what would have happened if what they needed to do in our back garden actually had to happen under the foundations of a building. Run a mile if that is the case.

The scenario that could lead to you buying the house would be that a survey is done to establish the exact position of the pipes, and it is confirmed that the pipes aren't actually under the house and the position, depth and structure is such that there is unlikely to be any major works required that could damage the fabric of the house. If you can't get a reputable professional to confirm that to be the case then you need to start house hunting again.

We pulled out before exchange for exactly this reason, a previous owner had extended over the sewage pipe so it was running under the kitchen/bathroom. It wasn’t clear exactly where the pipe was, the original inspection chamber/manholes were now useless, and if anything had gone wrong we would have needed to rip up the entire floor downstairs to rectify it - and pay for the privilege even though it wasn’t our pipe work!

Our current house has a public pipe running through the top of the garden and down the drive, and that was a level of risk we were prepared to accept, but under the actually house? No thanks!!

If you've already made an approach to the water company then I don't think you can get an indemnity now, regardless of who would arrange/pay for it.

I'd wait and see what the water company says. But we pulled out of a house purchase last year because it turned out it had been extended over a water pipe (but that was a supply main not a sewer, so the rules are different)

If it were to crack/burst then I believe I'd have a major problem on my hands with potential sewage flooding my house/garden - is that right?
or block which is more likely! I would run a mile if i were you.

Did you manage to get retrospective approval on this in the end? I don’t see why after CCTV and drawings why they might not approve this? Thanks