Asking on behalf of a family member. They bought a Victorian terrace about a year ago, after a few months there was a problem with the drains. There is a manhole in the back garden, there was a smell and it was blocked, toilet tissue down there etc. They tried clearing it themselves, and then got a drains company in who had to make several trips to fix it and charged them about £400 in total. There was builder's rubble down there too (the house was renovated by a developer just before they bought it).The company said there was a guarantee on the repair work.
Everything's seemed fine for a few months, but now the problem has reoccurred. The drain company came back to look and now they say it's a problem with the manhole and my relative should call the water board. She has and they are coming within 3 days.
What I am worried about is, will the water board fix this, or will there be a charge to my relative and how high could this go? She really hasn't got any money at the moment and ill health has meant she is currently on benefits. She also has young kids and worried about the implications for their health, besides it being unpleasant obviously.
She had a survey done on the house before she bought it (they thought it was fine), but there was no specialised report on the drains.
Has anyone had anything similar and what was the outcome?