Private Sewer Transfer Briefing: July 2011
Affects of Transfer
- Water companies notified customers of the transfer during July and August 2011
- The transfer is good news for the vast majority of homeowners, as their potential liability for sewer repairs will be reduced
- The process for appeals against the notice was managed by Ofwat. If the appeal was upheld and the drain or sewer remains private, should the homeowner decide at a later date that they wish the sewer to be taken into water company ownership they will have to apply for the water company to adopt under s102 (as is the case now) with all the associated costs that entails
- Developments over or near a public sewer generally require consent from the water companies. The transfer means a higher proportion of developments will require water company consent. Water companies have statutory rights of access to properties on which they hold assets, and could therefore request access to homeowner’s properties if the assets need repairing or replacing
- In cases where consents have not been granted and damage does occur as a result of work undertaken by a homeowner then the liability for redress and repair will rest entirely with them. This is due to long established public health legislation whereby the protection of public health is absolute and any repair work may be done under Notice by the relevant authority and the costs recovered from the homeowner
- Water companies are working with developers and local authorities to add known sewer networks to their records. However not all private sewers have been mapped and it may be some time before comprehensive records are available.
For more information please call 0845 1385385 or email us at info@drainageandwater.co.uk
Posted on: 19/07/2011
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