All Change For Private Sewers - Water Bills Set To Rise

As from 1st October 2011, the Government has proposed that all existing private sewers will become the resposibility of the water company in whose area they are situated.

It is estimated there are approximately 184,000 kilometres of private sewers and 36,000 kilometres of lateral drains within England and Wales.  At present liability for any work required on a private sewer or lateral drain generally lies with the owner of the property they serve and repair bills can run into thousands of pounds.

All private sewers are scheduled to transfer to the water company regardless of their condition.

Although this might sound like good news to property owners, it is predicted that because of the additional responsibilities water companies will be taking on there will be rises in water bills estimated by OFWAT of an average of £5.00 per annum from 2011.

In addition, property owners will need to be aware that whereas in the past they were free to build over existing private drains where they might wish to construct an extension or build an entirely new building within the curtilage of a property, from 2011 onwards the water company's will have statutory rights of access to their property in order to carry out maintenance and water company's have been reluctant to allow what are known as build over agreements where drains within the public ownership are made more difficult to gain access to for maintenance purposes without there being exceptional circumstances.

In consequence therefore it is more likely that problems will be encountered in building extensions, in particular where the route of the hitherto private drainage is unclear.  Only in very rare circumstances will water companies have any record as to the route of what will previously have been private drains.

There are therefore mixed benefits for property owners but the watch word as always is that if there are any doubts professional advice should be sought at the earliest opportunity.