Changing drains for proposed extension (Ed.)

[AS101]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum but hoping someone here can help!

We're the in the process of selling our property. After close to 3 months, everything has been agreed, lawyers have sent draft contracts and we're a couple of weeks away from exchange and it looks like a we've hit a spanner in the works and the buyer is now considering/(likely to) pulling out for the following reason:

They are looking to do a double side and rear extension. On the drainage survey (attached my house has the red square), it is showing both a foul sewer and surface water sewer running through my property with a manhole currently behind the garage to the side of the property (where the two lines meet). The buyers have spoken to an architect and drainage specialist (both of which have not been site, only looked at the drawing attached) and said that owing the "change of direction of the foul sewer", Thames Water may or may not approve moving the sewer and if they do Thames Water will insist on using their own approved builders and then the cost will be prohibitive - at least £60-70K. I have checked with another builder who came on site and checked the manhole (see pic) - his opinion was that there is no change of direction on my land/property and therefore the diagram is likely to be incorrect and to move the drain to the patio area would be max. £8-10k - he's worked a lot in the area and moving a manhole is common - he's not yet heard of a single time that Thames water have denied an application. The buyer unfortunately, doesn't believe my builder and doesn't have any definitive evidence to show that he can move the drain to the patio. If he can not do the side extension, he is not interested in the property and therefore, will pull out which is obviously hugely frustrating.

So my questions are:

- Can this manhole/inspection chamber be moved to the patio area / outside of the extension and if so, would Thames Water have any issue with moving this drain?
- Would the cost of prohibitive?
- Is there any way of giving the buyer additional assurance that they will be allowed to do their side extension?
- Does any of this in any way, impact the buyer's ability to sell the property in the future?

The houses 2 doors down, 3 doors down and 4 doors down have all had rear and double story side extensions done so the council should approve the extension from a planning perspective.

Any help/guidance on this matter would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Koolpc]

I would ask the buyers what assurances would they need to move forward?

You could suggest they have their own builder to check.

Also, you could get a drain survey done and give the results to the buyers.

And, get in touch with Thames Water for their advice..

 

[Murdochcat]

Is it a private sewer or joined to your neighbours?

Thames water have a department that you would need to talk to and we find them to be helpful but you’ll need detailed drawings of the extension, the sewers complete with dimensions.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Need to speak to Thames Water, they're the only People who can give a definitive answer. They have rules and regulations around building over/near to Sewers and other assets, it would be too risky to try and second guess what they may want.

Without being on site to plot directions and depth of any sewers, it is impossible to say what exactly would need doing and the cost. There are many factors also to take into account, if the sewer needs moving, will it be possible to get the required/sufficient fall over the diversion route, are any third party properties going to be affected, etc, etc.

To be honest, you may well find given the amount of time, money and hassle you're heading for in order to try and get this prospective purchaser the answers they want, it may prove more prudent to lose the sale and look for another Buyer.

Really this Guy should have done all his homework himself before submitting an offer, sound to me like he wants you to take all the risk, and then if he doesn't get the answer's he wants, (which I rather suspect he wont), will just walk anyway, leaving you out of pocket.

 

[AS101]

Thank you all for the advice.

There should be sufficient fall and no other third party properties are affected.

The photo shows that the foul sewer is in a straight line. The diagram is therefore incorrect. I’ll speak to Thames Water to how this can be redressed. Hopefully that will be enough to give the buyer comfort.

If the buyer is still not happy, we’ll have to move on but probably have to wait until March as these next 2-3 months are terrible for selling.

I’ve already spent some money on legal fees etc. Not end of the world but so frustrating that I have to restart the process from scratch with the hope of getting a similar offer.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

There should be sufficient fall and no other third party properties are affected.

How do you know that without knowing the inverts above and below the run of drains through your property? The manhole will need to be moved to outside of the footprint of whatever extension is built, that's likely to involve digging up the neighbours gardens to enable that and they may need additional manholes in their property's too. The cost is a red herring but it could be quite impractical. The map is not very helpful, it might be more helpful if you sketch out exactly what is going on.

 

[AS101]

Hi,

I’m no expert but this is what the builder has told me. They can redirect the drain on our site.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Well unless your builder has measured the inverts he doesn't know that either.

 

[mrrusty]

Call the buyers bluff. Just say, unless contracts signed on schedule, you'll revert to another potential buyer (suggest you have one, even if you don't). This is solely a buyers risk and decision, and a bit of brinkmanship will focus minds. I suspect from what you have said, they will pull out whatever you do.

 

[AS101]

Thanks everyone.

I spoke to Thames Water and they didn't seem to think it would be an issue.

Have gone back to the buyer.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

There's a chance that the actual reason for dropping out is something else, and this is an excuse.

 

[AS101]

Thanks. Balls in his court now. I've tried my best, if it doesn't work I've not lost anything additional and will start the process again.