House purchase - drains under garden

[jbl11]

Hi all,
I am considering putting an offer in for a house, but it's with the intention of extending at the rear. A 4m two-story extension running along the entire rear, then a conservatory on the end of the extension running along almost the entire length.
I've just downloaded the title register from the land registry and it mentions that a sewer under the garden is not part of the title.
Can anyone please advise on what kind of problems we might have?
How far away from the drains would the foundations need to be? Could the conservatory be built on top, as long as any manholes were still accessible? If a drain re-route was needed, how much approx. would we be looking at, and how difficult would it be to get approval to do that?
Image here:
https://postimg.org/image/jfw4old21/
Many thanks in advance

 

[bernardgreen]

Contact the owner of the sewer, It is most probable that the owner of the sewer is the local water company.

Or it might be a surface water drain ( no sewage involved ) in which case it might be the local council or the person ( or their heir ) who installed the drain to drain their property. If it is a private drain the deeds might include some information as to the present owner.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You need to establish if the drain serves only your property or serves yours and/or anyone else's is as this will help determine the extent of the problem. If the drain only serves yours it is a 'private' drain, if not it will be considered 'shared' and as such is the waterboards responsibility to maintain no matter who's land its on and permission will need to be sought from them to build within 3m or over it or maybe it will need to be diverted.

Furthermore there could well be other drains in the vicinity, drain records are notoriously inaccurate so don't assume that because its drawn in a particular position on a title plan that its anywhere near there, it could be 2, 5, 10, 20ft away or even non existing or there could be others present.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

in which case it might be the local council

Councils don't have any responsibility here, its the responsibility of the homeowner or the waterboard end of.

 

[bernardgreen]

Councils don't have any responsibility here, its the responsibility of the homeowner or the waterboard end of.

The highways drainage culvert that crossed under our land was repaired by the local council when it collapsed. Another section of the same drain is presently being upgraded by the borough council.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Maybe but if you wanted to build over it you would need to contact the waterboard not the council as its their responsibility. LA's are responsible for road gullys etc but not the drains. Just because council workmen fix something does not determine that it is their responsibility.

 

[bernardgreen]

Just because council workmen fix something does not determine that it is their responsibility.

The council accepted this drain was and still is their responsibility to maintain.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

May well have done in reality. But its ownership will lie with the waterboard and it is they who would need to give permission to build over or near it.

 

[jbl11]

I've been in touch with the local water companyy and ordered a sewer plan to get some more detail. Once I have that, I've been given the number for their build-over department and I'll give them a ring. There is also the possibility of extending to the side of the house, away from the sewer, but it's not our preference. Just need a bit more living space upstairs, otherwise it's a great property.