November 23, 2011
Property owners in the Thames Water area may have recently received a notice from Thames Water regarding changes to the ownerships of their sewers.
Since 1 October 2011, a large number of English and Welsh private sewers and lateral drains which were connected to the public sewage system were transferred to the responsibility of the public sewer system. This means that homes and businesses are no longer liable for the repair of these sewers.
Private sewers and lateral drains are the sections of sewer, pipes or drains that two (or more) properties share or sections that run from a property under another person’s land.
The new law means that ownership and maintenance for private sewers and lateral drains will be transferred to Thames Water. This means, in essence, that sewage pipes which are shared by neighbours that connect to the sewage system will now be adopted by Thames Water.
House and business owners will still be responsible for the sections of pipe which run under their property (for the sole use of their property) to the transferred private sewer or lateral drain.
As Thames Water will now be responsible for the private sewers and drains they will be responsible for a considerably larger amount of pipework. The Government therefore estimates that customers’ bills may increase by between £3 and £14 per year. However, at this stage this is just an estimation; once the pipes are taken over, Thames Water will have more idea of what the impact will be.
Certain properties which are connected to private pumping stations will not be transferred. The Government plans to review the ownership of pumping stations and transfer the responsibilities to water companies in 2016. Between now and then, the owners of pumping stations will continue to be responsible for them.
For further information, you should visit Thames Water’s website at:
www.thameswater.co.uk. If you require any legal advice relating to property matters, please contact Nicola Muir, Commercial Property Solicitor at Spratt Endicott Solicitors on 01295 205721 or email her on nmuir@se-law.co.uk.
