What we do

What's the issue

Sewers fall under two different patterns of ownership – public and private.

Private sewers and lateral drains are those that connect a property to a public sewer which is typically the main sewer under the road. It is not well known that generally, private sewers connecting to the public sewer network are the responsibility of the property owner(s) to maintain and uphold.

Why is it important

This has implications for property owners who may wish for a number of reasons to maintain their ownership and control of private sewers. This may be for estate management purposes or due to upcoming redevelopment plans for example. Fortunately the Government proposes an ‘opt out’ for property owners in the form of a right of appeal. WaSCs will be required to send out notification of plans to adopt private sewers and provide owners with a window of two months in which to appeal against a proposed change.

What we're doing about it

We are concerned that the WaSCs will not go out of their way to identify property owners when issuing notifications, focusing instead on notifying either the occupier of the property or notifying the individual who pays the bills, who may be the landlord's agent. It is imperative, therefore, that landlords are made aware of this change and the limited window in which they are able to appeal against it should they want to do so. We have offered to assist DEFRA in communicating these changes to the industry and to produce guides for landlords and WaSCs.