Landlords could find themselves caught up in the ‘crackdown’ by the Environment Agency (EA) on property owners who haven’t yet applied for a licence if they own a septic tank or cesspit which drains into a watercourse.
The legislation has already caused problems for both house buyers and sellers because many had not realised they were liable.
Problems arise if a property is served by a septic tank as this will discharge effluent. If it discharges into a watercourse, or in some cases a drainage field, this will require a licence from the EA. It may go under a different name in different parts of the UK, but permission is now needed.
A licence would only be needed if effluent is discharged. It will certainly be required for discharging to a watercourse and may be needed for discharge into a drainage field. The EA recommend a survey is carried out to ensure the discharge does not find its way into a watercourse by accident. It is likely a licence would only be given if the discharge is of sufficient quality.
If you are caught draining effluent into a watercourse it is a criminal offence and can result in a £20,000 fine or imprisonment. The EA will normally contact people and tell them what needs doing. If the advice is ignored, legal action would be taken.
Suzanne Bowman, solicitor at Adams & Remer, said: “The problem is often first identified when a property is under offer and the purchaser’s solicitor advises them to carry out certain checks. Often drainage systems have been in place for many years so this can come as a shock to the existing property owner.”
A home buyer will not necessarily know whether the house has a cesspit or septic tank and so a survey will need to be done to determine this. This survey is not usually within the scope of a HIP so the problem may not be immediately apparent to the buyer.
Buyers should ask the seller if there is a licence to discharge and if not they should ask the seller to obtain a license or keep back some of the purchase price to cover any problems that may occur in obtaining a licence.
Bowman added: “It might be helpful to obtain where possible a map of ground water for your postcode to see if there are any watercourses in the area of the septic tank. However the best course of action is to ask the seller to obtain the relevant licence themselves.
“For existing homeowners the EA could issue you with a prohibition notice to ensure the discharge stops straight away. The regulations are also different where effluent discharges straight into a river and different again if wildlife is being affected, particularly fish.
“There could be further problems with private drainage if shared with a neighbour – the problem becomes a shared one. If effluent drains onto a third party’s land without their consent you could be liable for clean up costs which can be expensive”.
