Unadopted sewer

[jonnywilkinson]

I bought a small parcel of land with an unadopted sewer runing through it c/w access manhole in the centre of the plot.
The sewer serves a small housing estate of approximately 30 houses to the rear.
The sewer doesn't appear on my title deed and would severely compromise any planning application I may wish to make.
Do I have any rights in respect of getting the sewer diverted or selling the plot back to the owners of the houses being served by the sewer?

[agardner09]

Hi
We have a smallholding with a number of houses surrounding two of our fields. Those fields contain three sewers and their run-offs serving those neighbours, they vary in age at least one is quite old another only a few years. All of them are detailed in our deeds with reams of clauses about access and maintenance. I am amazed that the conveyancing of your land did not throw this issue up. I question the competence of your solicitor assuming you used one. I think you need to address this issue as a matter of urgency.

[themas]

This is very odd. The sewer certainly should appear on your title deeds - & on those for all the 30 houses it services. So far as the houses are concerned, you can buy their title deeds from land registry online for a small fee. I suggest you do this for a few & see what info they have. They ought to include an easement to use the sewer running under your land, & may include a clause relating to who should pay costs of maintenance etc.

I can't see how you could be prevented from diverting the sewer (with the agreement of the water authority in relation to the link up point) if you did it at your cost, but I assume this is not what you want. I doubt whether you culd force the 30 householders to pay to divert it, but this may depend on the actual wording of the easement in their deeds.

When you have got some of those deeds you need legal advice. If you find the solicitor who acted on your purchase has been negligent you may well have a claim against them.