There are plenty of home owners who are unaware that they are responsible for the maintenance and repair of the pipes that connect their external drain to the public sewer but all the current home owner responsibilities are set to change in October this year. The home owner normally has a responsibility, sometimes shared with neighbouring properties, for part of the pipe work but unfortunately for most this is only established when an issue arises and the home owners discover that it is their responsibility to cover the cost of repairs.
The new proposals would mean that responsibility for the sewers and laterals will be transferred to the ten water companies currently operating.
Under the proposals any pipes within a property’s boundary that connect to drains from the property to the sewer or lateral drain will remain the home owner’s responsibility, unless other properties drain through it.
It is thought that the proposed regulations will be presented to Parliament for approval in early 2011.
The new proposals will, however, come at a cost as the Government have said that the cost will be shared among all water customers. If this is the case how do they propose to charge each household? If extra charges are added to a water bill it could be Tenants who pay for it rather than the home owners.
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