Buying land containing a 'spring'

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 mullermn 11 Jun 2020

We're currently looking at buying a house that has a spring in the garden, based on the maps in the title deeds etc. We've been there and looked around before realising this and I didn't notice anything remotely resembling a water course, so it's definitely not the Nile or anything.

My question, which I've been having trouble answering via google, is: what does this actually mean? Is it definitely above ground? What's the minimum/maximum bounds of what counts as a spring, what can you do with it, does it confer any obligations on you etc?

Thanks!

 Lankyman 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

Could be a can of worms? Look at the problems over the Euphrates between Turkey and countries further downstream like Iraq and Syria. Are you planning on building a dam for hydro or crop irrigation?

scott culyer 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

as an environmental management professional i would read the government guidance on water abstraction, surface and ground water pollution and permitting. also i would google riparian rights.

 MG 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

Sounds like you will have a damp garden, at least.  Is it downhill from the house, if not, I would be concerned. Definitely talk to your solicitor about obligations etc.

 wintertree 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

> does it confer any obligations on you etc?

You still have to cut the grass in a drought.

It's just a marker on an OS map as far as I'm aware.  Edit: By which I mean what's actually going on on the ground is what matters - some of the fine detail on OS maps is quite out of date.  

Post edited at 09:19
 Sean Kelly 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

It can be an asset as it is possible to grow all sorts of plants that like it damp. Also if you can tap the water it might be ok to drink. My previous garden in Snowdonia had a spring and well. When the local water supply was off for sometime days at a time (water bowser in village) we had fresh water on tap.  It made a lovely cup of tea according to one local vicar. I employed a JCB to dig out the drainage stream so it flowed better, then planted 100's of trees to release the drainage from the hillside gradually. The trees are now mature reaching 50/60 feet..

So as I say it could be an asset. It all depends.

Post edited at 09:24
 Siward 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

Remember it's been exceptionally dry of late. Ideally, you'd want to know what the garden was like last winter.

Spring doesn't necessarily imply watercourse though but if there is one in wet weather presumably it's course/where it drains to is by now very well established.

Indemnity insurance is a useful tool your solicitor /conveyancer might discuss with you. 

 Dave Garnett 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

We have a seasonal spring, or a broken field drain as the local farmers call it.

OP mullermn 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

Thanks, as usual UKC is a well (sorry) of knowledge on obscure topics! I will make sure the solicitor checks it out.

Rigid Raider 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

What do you see if you look at Google Maps satellite pictures over the years? (You can select the date of the image somewhere on the page) Is there a wet stain or signs of different vegetation downhill from the spring? It only takes the smallest change in soil condition to show up especally in times of weather stress.

We are buying a small plot, which has water leaching out in the middle of it. I expect we will get somebody to dig a drain and fill it with ballast before we replace the topsoil, which has been scraped off.  If we ever decided to build on it we would probably need to spend money on fancy foundations.

 LeeWood 11 Jun 2020
In reply to Dave Garnett:

Here in France - we have an occasional spring which corresponds predictably with heavy rain. It's been  captured under the road tarmac and at moderate rates flows into a drain under the road. At higher rates it overflows again into a new ditch we cut across the homefield - and it's quite a torrent.

Not v useful without a way to further capture and store.

 jkarran 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

> We're currently looking at buying a house that has a spring in the garden, based on the maps in the title deeds etc. We've been there and looked around before realising this and I didn't notice anything remotely resembling a water course, so it's definitely not the Nile or anything. My question, which I've been having trouble answering via google, is: what does this actually mean? Is it definitely above ground? What's the minimum/maximum bounds of what counts as a spring, what can you do with it, does it confer any obligations on you etc?

There are a couple of springs on my folks' property. Over the years they've progressively dried up as woodland further up the hill grew, they can change over time. One used to flow year round providing the property with water, now it's a winter trickle, the other was only ever seasonal and didn't break the surface most years. The wetter one mostly stayed in its channel, occasionally it became a proper stream and washed the drive out but that's mostly because it and others up the hill had in the distant pass cut quite a valley, the valley gathered lots of surface water as well as hosting the spring. The seasonal one occasionally became a bog when combined with cows.

If there's no evidence of adaptation to deal with it (pond, drainage etc) it's probably at most a seasonal wet patch which might complicate any future ground works.

jk

 Timmd 11 Jun 2020
In reply to mullermn:

Despite being at the top of a hill, the cellar in my childhood home was rather damp due to ground water, so that metal things would irritatingly develop surface rust within a couple of years. It could be worth 'sniffing about and feeling' when checking out your prospective home.


New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...