Rights of use and subdivision of land

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 Toerag 16 Sep 2019

So, I have the right to have my drains run through the field next door to my house. The new owner wishes to build houses on the field and divvy up the land to sell the houses individually.  Will my 'drain rights' extend to each new parcel of land, or just the bit that will remain next to my house?*

*I don't live on mainland UK, I live in Guernsey so I expect our laws to be different to UK laws, but I thought it would be useful to know what the situation would be in the UK, and I'm sure at some point someone on UKC will want to know the answer for their benefit

In reply to Toerag:

I would expect a sensible compromise to he reached, in that the new houses will require significantly more drainage than your single house, so you should probably come to some arrangement that your existing drain be linked into the new drainage for this housing development. It is likely that your existing drainage will need to be disturbed in order to build the new houses. I would expect your rights to drainage ought to cover this. There's also the issue with  maintaining your drainage during the interim period of the works...

Speak to your neighbour (they may not have any knowledge of your drainage) and a solicitor...

 EdS 16 Sep 2019
In reply to Toerag:

If the same as mainland......If the lateral drains (ones outside your cartilage) connect a public sewer system, they are no longer yours but the sewerage undertaker i.e. water company or equivalent.

The legislation changed in 2011 and those former private lateral drains became the responsibility of sewerage undertaker.

The ones inside your cartilage are still your liability.

However, if the drain goes to a septic tank / non public treatment you still maintain the liability for the entire length. 

 La benya 16 Sep 2019
In reply to Toerag:

If you have an easement for the drains and it’s worded correctly in your deeds then it will run to successors in title and the owners of future houses will be bound by it. 

I’d be concerned that the developer protects your drain line during construction (they often do a ‘lift and shift’ to avoid building over existing drains). 

They should approach you about all this. If they don’t, approach them via a solicitor. 

OP Toerag 17 Sep 2019
In reply to Toerag:

Thanks all. The developer knows the drain exists and doesn't intend to build on it, but does intend to plant trees on it. Will re-read my deeds carefully about successors in title......

 graeme jackson 17 Sep 2019
In reply to Toerag:

> , but does intend to plant trees on it.

Then your drains will quickly be full of fibrous roots and become blocked.  (don't bother to ask how I know this)

In reply to Toerag:

It doesn't matter about deeds or easements. The owner of any land which includes any watercourse or drain (other than a public sewer) is the owner of that watercourse or drain and has a riparian responsibility to keep it flowing. I'd be surprised if the law on this is any different in Guernsey.

 EdS 19 Sep 2019
In reply to cumbria mammoth:

that is incorrect I'm afraid. It is correct for culverts, open water course and land drains.

However, for surface water ie from roof or yard and foul drainage - the "ownership" or to be correct liability resides with the owner of the premise(s) that gain benefit form said pipework.

Trust me - I enforce the appropriate legistlation for a living

Deadeye 19 Sep 2019
In reply to EdS:

> The ones inside your cartilage are still your liability.

Stinky knees

In reply to EdS:

Would you not include the roof and yard drainage under this definition from the Land Drainage Act then?

“watercourse” includes all rivers and streams and all ditches, drains, cuts, culverts, dikes, sluices, sewers (other than public sewers within the meaning of the Water Industry Act 1991) and passages, through which water flows.

 wintertree 19 Sep 2019
In reply to cumbria mammoth:

> It doesn't matter about deeds or easements. The owner of any land which includes any watercourse or drain (other than a public sewer) is the owner of that watercourse or drain and has a riparian responsibility to keep it flowing. I'd be surprised if the law on this is any different in Guernsey.

In England, if the owner of property A ran a private drain across property B, I would expect them to have negotiated with the owner of B a covenant into the deeds of property B to cover their right to run the drain.  I’ve seen deeds with covenants for water feeds etc.

Then again I’d expect our local water board to have asked me before attaching some sort of RF transponder to my boundary fencing - it has a buried wire going into a sewage trap set in the public highway.  I assume it’s a satellite or near field wireless readout for a flow meter.  It just appeared one day.  I would have destroyed if I’d not seen identical units half buried in tarmac on various other sewers suggesting it is a legitimate device.  It turns out I have an extreme aversion to unexplained electronic devices appearing on my property. One day when I get really bored I’m going to write a letter to the water board telling them to ask for permission to use my fence and noting I’ll only grant it if given details on what the hell the device is.

Post edited at 22:22
 Becky E 19 Sep 2019
In reply to graeme jackson:

> Then your drains will quickly be full of fibrous roots and become blocked.  (don't bother to ask how I know this)

Only if they're already damaged.  If the pipework is intact and properly sealed, tree roots will leave it alone.

In reply to wintertree:

Ha, can't be too careful when a white van pulls up and installs surveillance equipment outside your house.

In the drainage situation you describe there would certainly have to have been some sort of agreement at the start of the arrangement but I don't think the owner of property B could then withdraw the right of drainage once established. The LDA would trump any private agreement.

There's other ways the arrangement of A draining through B could have come about though, it's a field next door so I expect this is the natural route for runoff.


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