Have your sewerage responsibilities gone down the drain?
On 1 October 2011 the responsibilities for private sewers and drains in England and Wales, which on 1 July 2011 drained into an existing public sewer, automatically transferred to the sewerage company regulated by OFWAT.
Previously property owners were legally responsible for everything up to the main sewer. Now all sewers and pumping stations outside property boundaries and those within property boundaries which are shared, transfer to the sewerage company. Property owners remain responsible for the private drains solely used by them within their own boundary.
The transfer to the sewerage company is meant to give more effective maintenance of the sewerage system and reduce disputes over repair costs. However, sewerage bills will increase to take into account the additional responsibility of the sewerage company.
In order to exercise their powers of adoption on 1 October 2011, sewerage companies needed to serve 2 months' notice on property owners. Since it is not known who owns all of the private sewers and lateral drains notices in the country, notices were published in the London Gazette and local press. Therefore, if you have not received a letter from your sewage company these changes still affect you if private sewers serve more than one property.
Lettings of low energy performance rated properties to be banned
Last month's Energy Act 2011 proposed outlawing the letting of F and G energy performance rated residential and commercial properties "no later" than 1 April 2018. Non-compliant buildings could therefore have their value wiped out in seven years time.
Property owners could be forced to spend millions of pounds to refurbish the 600,000 buildings in England and Wales that fall within F and G ratings to prevent their obsolescence under these Government proposals.
Not only will this cause alarm among owners of secondary and tertiary properties that have failed to refurbish their properties but also older or period properties that are not energy efficient.
Under existing law, buildings only require an EPC rating procedure when they are being sold or let and that rating has no impact on the letting process. However, from April 2018 or earlier the EPC will be an integral part of a building's valuation.
The British Property Federation called for the Government to make clear whether the ban would be introduced and whether it would apply to subleases or assignments of properties.
While there will no doubt be much lobbying on the current proposals, particularly from owners of period properties and estates, the stark warning for owners of class F and G rated properties is that if the proposals were to pass into statute in their current form, to avoid a prohibition on lettings in the event that the "doomsday scenario" arose, owners may be left to either deal with the refurbishment of class F and G rated properties now, to upgrade their energy performance rating, or to sell their properties before 2018.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
