Drains and Sewers – Changes to Regulations

The Government is introducing changes which will transfer private sewers that connect to the public sewerage system to the water and sewerage companies. The new Regulations came into force on 1 July 2011, and the transfer will take place on 1 October 2011.

Sewers are the pipes that take foul sewage and surface water away from more than one property. Lateral drains take foul sewage (waste from toilets, bathrooms and kitchens) and surface water (rain water) away from individual properties and lie outside of the property’s boundary.

Sewers and lateral drains are either publicly or privately maintained. If they are publicly maintained, the local water and sewerage company is responsible for repairs and maintenance.

Latest news

• The changes apply to England and Wales (there are separate, parallel Regulations applying in Wales)
• The transfer of private sewers will remove a burden from householders that has long been viewed as unfair and unreasonable – the first attempt to address the problem was in the 1930s. For several years the transfer has had cross-party support.
• Transfer will give customers peace of mind. Householders can face the nasty surprise of being charged for repairs to pipes which they did not know they were responsible for – these costs can sometimes reach thousands of pounds.
• Once the transfer has been completed, the annual cost to sewerage bill payers is estimated as on average £5 p.a. increase on all sewerage bills from 2011, rising to £8 by 2019, with a range of £3 – £14 across the water and sewerage companies. The costs will reflect realities on the ground and vary from company to company. Ofwat will scrutinise water companies’ proposals so bills can be kept as low as possible
• The 10 water and sewerage companies are responsible for approximately 323,000km of public sewers in England and Wales.
• There are a further 184,000km of private sewers and 36,000km of private laterals that connect to and affect the public system, but are not the responsibility of the water and sewerage companies and have no planned operational maintenance regime.
• It has been estimated that up to 50% of properties in England and Wales are connected to a private sewer in one form or another and most of the rest are responsible for a lateral drain.
• See Directgov for information about problems with drains and sewers

Why are we making these changes?

• Disparate ownership of the sewerage network causes difficulties for long term planning, which is important in adapting to the effects of climate change and housing growth.
• Transfer will provide customers with the assurance of having a regulated company responsible for maintaining and repairing the sewerage system serving their property, which works to minimum standards of service, which is overseen by Ofwat, and on whom they can call if problems arise.

Legislation and regulations
Powers to implement private sewers transfer were taken in amendments to section 105 of Water Industry Act 1991 introduced by the Water Act 2003.

Transfer will be effected by the Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011.

The regulations require the water and sewerage companies to use their existing discretionary powers to effect the transfer of all private sewers and lateral drains that connect to the public sewerage system as at 1 July 2011 by using their existing statutory powers, which require them to notify all of their sewerage customers of their intention to take over responsibility for all private sewers and lateral drains in their areas, as specified in schemes to be made by the Secretary of State.

• Scheme made by the Secretary of State for the adoption by sewerage undertakers of sewers and lateral drains (1 July 2011) (PDF 100KB)

The notifications will be statutory notifications under section 102 of the Water Industry Act 1991 of the proposal to vest (take ownership of) the sewers specified in the notice. They will trigger a two month statutory appeal period, enabling those owners of private sewers or third parties with an interest (third party landowners through whose land a sewer may pass) to appeal to Ofwat against the proposal. After the expiry of the appeal period the water and sewerage companies will issue a formal declaration of vesting that completes the process. The regulations specify that the date for this must be 1 October 2011.

Key publications and documents

• Consultation on Private Sewers Transfer (August 2010)

• Impact Assessment of transfer of private sewers and lateral drains to statutory water and sewerage companies (November 2008) (PDF)
• Summary of responses to the consultation: Private Sewers Transfer – Implementation Options: July – October 2007 (March 2008) (PDF)  
• Consultation on Private Sewers Transfer – Implementation Options (July 2007) (PDF)  
• Review of Existing Private Sewers and Drains in England and Wales, Regulatory Impact Assessment (March 2007) (PDF)