shared septic tank

codea

hi all,
new to these boards so any opinions greatly received.

i'm looking to buy a house (1920's) which used to belong to a doctor and had a separate building (used for a surgery) on the site (just over an acre).
the surgery was gifted to the health board by the grandmother of the current owner and is used as a temporary health clinic (a few hours a week).

the complication arises from the fact that the health clinic shares the septic tank with the property i'm looking to buy (it's actually located on the property i want to buy as the health clinic has very little land). the property needs significant updating and will need a new septic tank.

has anyone bought a property where the septic tank is shared? what legals were in place re rights of access, maintenance etc

i'm concerned that dealing with the health board will be a complicated and drawn out affair

any suggestions gratefully received?
cheers,
colum.

muffler

Your solicitor should be able to provide all the info you need in relation to the legalities. We dont discuss the legal implications here.

From what you have described I cant really see any reason for you to have any dealings with the HSE. You will be buying the property and the HSE will have (should have anyways) a legal right to have the use of the tank and also the right to pass over a strip of ground for the repair, replacement of any damaged sewer pipes.

Unless you are proposing that the HSE install their own tank then you wont have to contact them at all.

Talk to your solicitor.

Supertech

codea wrote: »

hi all,
the property needs significant updating and will need a new septic tank.

Effectively the clinic building is tapped into the septic tank of the original house.

When the deisgn population of the clinic is considered alongside the population of the house, it will have implications for the capacity of the septic tank / treatment system which will be needed to replace the existing one should you choose to upgrade it. Deisgn populations greater than 10 are also tested under a different EPA document. I'd imagine (given the age of the house) that there's no percolation area, and this will also need to be accommodated within the garden are of the house should you choose to upgrade the system. More people = larger percolation area which in this case means less garden space for you.

No6

If you need a new septic tank you will need planning, Most planning authorities will not allow a shared system although they may have no choice in your case. I would talk to your LA first to see if they will allow a new shared system.

codea

thanks all for your replies,
there is planning permission in place for a new septic tank but i've yet to see any legal documents regarding the right of access (or otherwise) that the HSE have. my suspicion is they may not be in place and i'll have to get that arranged.

More people = larger percolation area which in this case means less garden space for you.

i'm not very familiar with percolation areas, how big is this likely to be and why can't the garden space be used? the clinic is only used a few hours a week so i don't expect it would need a large capacity and we're a family of 4.

cheers,
colum.

rayjdav

codea wrote: »

i'm not very familiar with percolation areas, how big is this likely to be and why can't the garden space be used? the clinic is only used a few hours a week so i don't expect it would need a large capacity and we're a family of 4.

cheers,
colum.

Colum,
Makes no difference what size your family is, what it is based on is the number of bedrooms in your house, ie single/double rooms gives the PE (Person Equivelent). The surgery may have to be worked out by different standards but a good local agent (AT/Arch) will inform you from the EPA regs what the actual story is and the size/type of system and perc area required.

Stating the obvious here really but I assume you will be waiting for this issue to be resolved prior to putting pen to paper on the purchase??

codea

thanks for the reply,
definitly waiting for this to be resolved before signing anything
cheers,
colum.

Supertech

there is planning permission in place for a new septic tank but i've yet to see any legal documents regarding the right of access (or otherwise) that the HSE have. my suspicion is they may not be in place and i'll have to get that arranged.

Unlikely any local authority would consider an application for a shared septic tank unless all the necessary paperwork (including legal agreements) was in place. You should have someone look at the application documents for you to see what's planned.