A house purchase and The Septic solution

listermint

Hey Guys,

So looking for some advice or engineering brain on this, work colleague is looking at a house which is quite old in terms of age, but updated relatively speaking inside to 00's standards.

One issue is the septic tank, This obviously may kill the sale entirely. Which is fair enough, but also may not kill the sale.

So the existing tank circa 60's was on the land owned by the house, but at some point in the past that land was given over to the brother of the owner and they built a house further back. The septic tank was then shared with both homes. An ok solution i suppose at the time as there would have been only 3 adults in both addresses so tank suited.

Now come to the house sale. Original house with original septic no longer has ownership of the septic land (red flag).

Under proposed sale ideas could be to sign over the land with septic as part of sale (possibly not doable as there is driveway access they may not want to part with)

Other option is to install new septic to rear of the house. This is where the engineering part comes in. Is it even possible to install a septic treatment area here. I have attached 2 images, Basically thrown together from an old planning application. Aerial view and my edited side view. The rear of this house has a tarmac area (shown in side view) and behind that has a .25 Acre grass area . But this is a gradient above the hose rising up.

My question is, would this be even viable. Would removing some of the gradient soil here for a septic area work ? Is this pie in the sky. Would planning be needed for this in Wicklow. Benefits i can see are the removal of an old tank completely in accordance with the new EPA directives and shifting the house to current standards. Drawbacks i can see is cost or just not possible give then topography.


Thoughts welcome. Proposed location may be top right of the aerial view image

https://imgur.com/frPl83c Aerial

https://imgur.com/wmLWflC Side Elevation

whizbang

So that it contaminates your well ?

Water John

The levels on the map site show just a one metre rise from the road to the back. That's little. Can a biocycle unit be located at the top right? The rise from the house to the back is 250mm. If the distance is 30m this needs a fall of 500mm. That's a total of 750mm.

bb12

are those measurements in feet or metres? if metres then there's loads of room to put a treatment system in the front garden. i have mine out front with a distance of 30 metres between front of house and the road. no issues with it at all.

Water John

Think that is 7m between the house and road.

Millionaire only not

Sounds not worth the hassle start to finish, why isn’t this completed before house was put up for sale .
Ur worrying about gradients and sharing or not sharing septic tanks ?
Before a sale it’s there problem after a sale it’s your problem, so I guess I know the answer walk away from it.
A septic tank can be installed in all sorts of situations, is it legal or they just doing what they want ? I’m thinking they want a sale and throw in a septic tank where ever they feel like it.

listermint

Cheers Lads, its 7 meters to the road, i dont see one going in there under current guidelines. The rear may work with a biocycle i think thats probably the most sensible option.

By all means i started out with a walk away mentality, as these things throw red flags. but suffice to say when dealing with 100+ year old houses there will be things that need rectifying from legal and guidelines stand point.

I think the fundamentals of the rest of the house are there, water supply, heating system, drainage, internet, electrics. So based solely on the other fundamentals i dont believe this is something that really throws a spanner. Was just considering if my initial thought on location of a new septic would be a runner. If this was sorted everything else makes sense.

listermint

whizbang wrote: »

So that it contaminates your well ?

Not my well, the houses well. (its not my house) I have a house which we bought 3 years ago, Wont be moving anytime soon!

The well is about 30 meters to the west and elevated from where i would think the new septic may go. Incidentally there is a mains supply at the gate which can be tapped into.

sydthebeat

by my calculations the site area of that approx 1000 sqm (25 x 40) , which is 1/4 acre... so no where near big enough for a house, a well and a septic tank.

the house should be sold with a 1/2 acre site minimum

listermint

sydthebeat wrote: »

by my calculations the site area of that approx 1000 sqm (25 x 40) , which is 1/4 acre... so no where near big enough for a house, a well and a septic tank.

the house should be sold with a 1/2 acre site minimum

that might be confusing, but the line to the rear, where the trees are (circuled) is a diving line between tarmac yard and 1/2 acre of grass behind it. Thats where the thank would be going. not the 1000sqm rectanglish shape the house is on.

Lumen

listermint wrote: »

Under proposed sale ideas could be to sign over the land with septic as part of sale (possibly not doable as there is driveway access they may not want to part with)

I don't think this needs to be a problem. The solicitor can advise, but an easement can be granted over the land. My own house has its entrance driveway running over 30m of my neighbour's land and there's no issue.

Since you're engaging a solicitor anyway the legal route may be cheapest and quickest.

listermint

Lumen wrote: »

I don't think this needs to be a problem. The solicitor can advise, but an easement can be granted over the land. My own house has its entrance driveway running over 30m of my neighbour's land and there's no issue.

Since you're engaging a solicitor anyway the legal route may be cheapest and quickest.

Id agree ive easements on mine and they were not particularly fun to deal with the legal team in the banks on.

I also have my own reservations about easements because regardless of what they say later down the road you could end up with a really bad neighbour (future one) who will just say no and see you in court etc etc. I dont think its the cheapest , easiest for now yes, cheapest.. debatable.

I think sounder advise is to say to them, if you can sort it all inside your own boundaries you are rapping a nice bow on it all for the future