CLEARMASTERS
The short version
Who is responsible for a blocked drain?
You’re responsible for the pipes that serve only your property and sit within your boundary. Once a pipe leaves your boundary, or joins a pipe from another property, it usually belongs to your water company, which clears it free of charge. Road gullies are the highway authority’s. If you’re off mains, with a septic tank, cesspit or treatment plant, the whole system is private.
Usually yours
Pipes inside the house, gutters and downpipes, rainwater soakaways, and the underground drain from your home to your boundary, including any manholes on it, as long as no other property connects to it.
Usually the water company’s
Any pipe shared with a neighbour, your drain once it crosses your boundary (a lateral drain), the public sewer in the road, and most shared pumping stations. The water company clears blockages in these at no cost to you.
Interactive map
Who owns which drain?
Here’s a typical street from above: a detached house and a pair of semis. Tap any pipe, manhole or gully to see what it is and who looks after it.
Tap any pipe, manhole or gully. Use the buttons to highlight everything one owner looks after.
Tap a pipe to find out
Each colour shows who’s responsible: red for the homeowner, blue for the water company and orange for the highway authority.
Answer three questions
Who’s responsible for my drain problem?
Tell us where the problem is and we’ll tell you who should fix it, and who to call.
Know your pipes
Drain, lateral drain or sewer: what’s the difference?
The words sound interchangeable, but in law they mean different things, and that decides who pays.
Drain (private drain)
A pipe that carries waste or rainwater from one property and stays inside that property’s boundary. The owner is responsible for it.
Lateral drain
The part of a single property’s drain that lies outside its boundary, under the pavement, road or a neighbour’s garden. Owned by the water company if it connects to the public sewer.
Sewer (shared or private sewer)
A pipe that carries waste from two or more properties. Most private sewers became public in 2011, so the water company is responsible for them.
Foul, surface water and combined
Foul pipes carry sewage, surface water pipes carry rain, and older combined systems carry both. Surface water drains often run straight to a stream, so never pour anything into them.
A neighbour’s pipe under your garden? If a pipe crosses your land but only serves the house next door, it’s that house’s lateral drain once it leaves their boundary, so it belongs to the water company, not to you or your neighbour. If it serves your home as well, it’s a shared sewer, which is also the water company’s. Either way, they may need access to it.
Try it yourself
Find where the blockage is: the manhole check
Lifting your manhole covers is the quickest way to work out whose problem a blockage is. Mark each manhole as full or clear, as you find it, to see what it means.
Why the rules are what they are
The 2011 private sewer transfer
Until 2011, many homeowners were jointly responsible for shared pipes they didn’t even know they owned. A change in the law moved most of them to the water companies.
- 1937
Older shared sewers
Pipes serving more than one property that were built before October 1937 were already treated as public sewers.
- 2011
Private sewers transferred
On 1 October 2011 shared private sewers and lateral drains connected to the public sewer passed to the water companies in England and Wales.
- 2016
Pumping stations
By 1 October 2016 most private pumping stations serving more than one property and pumping to the public sewer had transferred too.
- Now
New homes
Sewers and lateral drains on new developments are built to national standards so the water company can adopt them.
What transferred
Shared drains (private sewers) and lateral drains that were connected to the public sewer on 1 July 2011, regardless of their condition. Shared pumping stations followed by 2016.
What didn’t
Drains inside a property’s boundary that serve only that property; systems that run to a septic tank, cesspit or treatment plant; surface water pipes that run to a soakaway or watercourse; and pumping stations serving one home inside its own boundary.
Who pays
Landlords, tenants, flats and insurance
Landlord or tenant?
In most tenancies the landlord is responsible for keeping the drains and pipework in repair, and should arrange for a blocked drain to be investigated.
If the blockage turns out to be caused by something the tenant put down the drain, such as wipes, fat or nappies, the landlord may be able to recover the cost. Our guide to what not to flush is a useful one to share with tenants.
Flats and leasehold
Drains serving a block of flats on one site are often treated as being inside a single boundary, so they stay private and are usually the freeholder’s or management company’s responsibility. Your lease should say who arranges repairs and how the cost is shared.
Will insurance pay?
Many buildings insurance policies cover accidental damage to underground pipes you’re responsible for, such as a collapse or a crack, but not usually routine blockages. A CCTV drain survey gives your insurer footage and a written report of the damage.
When the council gets involved
If a private drain is blocked or defective and causing a nuisance, the local council can require the owner to put it right. It’s rarely needed, but it’s one reason not to leave a known problem.
Extensions and new builds
Building over or near a sewer
Because shared drains now belong to the water company, many extensions, conservatories and garages end up close to a public sewer without the owner realising.
If you plan to build within 3 metres of a public sewer, or within 1 metre of a public lateral drain, you’ll usually need a build over agreement from your water company before work starts. Planning permission doesn’t cover it.
A drain tracing survey before you finalise your plans shows exactly where the pipes run and whether they’re shared. If a drain needs moving or renewing, we also carry out drain excavation and replacement.
At a glance
Who’s responsible for what
| Pipe or part | Responsible | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pipes inside your home | Homeowner | Landlord if you rent |
| Gutters, downpipes and soakaways | Homeowner | Wherever the rainwater goes |
| Drain serving only your home, inside your boundary | Homeowner | Includes its manholes and inspection chambers |
| Drain serving only your home, outside your boundary (lateral drain) | Water company | Since 1 October 2011, if it connects to the public sewer |
| Drain shared with neighbours (private sewer) | Water company | Since 1 October 2011, even when it runs through gardens |
| Public sewer | Water company | Cleared free of charge |
| Pumping station serving several homes, pumping to the public sewer | Water company | Transferred by 1 October 2016 |
| Pumping station serving only your home, inside your boundary | Homeowner | Didn’t transfer |
| Road gullies and highway drains | Highway authority | Usually the county council |
| Septic tank, cesspit or treatment plant, and the drains to it | Owner(s) | Shared systems: as set out in the deeds |
This guide covers England and Wales and is general information, not legal advice. If you’re in doubt about a particular pipe, your water company or a drain survey can confirm it.
How we can help
Not sure whose problem it is?
We clear private drains for homes and businesses across Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and London. If we find the problem is in a lateral drain or public sewer, we’ll tell you, and give you what you need to report it to your water company.
Call 03333 233566Drain unblocking
Blocked private drains cleared with high-pressure jetting.
CCTV surveys
Camera footage and a report showing where the problem is and whose pipe it’s in.
Drain tracing
Find where every pipe runs before you build, buy or dig.
Repairs
Drain lining, manhole repairs and excavation for the pipes that are yours.
Questions answered
Drain responsibility FAQs
Who is responsible for a blocked drain?
It depends on where the blockage is and how many properties the pipe serves. A drain that serves only your home and sits within your boundary is your responsibility. Shared drains, lateral drains outside your boundary and public sewers have belonged to the water company since October 2011, and they clear them free of charge.
What is the difference between a drain and a sewer?
A drain carries waste from a single property. A sewer carries waste from two or more properties. Once your pipe joins a neighbour’s, the shared section counts as a sewer, and if it connects to the public sewer system, the water company is responsible for it.
What is a lateral drain?
A lateral drain is the part of a drain that serves only your property but runs outside your boundary, usually under the pavement, the road or a neighbour’s land, before it joins the sewer. Since 1 October 2011 lateral drains connected to the public sewer belong to the water company.
Who pays to unblock a shared drain?
If the shared drain connects to the public sewer, the water company does, at no charge to you. Before October 2011 neighbours often had to share the cost, but those pipes were transferred to the water companies. Shared drains that run to a private septic tank or treatment plant are still the owners’ joint responsibility.
Is my landlord or me responsible for a blocked drain?
In most tenancies the landlord is responsible for keeping drains and pipework in repair. If a blockage was caused by something the tenant put down the drain, such as wipes or fat, the landlord may be able to recover the cost. Check your tenancy agreement and report blockages to your landlord promptly.
Who is responsible for a manhole in my garden?
It depends on what the manhole serves. A chamber on a pipe that only serves your property is yours. If it takes waste from two or more properties, it is part of a sewer and the water company is responsible for it, even though it is on your land.
Do I need permission to build over a sewer or drain?
If you plan to build within 3 metres of a public sewer, or within 1 metre of a public lateral drain, you will usually need a build over agreement from your water company before you start. Planning permission alone does not give you permission to build over a sewer.
How can I find out where the sewers and drains are on my property?
Water companies keep maps of public sewers, which you can view or buy, but they do not show private drains and lateral drains are often missing. A drain tracing survey with a CCTV camera and locator will show exactly where your pipes run and where they connect.
Got a different question? Call 03333 233566 or send us a message.