Septic Tank - Non-compliance problems - Which regs do we follow?

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chughesie

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Hi,
Myself and my wife are currently purchasing her parent’s house who are downsizing.
The original bungalow was built in 1979 with a large extension (up and out) built in 2000.

We are now purchasing the house (with a mortgage) but the SEPTIC TANK is an issue-it is 1 metre from the boundary to a neighbours field. The engineer who surveyed the house said we would not get a Certificate of Compliance for it which the bank would require for the mortgage.

For the 1979 planning permission, the conditions stated that the tank needed to be 9.5 metres away from the boundary, which it wasn’t obviously.

My questions are:
1. Does the bank require this Certificate of Compliance?

2. Does the septic tank need to comply with the regs that were in place for the 1979 build, or the 2000 extension?
(In the Schedule of Conditions with the 2000 extension, it states that 'the existing septic tank and effluent disposal system shall be constructed and laid out in accordance with the provisions of SR6 (1991) published by Eolas)

3. Do we need to get planning permission to move the septic tank?, or can we ‘just’ do a site suitability test away from the boundary and relocate it/put in a new one?

Thanks
 
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I don't have experience buying or selling one-off houses, but banks can vary in their requirements for such certificates. That said, they're becoming more strict in recent years.

Did the 2000 planning outline any changes to waste treatment or include any conditions in relation to same? Was the correct location of the tank indicated on the plans?

Take a look at this guidance here. Is the tank registered? There are grants available for resolving issues.

Moving the tank is not covered under the exempted development provisions, so planning would be required.
 
Thanks for your reply Leo.
1. I have just amended my original post above as I found in the Conditions of the 2000 extension that the septic tank be laid out in accordance with provisions of SR6, 1991 regulations. This makes it fairly obvious to me that we have to go by those regulations and not the ones on the original 1979 planning.
2. The septic tank location on the plans doesn't seem to be in the exact location i.e. it looks to be the required 3metres away from boundary, as opposed to the 1 metre that it is.
3. When you say 'moving the tank' is not covered, would we require planning permission if we were to install a new septic tank with percolation area?
Thanks again for your response
 
chughesie said:
2. The septic tank location on the plans doesn't seem to be in the exact location i.e. it looks to be the required 3metres away from boundary, as opposed to the 1 metre that it is.
Click to expand...

So what you have on the ground doesn't match the permission granted, the banks may insist on that being resolved.

3. When you say 'moving the tank' is not covered, would we require planning permission if we were to install a new septic tank with percolation area?
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Moving, decommissioning, installing new, none of those are exempted development. You might be able to implement what was granted planning in 2000 without issue though.
 
Leo said:
You might be able to implement what was granted planning in 2000 without issue though.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's what I am hoping could be the case and the reason why I just wanted to clarify what you meant. I'm hopeful we could put a septic tank in the correct location with associated percolation area as per the planning permission that was granted in 2000, and therefore NOT have to get new planning permission for a new septic tank.
Thanks
PS Thanks for those links. I can;t imagine we would qualify for a grant seeing as we are not complying with planning at present-seems a bit ridiculous that we would be aided financially in upgrading a septic tank that we/parents-in-law were meant to upgrade in 2000. Worth chasing up nonetheless.
 
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