Boyfriend & I have had an offer accepted on a house & have just found out via some web trawling that a foul sewer a couple of metres into the driveway floods in extreme weather. It’s happened twice in last 20 years, including once last year and the water co. have confirmed it doesn;t enter the house or garage. thank goodness for sloped driveways… The owner didn’t mention it on the seller form he’s meant to declare it on & we only found out via a planning app he’d commented on. How much (as a %) is it reasonable to renegotiate by? And do we make it a higher % as he’s been an arse & not actually told us about it?

If it’s an issue withdraw your offer. Tell them why.

If it isn’t why would you need a discount?

As above if its an issue walk away

one day you will want to sell remember

Well, it sounds like it has the potential to get worse as time goes on, so try for 5% and see what happens. You’ve always got the ability to pull out of the sale (which will cost him a fair bit) because he has not disclosed something potentially nasty.

Just out of interest, is the drain fixable? If it is, it may be worth going for the cost of the repairs off the purchase. I did something similar with my first house when I found out that the boiler was shagged and the wiring was unsafe.

As above – is it fixable – I’d get onto water co. and try and find out. All very well and good if it’s a once-in-a-blue-moon event and you can get the house cheaper as a result but we’ve got kids and sewers flooding anywhere near where they play would be a no-no from the start. One of the houses up one end of a lane near us has something similar and it doesn’t take a great deal of rain for it to stink, doesn’t need to actually flood for it to have an impact (not pleasant to walk past, not sure I’d want to live near it)

I would want it fixed so either seller fixes it before sale or drops price by cost of repair.

Otherwise, walk away. There are other houses out there, many of them without a sewerage problem.

i wouldn’t assume it’s going to get worse – why would you? also, twice in 20 years isn’t so bad. and just because the last time it popped was last year, does not mean it will happen again soon.

unfortunately, because it’s external, it is unlikely that the water company will rush to fix it. (unless it’s the private trap for the property? in which case it would most likely be up to the owner to sort.)

If it’s a main sewer on your land you could have troubles in the future, you might be able to claim damages from whoever do’s the work but you can’t stop them from doing whatever work is required and damaging and restricting access to your property while doing so, also house insurance may not pay out for a known problem if it damages your property, I worked on the sewers for local council and there was a lot of debate about who was responsible for work like this, council say water co, water co, say council, poor sod living knee deep in sewage left to fend for themselves while others squabble over costs ect, can be a minefield tbh,
I’d walk away or get some money off the price, and check house insurance as it may have History

You are thinking this and asking this question… If you ever sell that house the purchaser will do the same and will want to knock the price or walk away.

I would suggest that you try and establish the cost of remedial work to prevent the problem recurring and negotiate for that plus50% off the price as you will be having the hassle or taking the cost of any over run. Alternatively make the seller do the work at his expense to your satisfaction pre contract.

The owner didn’t mention it on the seller form he’s meant to declare it on

What else didn’t the seller didn’t tell you about? – mind you I don’t think I’d mention either!