Who's Responsible for a Blocked Drain?

Most arguments about blocked drains come down to one question nobody can answer: whose pipe is it? Get it wrong and you'll either pay for something Severn Trent should fix, or you'll spend weeks chasing a neighbour who then chases you back. I had a job in Knowle last month where two semi-detached owners had been arguing for three weeks about a shared drain under their adjoining gardens. Both assumed it was the other one's problem. It wasn't either of theirs, as it turned out. It belonged to Severn Trent.

Here's the short version. If the drain is under your property and serves only your property, it's yours. The moment it leaves your boundary or starts serving another property too, the rules change. And since October 2011, a lot of pipes that homeowners used to think were their problem aren't any more.

Private Drains: Your Pipe, Your Bill

A private drain runs from your house to the edge of your property, or to where it joins a shared pipe, and it serves only you. The kitchen sink, the toilet, the shower, your downpipes if they're connected to foul water. All of that inside your boundary, serving only your home, is yours to maintain.

Blockage in that stretch? That's on you. A high-pressure water jet and a CCTV drain survey will sort most of it. Cost in Solihull for a straightforward unblock and camera check runs roughly £120 to £250 depending on access and how bad it is.

Nothing controversial there. Where it gets messy is everything beyond your front gate.

The 2011 Transfer: The Rule Change Most Homeowners Don't Know About

Before October 2011, shared drains serving more than one property but running under private land were classed as private too. Which meant if you shared a lateral drain with your neighbour in Olton or Shirley and it blocked, you both had to sort it between you, agree on a contractor, split the cost, and try not to fall out permanently.

The Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011 changed that. Severn Trent took on ownership of those shared private sewers. Overnight, thousands of pipes running under back gardens across Solihull, Chelmsley Wood, Marston Green and everywhere else in the B37 to B94 postcode range became Severn Trent's responsibility.

So if a pipe serves more than one property, Severn Trent almost certainly owns it now. Not you. Not your neighbour.

The catch is that 'almost certainly' doing a lot of work in that sentence.

Lateral Drains and Public Sewers: Severn Trent's Patch

A lateral drain is the section of pipe that runs from your property boundary to the public sewer. Since 2011, lateral drains are Severn Trent's problem, not yours. Same goes for any shared sewer that two or more properties connect into.

The public sewer is the bigger pipe in the road or under public land that collects from multiple houses. That's always been Severn Trent's, and still is.

If the blockage is in a lateral drain or a public sewer, you call Severn Trent, not a drainage company. They come out free of charge and unblock it. If they tell you it's a private drain and you don't believe them, that's the point where a CCTV survey earns its money.

Why the Boundary Is Rarely Where You Think It Is

I've been on jobs in Dickens Heath and Bentley Heath where homeowners were absolutely convinced a pipe was shared, it turned out to be a single private drain serving only their house but running under a shared driveway. Confused everyone. The physical location of a pipe tells you nothing about ownership. What matters is what the pipe serves and where it sits in the drainage hierarchy.

The other classic mistake: assuming that because a pipe runs under your neighbour's garden it belongs to them. It doesn't work like that. Severn Trent can own a pipe running under private land. You can own a pipe running under a public pavement if it only serves your property.

And old Victorian properties in Dorridge, Hampton-in-Arden or Balsall Common sometimes have drainage arrangements that were never properly recorded. Nobody has a map. The 2011 transfer helped, but it didn't solve ambiguity, it just moved responsibility for shared pipes to the water company. You still have to prove a pipe is shared before you can hand the problem to Severn Trent.

How a CCTV Survey Settles It

This is exactly why I'm a believer in camera surveys before anyone starts arguing. A CCTV drain survey sends a camera through the pipe and records exactly where it goes, what condition it's in, and, critically, what else connects into it. If another property connects in, the pipe isn't solely yours. That footage is evidence you can take to Severn Trent or, if it comes to it, a solicitor.

In Solihull the survey typically runs £150 to £350 for a residential property. If you're about to pay £800 for a repair on a pipe that Severn Trent should be fixing, that survey fee looks very reasonable.

I've done surveys in Lode Heath, Elmdon and Monkspath where the camera found a junction nobody knew existed, confirmed the pipe was shared, and the homeowner handed it straight to Severn Trent at no further cost to themselves. One job in Hillfield saved a landlord nearly £1,200 that way.

When You and Your Neighbour Share a Private Drain

It does still happen. If your private drain runs under a neighbour's garden but serves only your property, it's still your drain. But if you both connect into a single pipe before it reaches the public sewer and that pipe is entirely within your private land, you may both share responsibility for it.

In cases like that, the 2011 transfer may or may not have picked it up depending on exactly how it was classified. Get the camera in. Check the Severn Trent sewer map (it's free on their website). Then make a decision based on fact, not assumption.

Trying to negotiate with a neighbour in Smith's Wood or Castle Bromwich about splitting a drain repair without evidence of who owns what is a recipe for a long and unpleasant dispute.

A Few Practical Rules

• If a blockage is causing sewage to back up into the street or a public area, call Severn Trent immediately. That's theirs.
• If it's backing up into your house only, start with the private drain nearest the house.
• Don't pay for a repair on a shared pipe until you've confirmed Severn Trent won't take it on.
• A sewer adoption search from Severn Trent or a drainage lawyer can confirm the legal position if there's a real dispute.
• Never take a neighbour's word for where the boundary falls. Or anyone else's, frankly. Camera first.

If you're buying a property in Solihull and the drainage situation is unclear, get a CCTV survey done before exchange. Conveyancing solicitors ask the right questions but they can't see what's underground.

Drainsco covers Solihull and all the surrounding B postcodes, with engineers available 24 hours a day. There's no call-out fee and you'll get a clear price before any work starts. If you're not sure whose drain it is, a camera survey is usually the quickest and cheapest way to find out.