From the 1st October 2011 all private sewers and drains which serve 2 or more properties will become the responsibility of the statutory water and drains company. This will happen under the Water Industry Regs 2011, which came into force on the 1st July 2011. This will apply to both residential and commercial properties.
In theory most landowners will welcome this move but some multi-let or development sites may already have complex sewerage and drainage provisions in place which may be over taken by the new statutory regime. An objection to the automatic adoption can be made by an individual landowner if the adoption would have a seriously detrimental affect to that person. This may be important where an existing easement allows a sewer to be laid upon redevlopment and the automatic adoption results in the beneficial location of the sewer being lost. If this is the case it is vitally important that an objection is registered in time.
The following link is useful but if you require any further information about this please do not hesitate to contact Mathew Haynes on 0113 2450733.
http://www.yorkshirewater.com/the-big-transfer.aspx
