Undevelopable building plot ???

[Christian123]

Hi all, I was recently looking into purchasing a small building plot , problem is it has a neighbours soakaway right on the rear boundary and is virtually impossible to get the 7m distance and still build anything worthwhile, it' s a real shame as is a very nice plot.

So Is the site totally undevelopable ? Or is there anyway around it ? .  Is the rule in place because of digging foundations  in close proximity to the soakaway ?  or is it just a no building of any type within the 7m regardless of the foundation type ?

[ProDave]

Do you have a site plan perhaps from the sales particulars?  If it has PP there would be some plans with the planning application.

 

If you are concerned at the distance from a neighbours existing soakaway, then a far bigger problem is likely to be where would you put a treatment plant and the soakaway for the house you would build on this plot?

 

Don't commit to buying it until you have found a solution.

[saveasteading]

Agreed re more info needed.

The 'rules' are not hard and fast, but you need a very good solution to overcome them.

[Bonner]

My soakaways are closer than that due to space constraints, approved by BC so it is not undevelopable. But you need an acceptable solution before committing 

[Temp]

5 hours ago, Christian123 said:

Hi all, I was recently looking into purchasing a small building plot , problem is it has a neighbours soakaway right on the rear boundary and is virtually impossible to get the 7m distance and still build anything worthwhile, it' s a real shame as is a very nice plot.

So Is the site totally undevelopable ? Or is there anyway around it ? .  Is the rule in place because of digging foundations  in close proximity to the soakaway ?  or is it just a no building of any type within the 7m regardless of the foundation type ?

 

Some guidance here..

 

https://civilweb-spreadsheets.com/drainage-design-spreadsheets/soakaway-size-calculator-spreadsheet/soakaway-distance-from-house/

 

Says 5m from house and 10m from other soakaways unless made bigger. 

[Christian123]

Thanks everyone

To clarify a few points
The site has full planning and building regs approval , I think they only found the neighbour's septic tank soakaway when digging some test holes for a ground survey.

The new dwelling would be one meter from the rear boundary and the existing soakaway, the dwelling carnt be moved forward because there is a shared driveway that splits the plot in two and this carnt be moved either.

The new septic tank / soakaway for the new dwelling is on other side of the shared driveway so is no problem.

It appears the rule is in place  because of the ground conditions, so  I think the  solution would be a pile foundation to account for this ? , assuming build control would allow it.

[saveasteading]

I haven't re-read the regulations. However it is important to note that the great big document is of guidelines and suggested solutions. Only the little green section is 'the regulations'. 

Your challenge then is to propose a solution that deals with the supposed issue. As all sites are different the risks and solutions are also different.

The reason for the distance is to allow the  water to disappear and not to upset the foundations.

The facts that the soakaway was a surprise, and that yours is far away will help the discussion too.

 

Therefore a barrier between the two might work, or the foundations just a little deeper.

 

If it has building regs approval, I assume this was before discovery of the existing soakaway. 

 

There is no guarantee of this being approved, and we would need to know much more before giving you more certainty.

[Pocster]

I had same issue . You can maybe get around providing a soak away - but need too see a lot more detail 

[ProDave]

I am still not clear if you have bought the plot or just thinking about it.

 

I would want to hear what building control say they will accept as a solution?  They are the ones that will be signing it off, so you need their accepted solution.

[Marvin]

2 hours ago, saveasteading said:

The reason for the distance is to allow the  water to disappear

Hopefully to percolate, hence not only the possibility of undermining any structure too near, but also requiring an areas of ground to percolate into. 

 

A percolation test of the ground would vastly help to evaluate the choices. 

Solid clay - massive area - quick drain material small area.

 

 

[Dave465]

8 hours ago, ProDave said:

 

As you are just looking into the purchase,  its risk vs reward with something like this, could be expensive, could be undevelopable , but should be reflected in the purchase price too

[Christian123]

Thanks everyone, I'll look into it further, the plot is very cheap, but after getting planning and full building regs approval why would the current land owner stop, if it was a simple fix.

[Ralph]

I would try and have a conversation with building control before your do anything, ours were pretty helpful. I would not be thrilled being that close to a soakaway, even if I had some sort of control over it. 

If it's old or badly designed:

[CharlieKLP]

Nothing is insurmountable.

 

ask the owner if you can have a conditional purchase. I don’t know where you are or what the solution is, but it wouldn’t hurt to get advice and see what you can do.