Buying rural property in Scotland can take first time buyers and urban homeowners into unfamiliar territory – including issues from private water supplies to unadopted roads
If you are buying a house in the country, you may be thinking about the view, how long it will take to get there and where the nearest shops or pubs are. All important points, but you should also focus on some equally important legal details.
Firstly, what are you buying? Many rural properties are still registered in the old Sasine Register and the boundaries shown on the title deed plan may not correspond with the boundaries on the ground. Outdated mapping is not unusual so there may be some toing and froing between solicitors and clients finalising the new plan to be submitted to the Land Register.
Secondly, there is water and sewerage to consider. Around 150,000 people in Scotland live in properties served by a private water supply. As there are legal obligations to be met in terms of water quality and testing, be sure to ask the seller for recent test reports to determine whether the water is likely to be harmful to human health.
Your solicitor should request this as a matter of course if the Home Report discloses that the water is from a private supply. Such tests will confirm whether there is any foreign matter in the water, for example e-coli or lead. Your solicitor will also check that the appropriate legal rights to draw water from the private supply and the infrastructure are in place.
Where wastewater disposal is to a septic tank or possibly straight into a water course you will need a discharge consent from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Again, the necessary legal rights need to be in place to permit the discharge.
In relation to the water supply and wastewater disposal it is essential to know the location of the tanks and pipes. Sellers are often unaware of the location of these which can be an issue when either system fails, especially if access is required over a neighbour’s property to repair a fault.
Perhaps the most important issue is access. If you live in a town, the street outside your door is invariably adopted by the council, relieving you of liability for its maintenance. In the countryside this may not be the case and you and your neighbours may have shared responsibility for the upkeep of the road. This responsibility can be onerous and can be the cause of acrimonious disputes.
Other issues to consider include security of tenure issues associated with agricultural and crofting tenancies, the possibility of nearby developments such as housing or wind turbines, and natural heritage designations which may impact on your own development aspirations.
By now you may have been put off buying a place in the country. Don’t be. These potential pitfalls may be unsettling for first time buyers or urban homeowners, but for rural property experts they are part of the legal landscape.
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