We bought our terraced council house 18 years ago, but two in the row are still council-owned. There’s a problem with the sewer, which has to be cleared every five months or so. The council tenants ring up and the local authority has the work done with no charge to us. If we all owned our properties would we have to share the cost of clearing the drains, or do our sewage rates cover this service?
The drains will be your responsibility up to the point where they leave private property. If the problem is on private property the local authority could charge the private owners for clearing the drains if they live “upstream”. I suggest the council tenants insist that the problem is rectified. Under the present system the private owners may avoid any charge for the work!