Buying and selling a property with a private water supply

Selling a property with a private water supply

If you're selling a property with a private water supply, you'll need to prove that the supply is safe to use.

You can contact your local council to have a sample of your supply tested. This will:

• give you a snapshot of the make-up of your water
• let you know whether there are any bugs in it
• let you know if the chemicals and metals in it are within safe limits.

You may have to pay for your council to sample your water.

Buying or renting a property with a private water supply

The local council for the area you're moving to must have a register of all private water supplies.

So you can check if the property you're moving to has:

• a supply private supply that's registered with the council
• treatment in place to make sure it's safe
• had a formal risk assessment
• been improved with a private water supply grant

If you're buying or renting a property with a private water supply, you can ask the owner or landlord for a copy of the most recent test results to find out whether the water's safe to use before you move in.

Your local authority can help you understand what the sample results mean.

If you're renting a property with a private water supply, your landlord has a duty to provide water that's safe to use.

Your local council can help you if you think your water supply isn't safe.