Drainage and septic tanks
The seller points at a lawn under a trampoline and calls it the soakaway. What crate or pit has the survey not uncovered there?
No crate and no pit have been uncovered under that trampoline. The seller points at a lawn and calls it the soakaway. The survey can record the claim and the fact that the grass was not opened. It has not found a crate, a pit, a pipe or a working soakaway in that spot. A name given to turf is not an inspection of drainage. The survey only records what was seen, which is lawn and a trampoline.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
A crate soakaway, if one exists, is a buried unit. A pit is a hole in the ground. Neither can be confirmed by standing on the grass the seller indicates, especially with a trampoline standing on it. The survey did not lift the trampoline and dig. It did not trace a pipe to that point from a chamber. What the seller calls a soakaway may be one, or the outfall may be somewhere else entirely. The visit did not decide.
Ask the solicitor for any drainage drawing, building-control note or guarantee that actually shows a soakaway, and compare it with the lawn rather than with the seller's gesture. If you need the ground opened, that is a separate instruction with the seller's agreement. Do not tell a lender a soakaway was inspected. The home survey has not uncovered a crate or a pit there.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you leave the lawn under the trampoline unopened?
- Was any crate, pit or pipe actually seen at that spot?
- Did the seller's name for the lawn stay a claim rather than a finding?
What are the typical next steps?
- Record the lawn as unopened, not as a confirmed soakaway.
- Ask the solicitor for any drawing that shows where drainage actually goes.
- Instruct a separate opening only if the buried unit must be seen.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the grass is greener there, is the crate proved?
No. Greener grass can have many causes, including shade and wear. It does not uncover a crate or a pit. The survey still has not seen a buried unit under the trampoline. Colour of the lawn is not drainage, and the trampoline was not moved to dig.
Does a chamber in the drive confirm this lawn is the outfall?
Not by itself. A chamber shows a point you could look into. It does not prove the pipe from that chamber ends under the trampoline. No connection was traced, and nothing was dug up. The seller's lawn remains an unopened claim, not a located outfall.