# Water leak responsibility: the BBC explainer for Nottingham

> The BBC's August 2026 explainer on water leak responsibility, a £5,000-a-house leak in Clevedon, and what the same rules mean for homes in Nottinghamshire.

URL: https://nottsleakdetection.co.uk/blog/bbc-water-leak-responsibility-explainer/

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# When is a water leak your responsibility? What the BBC explainer means for Nottingham homes

[Notts Leak Detection](https://nottsleakdetection.co.uk/) sums up the BBC's August 2026 explainer on who pays for water leaks, and how the same rules apply to homes supplied by Severn Trent.

Published 28 September 2026 · By Notts Leak Detection

On 21 August 2026 the BBC published an explainer, [“When is a water leak your responsibility?”](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3d3772v7kro). It was prompted by residents in Clevedon, Somerset, who were told they each face a bill of about £5,000 to repair a private supply pipe that had been leaking thousands of litres a day for more than a year.

The story is from the Bristol Water area, but the rules it explains apply in Nottinghamshire too.

## The key points

The supply pipe is yours. Homeowners are responsible for the supply pipe connecting the home to the mains, as well as the plumbing inside. The water company is responsible for the mains, usually under the street. [Severn Trent draws the line the same way](https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/tap-water/my-water-pipes/water-pipe-responsibility/): it owns the water main, the communication pipe, the boundary stop tap and the meter.

Your pipe can cross someone else’s land. The Consumer Council for Water told the BBC that people often assume they can’t be responsible for pipework that crosses other land. They can.

Shared pipes are shared costs. Where one supply pipe serves several homes, it is the joint responsibility of all of them. The BBC notes that you should agree the repair with neighbours and share the cost. That was the Clevedon situation.

The water company can require a repair. The BBC describes a Private Leakage Notification as a legal document typically giving you 28 days. The underlying power is [Section 75 of the Water Industry Act 1991](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/56/section/75), which sets a minimum of 7 days and lets the company do the work and recover its costs if you don’t.

Help varies by company. According to the BBC, Severn Trent Water offers a leak allowance to cover the extra water bills, as long as you repair the leak promptly.

Shared or private pipe leaking?

Get it located so everyone knows whose section it is.

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## What it means for homes in Nottinghamshire

The Clevedon case shows what happens when a leak on a shared private pipe runs for a long time. The water is lost, the bill grows, and the repair ends up split several ways.

In Nottinghamshire, Severn Trent says Victorian terraces usually share one supply pipe, pre-1940s semis often do, and many council estates were built with one large pipe along the backs of the houses. Those are exactly the houses where a Clevedon-style situation can happen. The practical steps:

1.  Check your meter. Everything off, internal stop tap closed. If it still moves, the leak is on your supply pipe.
2.  Find out if you share a supply. Your deeds or the water company may say. Tracing the pipe settles it.
3.  Act early. A leak located and fixed quickly is cheaper for everyone, and the allowance depends on prompt repair.

See [who is responsible for the water supply pipe](https://nottsleakdetection.co.uk/guide/who-is-responsible-for-water-supply-pipe/) and [shared supply pipe leaks](https://nottsleakdetection.co.uk/shared-supply-pipe-leak/).

Sources

-   [BBC News, 21 August 2026: When is a water leak your responsibility?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3d3772v7kro)
-   [Water Industry Act 1991, section 75](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/56/section/75)

## Related guides

-   [Learn Who is responsible for the water supply pipe?](https://nottsleakdetection.co.uk/guide/who-is-responsible-for-water-supply-pipe/)
-   [Learn How does the Severn Trent leak allowance work?](https://nottsleakdetection.co.uk/guide/severn-trent-leak-allowance/)
-   [Learn How to find a water leak underground](https://nottsleakdetection.co.uk/guide/how-to-find-water-leak-underground/)

Think you have a leak? Get it located and written up.

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