Ultimate Guide to Unadopted Roads

You’ve finally found the house that ticks all of your boxes and matches your budget. Great!

After instructing a solicitor to start on the mountain of paperwork, they point out to you an interesting phrase in the lease.

“Your house is on an unadopted road”

Many home buyers will take note of this, file away the email safely and never look at it again. In the midst of sorting everything else in buying a house (chasing the mortgage company, ringing the solicitor, preparing for the move).

The sad reality for many is that living on an unadopted road can have significant financial consequences.

Read on to learn about our top tips for avoiding road problems.

What Is An Unadopted Road?

Note: the information below relates mostly to English roads – unfortunately roads in other parts of the UK are subject to different laws.

Put simply, an unadopted road is one which is not maintained by a local authority (or council).

These types of roads can still be accessed by the public, and are not automatically ‘private roads’.

What’s the difference between unadopted roads and private roads?

Private roads come with the added benefit that only the owners of the road (i.e. those living on the street) are allowed to use them. Because of the fact these roads are not open to the public, responsibility for maintaining them rests with the residents and not the council – so they are “unadopted”.

So not all unadopted roads are private, but the majority of private roads are unadopted.

Why don’t the council manage unadopted roads like normal roads?

Unfortunately, as with many council cut backs, it can come down to money. The increasing list of services being provided by the council (many of which are required by law) means every additional cost they take on needs to be looked at carefully. Roads do not produce any more income for a council, and so are one of the first areas of cost savings that can usually be identified.

Who Pays for Unadopted Roads?

As the local authority does not take responsibility, the residents who live on the road usually need to foot the cost of the bills. As a resident it is important you check these bills to understand what you will have to pay each year.

Who Manages the Maintenance of the Road?

The repairs and upkeep of the road can be done through a residents’ management company. This keeps some order and organisation of issues, instead of them being forgotten between people who live on the street (no one wants to be late for a wedding because a dangerous sinkhole has engulfed the street and Brenda from next door forgot to book the road surfacers).

All the residents must also contribute to the road expenses – an area that can cause huge disagreement between neighbours.

You might ask if a road really needs to be managed much?

Think of a road with major potholes, poor drainage and little street lighting and you can imagine how that will gradually become a major problem.

Homes on a poorly managed home can also be difficult to sell, affecting property values.

Are There Legal Implications for the Road Owners?

Unfortunately the implications of living on an unadopted road don’t stop with the financial cost.

As owners of the road, you could technically be liable if there was an injury suffered by a member of the public walking through. Fortunately this is usually thought of by a developer when the road is being built and an insurance policy is taken out to cover this type of risk. But insurance is only valid if the premiums continue to be paid – another reason for ensuring good organisation!

When a home owner on an unadopted road comes to sell their home, the buyer’s mortgage provider will usually want some additional assurance that the above risks have been managed. Some mortgage provides may make it a mandatory requirement that the home owner’s responsibilities relating to the road are covered under an insurance policy before providing the mortgage to them.

Will the Council Adopt my Unadopted Road?

It is possible for the council to adopt a road after it has already been made unadopted. But this is far from certain.

If home owners want this responsibility to be moved, they are best off requesting this from the council whilst the road is in a good condition. No council will want to take over the legal responsibilities for managing a road that has been let go into disrepair. Even if the council do take over responsibility for the road, expect the home owners to be charged for any maintenance work required to bring a road up to standard.

In general, a council will require certain criteria to be met before an adoption of a road is considered. Some of the more common points that local authorities may require are as follows:

• There is a direct link with the unadopted road and other adopted roads
• The road needs to have a wider use than just providing access to homes (think access to shops, commercial outlets etc
• The road needs to remain open to the public – so no restrictive gates
• Drainage and footpath requirements are adequate
• Street lighting is present on the road
• The road surface is built to a satisfactory standard
• Sums are paid over to the council to provide ongoing maintenance

Sometimes projects are planned better and there are agreements from the outset between the developer and the council stipulating a change in responsibilities over the management of the road after a certain period of time.

A developer may create a new road and maintain it for an agreed period, before the responsibility is handed over to the council. Doing this incentivises developers to build high quality roads (because they are on the hook for repairs during the first period). Councils also get the benefit of collecting council tax each year despite not having to pay for the upkeep of the roads. There is a hotly debated topic over whether residents should have to pay the same level of council tax if they are making extra payments to maintain their road.

Potential Problems for Unadopted Roads

A problem can arise if a developer has not built a road to the required standard under the Highways Act 1980.

If this was the case, the local authority may not be able to adopt the road. Although the developer should honour their obligations, it could take a lot of time and legal costs to get this resolved. This can become a nightmare for the residents living on the road, particularly those that are wanting to sell and move on.

If you’ve found this page useful, we’ve also answered the top unadopted road FAQs for home buyers.

Top Tips For Buyers

1. Check With Your Solicitor
   Make sure your solicitor enquires about unadopted roads through “searches” that they will request. If your dream home is on an unadopted road, ask them if there is a plan in place for the local authority to take over management of the road.
   The costs of maintaining the road should appear on the service charge bill of previous years . We’ve made a full guide on service charges here.
2. Check Practical Tips With the Seller (or through the estate agent)
   The seller may know if their road is unadopted.

   Whilst they won’t be dishing out information to you about major problems with the road (they are trying to get you to buy it remember) they may be a little more open about smaller issues – like what the situation will be for bin collections. Sometimes unadopted roads do not get their bins collected by your door and you have to bring them to an adopted road nearby – which can be annoying!

3. Look at the Bills
   Ask the seller for a few years of service charge bills – if there is nothing itemised relating to road or drainage maintenance and the road is confirmed by the solicitor to be unadopted – you may want to think twice about the potential road costs that could arise further down the line for residents.

This post is a brief summary of typical issues experienced with unadopted roads. However this topic is complex, changes over time and can’t be fully explained in a short post. Each road can be built differently and have different agreements with stakeholders and local authorities. Please seek appropriate legal advice from a qualified solicitor before making any decisions or taking any action.

Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash