Old Town
Plumbing in an Old Town flat
Old Town flat plumbing usually means a tall stone tenement where the supply pipe, soil stack and drains are shared, and where listed-building and World Heritage rules shape any change outside.
By the Pipes Up the Stair site team · how pages are checked · Updated
The Old Town is where Edinburgh learned to live in flats. The council's appraisal puts it bluntly: necessity created the flat tradition on a ridge hemmed in by the town wall. That history still decides how water reaches a kitchen on the fifth floor today.
What kind of building is an Old Town flat in?
Most likely a tenement. The Old Town appraisal says homes here are "still largely dominated by tenements", usually four or five storeys on the street and 8 to 10 storeys where buildings face the Waverley Valley. Walls are mainly stone, with harled rubble used for tenements well into the 19th century, under slate roofs and stone chimneystacks with a pot for each flue.
The Old Town is also one of the city's 50 conservation areas, and with the New Town it forms one of Edinburgh's two World Heritage Sites, as the council's listed buildings guidance notes.
Why does height matter for water pressure?
Every floor is a climb for the water. Scottish Water explains that one bar of pressure lifts water about 10 metres, and it aims for at least 1.0 bar at the stopcock. In a stair this tall, a weak flow at the top is worth checking against our page on low water pressure upstairs before anyone blames the main.
Who looks after the pipes in a stair like this?
Usually several owners at once. Scottish Water says flats usually share a supply pipe and the neighbours on it are jointly responsible. Where the deeds are silent, section 3(4) of the 2004 Tenements Act makes a pipe or flue that serves two or more flats common property of those flats. Read who owns which pipe and shared pipes and the Tenements Act before agreeing a bill.
What about the drains under the closes?
They are private until they leave the building's ground. Scottish Water says common drains inside a block's curtilage remain private. A slow sink is yours; a backed-up shared drain is a matter for all the owners, covered in blocked drains in a tenement.
Can you fit a heat pump or move a flue?
Not without asking first, and often not at all. Planning Circular 1/2024 rules out permitted development for air source heat pumps across World Heritage Sites, and inside a listed building's curtilage. Listed building consent covers inside work that affects character too, so start with listed buildings and conservation areas, then heat pumps in flats and boilers in tenement flats.
Is lead likely in a building this old?
It is possible, so check rather than guess. Scottish Water says homes built before 1970 have a higher chance of lead pipework. See lead pipes in Edinburgh for the scratch test.
Where this comes from
- Old Town conservation area character appraisal — City of Edinburgh Council: tenements, heights, materials
- Conservation areas — City of Edinburgh Council: 50 conservation areas
- Listed buildings and conservation areas guidance — City of Edinburgh Council: World Heritage Sites
- Your water pressure explained — Scottish Water (archived copy of its page): 1 bar and 10 metres
- Your pipes FAQ — Scottish Water (archived copy of its page): shared supply pipes
- Drains and sewers guide — Scottish Water (archived copy of its page): private drains in a curtilage
- Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004, section 3 — pipes serving two or more flats
- Planning Circular 1/2024, chapter 6 — heat pumps and World Heritage Sites
- Lead and your water — Scottish Water (archived copy of its page): homes built before 1970