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Estate road adoption

New housing estates usually have newly-built roads to provide safe and convenient access to homes. Developers (the companies that build new houses) often want Lancashire County Council to adopt these roads, making them public highways. This means the council will be responsible for their future maintenance and repairs.

Conditions for adoption

We are happy to adopt new roads if developers meet certain conditions:

  • The new roads must connect to at least one existing public road. Without this, there would be a legal gap and we could not guarantee safe and permanent access.

  • The roads must be designed to be accessible and safe for all users. This usually includes motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, emergency vehicles, delivery vehicles, and bin wagons. It can also include horse riders and buses if needed.

  • The roads must be built to our standards for durability and repairs. This includes proper drainage, safe and predictable locations for pipes, cables, and sewers, and the use of our standard materials and street lighting.

Once these issues are agreed, we make a legal agreement with the developer. This agreement sets out the insurance the developer must have (in case they cannot finish the road), and the fees we charge for inspections and records.

If there is no legal agreement, we may not be able to adopt the roads. In this case, the roads will remain private, with no public rights, and the council will not manage or repair them.

Our requirements

The Department for Transport publication manual for streets gives more guidance on road layout. Some local roads are built with materials that are expensive to maintain, so we have a list of approved materials for builders to use. Our advice is updated regularly:

How long the work will take

Contact the builders to find out about progress with the road adoption process.

Our highway officers inspect the roads at different stages to make sure the work meets our standards. They help builders solve any problems and issue certificates at each stage. When the work is complete, there is a final observation period (usually 12 months, but sometimes shorter). Once any final defects are fixed, we will adopt the roads and they become public highways, managed and maintained by the council.

You can check the status of local roads on our Maps Information website.

If the developer fails to meet our requirements

If developers cannot meet our requirements before building starts, we will make it clear that we cannot adopt the new roads. The roads will remain private and must be managed privately, often by a management company.

If developers cannot finish the roads after an agreement is in place (for example, if they go into liquidation), we will claim against the insurance bond to get enough money to finish the work and then adopt the roads.

If we find defects during construction, we will withhold certificates and not progress the adoption until the issues are fixed. The certificates are linked to the insurance value, and premiums only reduce when certificates are released.

If developers choose not to finish the work, we cannot force them to complete it, as the agreement is not a contract. We will always try to help solve problems, and we encourage residents to raise concerns with the developers. If the agreement period is extended, we will charge extra inspection fees for the extra time spent on the estate.

Contact us

Lancashire Highways Service
Customer Service Centre
Lancashire County Council
Preston
PR1 8RD

Tel: 0300 123 6780