J
jacksonblackson
Evening all
As mentioned in my intro thread, my wife and I are about to build a new house. We're replacing a very small 2 bed 1950s bungalow with a 4 bed house. To give you some context, the bungalow is set behind the other houses on our road, at the end of a 45m driveway. There's a stopcock (but no meter) just inside the boundary. The mains is across the road from the driveway.
We haven't gone for planning yet but we're far enough along the process that we're starting to talk to utilities about connections. One thing we thought we'd at least look into is taking the opportunity to replace as much of the old pipework and cables as makes financial sense. Seems a reasonable time to do it, given we're going to be making a massive mess of the place anyway!
We spoke to South East Water and had to pay £116 for a survey and cost estimate. They've now come back with an eye-watering £2047.26 estimate for a new connection with stopcock and meter. They've told my wife on the phone that we can use the existing connection as the basis for the temporary building supply, but that we need to install a new connection right back to the mains when it comes to connecting the new house. This is apparently because of potential "contamination" of the water by the building supply.
I might be (ok, am) completely ignorant about all this, but that doesn't sound right. South East Water themselves will set up a new building supply connection that can subsequently be used as a permanent supply. So what could they be talking about?
I feel as though they're taking the opportunity to have us pay for the cost of a meter and a new connection back to the mains that they won't have to touch for a decade or more - and yet that side of the pipework is meant to be their responsibility.
The main question I have, then, is whether there's any way I can avoid the need to pay full whack for the new connection.
If we're stuck having to make this connection, is it possible to reduce the costs in any way? I notice there are 'A' and 'B' type connections. The former seems to be for developers who will take responsibility for the digging up and making good - is there any point at all in a private individual attempting to take this course? (We'd use professional contractors with the relevant skills and ticket(s), of course).
One thought I had was to request a meter now as a separate action. I understand they need to supply that unless there's a good practical reason stopping them. That might at least reduce the cost of what needs to be done later (ie, they'll bear the cost of that now, so we won't have to later).
Also, the estimate they gave us is just a single lump sum, including infrastructure charge. Do we have a right to see a breakdown of the charges?
Thanks in advance for any advice you might be able to offer.
cheers
Jack
As mentioned in my intro thread, my wife and I are about to build a new house. We're replacing a very small 2 bed 1950s bungalow with a 4 bed house. To give you some context, the bungalow is set behind the other houses on our road, at the end of a 45m driveway. There's a stopcock (but no meter) just inside the boundary. The mains is across the road from the driveway.
We haven't gone for planning yet but we're far enough along the process that we're starting to talk to utilities about connections. One thing we thought we'd at least look into is taking the opportunity to replace as much of the old pipework and cables as makes financial sense. Seems a reasonable time to do it, given we're going to be making a massive mess of the place anyway!
We spoke to South East Water and had to pay £116 for a survey and cost estimate. They've now come back with an eye-watering £2047.26 estimate for a new connection with stopcock and meter. They've told my wife on the phone that we can use the existing connection as the basis for the temporary building supply, but that we need to install a new connection right back to the mains when it comes to connecting the new house. This is apparently because of potential "contamination" of the water by the building supply.
I might be (ok, am) completely ignorant about all this, but that doesn't sound right. South East Water themselves will set up a new building supply connection that can subsequently be used as a permanent supply. So what could they be talking about?
I feel as though they're taking the opportunity to have us pay for the cost of a meter and a new connection back to the mains that they won't have to touch for a decade or more - and yet that side of the pipework is meant to be their responsibility.
The main question I have, then, is whether there's any way I can avoid the need to pay full whack for the new connection.
If we're stuck having to make this connection, is it possible to reduce the costs in any way? I notice there are 'A' and 'B' type connections. The former seems to be for developers who will take responsibility for the digging up and making good - is there any point at all in a private individual attempting to take this course? (We'd use professional contractors with the relevant skills and ticket(s), of course).
One thought I had was to request a meter now as a separate action. I understand they need to supply that unless there's a good practical reason stopping them. That might at least reduce the cost of what needs to be done later (ie, they'll bear the cost of that now, so we won't have to later).
Also, the estimate they gave us is just a single lump sum, including infrastructure charge. Do we have a right to see a breakdown of the charges?
Thanks in advance for any advice you might be able to offer.
cheers
Jack
