Cost of connecting to water network set to increase for new housing developments
DEVELOPERS face being hit with higher fees to connect new housing schemes to the water network.
Irish Water has proposed increasing charges for housing schemes of 25 or more units, but the cost will fall for one-off homes.
There are currently 57 different connection charging regimes, with over 900 different connection charges, set out by individual local authorities. For a one-off home, the average charge for water and sewerage is €9,797 – this will drop to €5,636 under a proposal from Irish Water. For developments of 25 units, it will increase from an average of €120,897 to €140,900. For 200-unit schemes, it will rise from €811,068 to €1,127,200.
The proposals, which are out for public consultation until March 23 next, will fuel fears of increases in new house prices due to the extra costs, which will likely be passed on to purchasers of new homes.
But Irish Water said the proposed connection fee for a development of 25 homes was lower than that which currently applied in areas of high housing demand including Dublin City Council (€206,836), Cork City Council, most parts of Galway County Council and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown. The new charge will be higher than those that apply in South Dublin, Cork County and Fingal.
The utility added that 85pc of housing estate connections were for between two and 30 residential units. It expects to connect 51,000 new customers out to 2021 with expected revenues of €315m.