Is Your Plot Connected?

In order to be liveable a home needs services and, in the main, these are provided by the statutory providers, although not always — for, increasingly, the emphasis is moving towards at least a partial requirement for self-sufficiency.

Foul sewerage (toilets, etc.)

Although it is entirely possible to be self-sufficient with on-site sewerage arrangements, this is not allowed under the Building Regulations where, if one is available, connection to the mains foul sewer is mandatory. This effectively precludes on-site sewerage systems for most suburban and many village plots. Work to the drains within a site can be carried out by the main contractor or builders but work to an adopted main sewer, such as a new connection, has to be done by approved contractors. There are lists of these nominated contractors available from the local authorities.

In many cases, it is advisable to delegate this work to the supply company, who will, if necessary, connect to the sewer in the road and bring a tail into the site to a new manhole, to which the site drainage can run. The cost of this is going to be different with each site but on a recent site for a bungalow in Gloucestershire, the cost of the works to provide a lateral drain connection to a new manhole within the site, was £2,614. This cost does not attract VAT.

Surface water sewage (rain)

In practically all cases surface water is not allowed to connect to the public drains and is required to be dealt with and disposed of on site. Normally this is by means of a soakaway but, if one is available, it can, with the approval of the Environment Agency, be directed to a water course or ditch. New legislation concerning sustainable drainage requires that there be some form of attenuation of surface water: 100% in flood risk areas and 55% in other areas. This means that at the very least rainwater butts or aquifers must be employed or else the runoff should go to ponds or reed beds on site.

Mains water (supply to house)

The supply of potable mains water to the site is often carried out by the same company responsible for the drains. The water supply companies will quote each supply independently according to the availability of the mains. Costs vary but on two bungalows in Gloucestershire, one which required a new road connection cost £681 and the other, which utilised anexisting supply running through the site, cost £340. In both cases VAT was only applied to the actual water required for construction, which formed approximately £45 of the invoice. There was also an infrastructure charge to pay, deferred until connection of £553.60 for each house.

The supply is brought from the main to a stopcock just inside the plot, then to another stopcock, sometimes called the rising main, within the building. All external pipework must be buried to a depth of at least 750mm and the entry into the building must be by means of a sleeve set at this depth. If this is not possible, an insulated duct may be employed.

In most parts of the UK where an independent supply is preferred, it is possible for a borehole to encounter potable water, with the costs likely to be between £5,000 and £20,000. In some cases, additional purification may be necessary and this can be done by means of filtration or by chemical or ultra-violet treatment. Rainwater can be harvested for domestic purposes (reducing the requirement for potable water) but may need treatment. The cost of a rainwater harvesting tank and a pump to lift it up will be around £2,000 but it is unlikely to be able to serve all the water needs of a family home, although it can cover most of the requirements for WC flushing and washing machines. Typical homes require around 150 litres a day and it’s possible to reduce this requirement through a range of measures, from low-flush WCs to low-flow showers.

Electricity

Even if all the other houses around your site are supplied by overhead wires, the Electricity Board will require that any new connection is underground. Once again, only approved contractors can carry out works within the highway and it is usual, therefore, for the supply company to bring the supply from the mains to an underground junction just inside the site, from which the supply to the meter box is run through below-ground ducting. This on-site ducting and the purchase and installation of the meter box is the selfbuilder’s responsibility. The costs of bringing the supply to site will vary – dramatically in some cases – but a recent example was £1,597 plus VAT.

It is also possible to generate one’s own electricity. A full array of photovoltaic (PV) cells on the roof will cost between £12,000 and £25,000 but are likely to be made more financially viable by the imminent introduction of Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) from April this year (the alternative is storing the excess energy in batteries). Generators will cost about £5,000 but if that’s the route you’re going down perhaps a combined heat and power (CHP) unit is the better option. If you want to generate your own electricity using the wind, you need to be in a position to install a larger turbine costing between £10,000 and £16,000. It’s also well worth having a specific site survey to ensure there is enough wind resource to make it a realistic option. A few lucky people will have access to and the facilities for a hydroelectric system, with costs of installation running at around £10,000.

Gas

Strictly speaking, gas isn’t an essential service as there are many alternatives. But the fact remains that, if available, gas is the cheapest and most efficient way of bringing power to the home in terms of both initial capital outlay and running costs. The days of new connections being free to those living on a street where there is a gas mains have sadly long gone. These days the cost of connection even in a suburban street is likely to be around £1,250 plus VAT. The self-builder will have to provide and lay the service ducting from the boundary to the meter box and the Electricity Board will then install the pipework from the mains and install the meter.

Telephone

It’s possible to do away with the need for a land line but most still prefer to stick with the traditional telephone line. BT charges £124.99 to bring a line into the house with it providing the line, usually underground to a main point in the home through ducting that has to be laid by the self-builder to a position just inside the boundary. This is actually a pretty good deal as it’s the same fee as you’d be charged for moving into an existing house without a connection.

The Alternatives to Mains Connections

A rainwater harvesting solution (illustration from rainwaterharvesting.co.uk) will reduce the consumption requirement from a water supply, but you will still need a source of potable water. A borehole is one (expensive) alternative.

You don’t need to connect to the mains gas, although it is the cheapest source of heating fuel. In rural areas the most common option is oil (BELOW) supplied locally, although green alternatives have risen in popularity in recent years — particularly heat pumps and biomass boilers.

You can generate your own electricity supply and those sites in rural areas would probably benefit from a self-sufficient solution. A solar PV array (such as the Solar Century 21e, shown below as part of a Sandtoft roof slate installation) has relatively high capital costs, but the onset of Feed-in Tariffs in April is likely to make it much more viable.

Further Reading:

• Bringing in Services to a Self-build Site
• How to Self-build or Renovate in the Countryside
• Off Mains Drainage Solutions