Guides › Connecting a new house
Connecting a new house in Ireland: electricity, water, wastewater and broadband
A new house needs four connections: electricity from ESB Networks, water from Uisce Éireann, a group water scheme
or your own well, wastewater to a public sewer or your own treatment system, and broadband. None of the networks
publish where their pipes and cables run, but you can find out enough before buying a site to spot an expensive
problem, and each provider will answer a direct question.
How InSite helps
- Electricity: the nearest ESB substations, their spare capacity, and whether one is within ESB's 300 m guide.
- Wastewater: whether the site is in a public sewer area, and how much room the treatment plant has. If not, you'll need your own system.
- Water: how existing homes nearby get their water (mains, group scheme or well), plus aquifer and well data if you'll drill.
- Broadband: fibre coverage around the site and National Broadband Plan status, and ready-written emails to ESB Networks and Uisce Éireann.
Free, from public data. Enter an Eircode or address:
or choose a location on the map
Electricity: ESB Networks
- You apply to ESB Networks for a new connection once you have planning permission, and pay a connection charge
quoted for your site.
- The key question is distance: ESB says a house connection typically needs a substation within about 300 m. Further
away, a new substation or line may be needed nearer the site.
- Before buying, check the nearest substations and their spare capacity. See
electricity grid capacity.
Water: mains, group scheme or well
- Public mains: you apply to Uisce Éireann for a connection, which needs a main near enough to
reach. Uisce Éireann publishes its connection charges.
- Group water scheme: in many rural areas, water comes from a scheme run by its members. You apply
to the scheme itself.
- Private well: you drill your own. Yield depends on the ground; see
aquifers and water table depth.
Local authorities offer grants towards private well works.
Where mains water reaches isn't published. The best public clue is how existing homes nearby get their water,
from the Census. See water and sewer connection.
Wastewater
- Inside a public sewer area: apply to Uisce Éireann to connect, if a sewer is near enough and the
treatment plant has capacity.
- Outside one: you'll need your own treatment system, designed after a
site suitability assessment.
Broadband
- Check the area's fibre coverage and whether it's in the National Broadband Plan area. See
broadband.
- A new build won't show up in operators' Eircode checkers until it has an Eircode; ask the operators directly
about connecting a new premises.
Plan the routes
Services usually come in from the road, alongside the entrance. If they need to cross a neighbour's land, you'll need
a wayleave or easement. Check the folio for existing rights. See
reading a folio.
Last reviewed 2026-10-02.
Check any site in Ireland
One free report from public data: terrain, flood risk, geology, archaeology, protected areas, radon, planning history and more.
or choose a location on the map
Related guides
- Before you buy a siteA checklist of what to find out about a site before you buy it: title, planning, access, services, ground and protections.
- Is my site buildable?The constraints that most often stop or shape a new house in Ireland, and how to check each one early.
- Septic tanks and percolation testsThe EPA Code figures: how percolation tests work, what passes, how big the percolation area is, and how far it must be from houses, wells and streams.
- Local need and rural housingWhy councils ask about local need for a one-off rural house, how the policy varies by county, and how to check yours.
- Planning permission, step by stepFrom pre-planning to the final grant: notices, the eight-week decision, further information, appeals and conditions.
- Pre-planning meetingsHow to request a pre-planning meeting with your council, what it can and can't tell you, and how to prepare.
- Site constraints reportsWhat a site constraints or pre-planning report contains, where the information comes from, and what still needs a professional.
All guides →
