Households face £300 water bills

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6173208.stm

Version 0 of 1.

By Martin Cassidy BBC Northern Ireland environment correspondent

Northern Ireland householders face an average bill of £300 following the government's decision to press ahead with the introduction of water charges next April.

The average household water bill will be about £300Regional Development Minister David Cairns says the charges will be phased in over the first two years.

In the first year the highest bill will be £260 while the average household will pay about £100.

People on low incomes will pay reduced tariffs which could be as low as £30 in the first year, while pensioners can apply to have a water meter installed.

More than 200,000 households will be eligible for the reduced tariffs.

The government says it recognises the new charges will be far from popular, but insists that water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland must become self-financing - as they are in other regions of the United Kingdom.

The case the government is making for the introduction of charges is that households in Britain currently pay £1300 a year in council tax and water charges while, in Northern Ireland, the figure is said to be half that at about £600.

More than £3bn is being invested to update a crumbling sewerage and leaking water supply system in Northern Ireland and it is the charges which will provide the new government owned water company with the income to carry out that work.

Two charges

So how will the charges be calculated?

Well there are in fact two charges - one for water and one for sewerage - so if you have a septic tank you would only pay the water charge.

Both the water and sewerage charges will have two elements, firstly a yearly standing charge of £55 and then a variable charge which will be based on the capital value of your home.

The charges will be combined in one annual bill.

In the first year someone living in a typical house priced at £160,000 would pay a total of £130 for water and sewerage.

That bill would increase to £390 when the charges become fully phased in by 2009.

To the relief of people living in houses with high capital values, the variable element of the bill will be capped.

That means once the charges are fully phased in, the highest charge a household would receive for water and sewerage would be about £800.

Non-domestic bills

The government said the average household bill will work out at £334 while the lowest charge will be £90.But it is not just homeowners who will be liable for annual charges for water and sewerage.

From April 2007 all non-domestic customers will also be facing bills.

That will apply to small businesses as well as factories.

But churches, community halls and charities will also be drawn into the water charging net.

A typical high street shop in a provincial town will typically pay £115 in the first year, rising to £450 when the charges are fully phased in.

An Orange or Hibernian hall will start off paying £90, rising to about £330 in 2009.

The water charges are due to be debated in parliament next week while the government says it is determined to stick to its timetable of introducing charges by the spring.