Our home renovation is now in full swing, and getting a new gas connection installed was a milestone item that we just had to get installed for various reasons.
There was no heating system in the property, and as you may know, electric everything becomes VERY expensive as I found out when I had a leasehold flat. Getting a gas connection in was priority for us and we needed it urgently so we could get a boiler in place and a whole new heating system installed by our plumber.
Prior to getting the gas connection and prior to our move, we did some research on timeframes and it seemed to be wildly different from weeks to some months.
So, I thought it would be a good idea to put together the entire process of how to get a new gas connection installed, how much it cost, along with the actual timeframes we worked towards. If you prefer it in video form, take a look at my below video which also details everything.
How To Get A New Gas Connection Installed – The Process
Contact Your Local Utilities – Gas Connection Provider
If you’re purchasing a new property or just moved in and it’s evident there is no gas in the property, the first step is to get in touch with your local utilities company that provides gas connections.
We are based in the South West and the company that serves our area and up into Wales is Wales and West Utilities. You can either ring them or fill in their new supply online application form, from this point it states they will take up to 10 working days to get back to you.
What they also mention prior to this is that you need the keys to the property before enquiring. However, this does put you on the back foot slightly, and we ended up enquiring 7 days before we moved, with the 10 working days it takes them to come back to you, this actually worked in our favour in the end.
When you Google new gas connection supply online, loads of companies come up with sponsored ads. Always go through the relevant utilities company for your area so you can ensure that it is legitimate. I have listed the main suppliers below for other areas outside of the South West so you can easily navigate and make contact with them if you’re currently going through this process.
- South West & Wales – Wales & West Utilities
- North West, West Midlands, East Midlands, South Yorkshire, East of England and North London – Cadent Gas
- North East, Northern Cumbria and much of Yorkshire – Northern Gas Networks
Get A Quote & Make Payment – How Much Does A Gas Connection Cost
Once you have submitted your initial enquiry, they will come back to you with a quote. This is the one that probably everyone is most interested in when they are looking to get a new gas supply into the property.
Costs are going to massively vary on the type of property you have and access points. The cost of our installation for a semi-detached house where most of the other houses already have gas, it is going to be considerably cheaper than a cottage in the middle of nowhere. Generally, terraced and semi-detached houses won’t be a problem to get a supply in, and it will be relatively affordable based on the works that are done. If they need to request permission to close the road, it can take 90 days for this to be approved.
You usually get two options provided to you, one where you do the ground preparation work yourself, and the other where you get them to dig, install the gas and make the area good again.
We went for option 2 which came to £942.00. Having now had the work done, I am SO glad we went down this route because a wall got knocked down and the drive had to be filled back in which was 2 days work for them afterwards. Plus, it’s something you really don’t want to get wrong prior to the installation!
This was the cost for a gas installation in the South West and into a semi detached house. Wales and West Utilities state that it costs them an average of £1,500 to lay a new service.
What Is The Wait Time For A New Gas Connection?
Once payment was made, they booked us in for the first possible appointment. We had read that wait times could be months, and perhaps this is the case in other areas.
From the point of getting the appointment, we had a 5 week wait for the installation. This far exceeded our expectations on the time, and was relatively painless getting to this point.
However, there is still a few other things you need to get done so you’re able to use the gas supply once connected.
Pick Your Gas Supplier
Before your gas has been installed, I would strongly recommend getting your new gas supplier picked in advance. If there is already electric in the property then you may choose to use the same supplier for ease.
Most companies will need to take your details and register you on the system which can take 2-5 working days. More often than not, they cannot register you until the gas connection has been installed or else the system will reject it. When you do register, you will need to provide the supplier with the MPRN number that the utility company supplied to you. If in any doubt, you will be given these instructions by the utility company, here are the instructions we received from ours;
Please note, as this is a new service you will need to arrange your gas supplier to install your meter once we have completed our work. Your gas provider will require your MPRN and the ECV Pressure Tier which is unique to your new meter.
Get Your New Meter Installed – How Long Is The Wait?
If you thought the wait to get your gas connection installed was long, wait until you hear how long it takes to get the meter installed.
Bearing in mind we were living in the property, EDF said it would be an 8 week wait to get an appointment, whilst Octopus Energy said it would be between 2-6 weeks! This was massively going to delay our renovation, despite the fact we still had no heating and it’s the middle of winter.
Eventually, through some kind of loophole which no one spoke about, Octopus Energy said that if you are living at the property, an emergency appointment can be arranged so your meter can be fitted the same day.
We had to wait until our gas was connected, but on the same day after ringing Octopus Energy someone came out within 4 hours on an emergency appointment and our new gas meter was installed! I couldn’t believe it really, but it does make sense as we are living at the property, but something worth bearing in mind as it seems like the other companies don’t like to mention it.
However, I do understand that new gas connections are usually done on vacant properties, so if this is the case, expect up to at least an 8 week wait on getting the gas meter installed.
It goes without saying that in between all of this, your plumber will need to get the new heating system and plumbing installed along with your boiler so you can start cooking on gas!
In a nutshell, this entire process with Wales and West Utilities was totally painless, easy to setup and the waiting time wasn’t very long. They made the area good within 5 days and it was totally worth the £942.00 we had to pay, the meter installation is actually free, but your heating and plumbing installation will set you back into the thousands (maybe need another post all about that!).
There is a fair bit of ringing around to do to get everything sorted in the order you need, but it’s totally worth the process if you are in a location where a new gas supply can easily be connected. If you have any other questions about this, please let me know in the comments below and I’ll come straight back.
