Electricity - wayleave agreement HELP

lalass

United Utilities want to do away with the over head electricity cables and put them underground through the centreof the village. But to supply my cottage and the two neighbouring ones they asked my neighbour to sign a wayleave agreement to agree to have external cables running up the side and along the eaves of her cottage to supply the three properties with electric. She refused to sign it as she doesn't want the cables on her property.United Utilities have now wrote to me asking the same thing but I don't want it neither as the eaves are very low practically sitting on top of the windows, so presumably the cables will run in front of the windows. Apart from this I have been told it can devalue a property, and that it is just a cheaper option for United Utilities.
What happens if i refuse to sign the agreement and any advice in how to word a letter to the company stating i refuse to sign the agreement.

magyar

lalass wrote: »

United Utilities want to do away with the over head electricity cables and put them underground through the centreof the village. But to supply my cottage and the two neighbouring ones they asked my neighbour to sign a wayleave agreement to agree to have external cables running up the side and along the eaves of her cottage to supply the three properties with electric. She refused to sign it as she doesn't want the cables on her property.United Utilities have now wrote to me asking the same thing but I don't want it neither as the eaves are very low practically sitting on top of the windows, so presumably the cables will run in front of the windows. Apart from this I have been told it can devalue a property, and that it is just a cheaper option for United Utilities.
What happens if i refuse to sign the agreement and any advice in how to word a letter to the company stating i refuse to sign the agreement.

A buried line is not a cheaper option for UU, it's a more expensive one, so I'm wondering why they're doing it. And I would imagine that if anything having buried cables in your village will increase the house values rather than decrease them.

This is slightly strange situation because the cables are already there. If they weren't, and this was a new connection then in theory UU would have the right to do a compulsory purchase order and force you to accept the wayleave. But to be honest I don't know what the situation is if the connection is already there.

Do you know why UU are asking for this? Are they offering to pay you a rental for your land?

lalass

magyar wrote: »

A buried line is not a cheaper option for UU, it's a more expensive one, so I'm wondering why they're doing it. And I would imagine that if anything having buried cables in your village will increase the house values rather than decrease them.

This is slightly strange situation because the cables are already there. If they weren't, and this was a new connection then in theory UU would have the right to do a compulsory purchase order and force you to accept the wayleave. But to be honest I don't know what the situation is if the connection is already there.

Do you know why UU are asking for this? Are they offering to pay you a rental for your land?

They want to replace the overhead cables as they are now time served and do not meet the safety levels. But quite frankly I don't want them attached to my house. Their original plan was to put them on a neighbours house as she has easier access, but she has refused them. No money has been mentioned but I'm not interested in that.

magyar

lalass wrote: »

They want to replace the overhead cables as they are now time served and do not meet the safety levels. But quite frankly I don't want them attached to my house. Their original plan was to put them on a neighbours house as she has easier access, but she has refused them. No money has been mentioned but I'm not interested in that.

Then you can just say no. You don't need to write to the company or anything, you can just refuse to sign. The danger is that they could in theory go for a compulsory purchase order, but that is a very long process with no guarantee of success for them.

Kilty_2

I bet you'll be quick to moan when the existing poor health OHL faults and you go off supply.

magyar

Kilty wrote: »

I bet you'll be quick to moan when the existing poor health OHL faults and you go off supply.

I have to say that was my first thought, too...

But then I thought that if the neighbour's house had easier access, then it does sound more unreasonable or him/her to disallow the wayleave. Ultimately without seeing the layout of the houses, it's impossible to say what's 'fair'.

PNPSUKNET

They could always refuse to supply power on safety grounds....

magyar

What is unclear here is exactly what the current route is from the OHL to the houses? Normally the OHL goes to a local transformer and then underground to the houses. So replacing an OHL with underground cabling shouldn't affect the houses themselves.