11kv 33kv underground cables in property boundary

Crazystar

Hello All,

My solicitor search reports have revealed the presence of a 11kv underground cable running from side garden to back garden and another 33kv running in middle of back garden. These are southern electric cables and not serving this property.

I would like to know if these cables can be harmful and will I have trouble selling this property in future due to the presence of these cables.There is an easement on title deeds that southern electric have the rights to access the property for repairs.

Thanks

phill99

They are only a danger if you put a digger through them. There are thousands of properties in the UK that have cables running throught them without issue.

Chanes

The first things I've done on reading your post is google it:

http://www.emfs.info/sources/underground/

This was the first hit.

jjlandlord

Chanes wrote: »

The first things I've done on reading your post is google it:

http://www.emfs.info/sources/underground/

This was the first hit.

Always be very careful with these websites on electromagnetic fields and health.
E.g. the link above claims that the magnetic field of buried cable is higher than the field of overhead cables. That may be true but the figures they give for both cases means that in either way the field is weaker that the natural magnetic field of Earth...

Chanes

jjlandlord wrote: »

Always be very careful with these websites on electromagnetic fields and health.
E.g. the link above claims that the magnetic field of buried cable is higher than the field of overhead cables. That may be true but the figures they give for both cases means that in either way the field is weaker that the natural magnetic field of Earth...

I'm just saying that when people aren't sure about something they would google it; this is what they would read. Or worse. Or better. Or whatever. Does this affect the re-sale value or appeal? The OP can decide based on the responses he gets I suppose, but look how a debate could open up based on one google search.

davidmcn

The restriction on development may put some people off (does this mean no-build areas at both the side and the back?).

And irrational though it may be, some people just won't like the idea of high voltage wires under the garden.

But I wouldn't consider either to be a dealbreaker.

nidO

It won't affect resale values when you come to sell it, you'll just have slightly fewer potential buyers because the nutters won't want it.

moneyistooshorttomention

Never mind "nutters" - a lot of us gardeners wouldn't want it either.

By now - I'd have already cut through those cables by accident more than once in the course of doing outside work if I'd not known about them. Cue for prosecution/suing/etc - delete as applicable.

If I HAD known about them in advance - then I wouldn't have bought the house, as I would have been unable to do what I decided to to my garden.

Even non-gardeners might find themselves having to dig quite some feet down in their garden - eg if they found there was a tree or invasive plant there with deep roots that needed to be removed.

DRP

^agree

I'd not buy the house until i was sure the cables wouldn't affect my future development plans.

I'd say the house is/will be less popular than a house down the street without cables...

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Never mind "nutters" - a lot of us gardeners wouldn't want it either.

By now - I'd have already cut through those cables by accident more than once in the course of doing outside work if I'd not known about them. Cue for prosecution/suing/etc - delete as applicable.

If I HAD known about them in advance - then I wouldn't have bought the house, as I would have been unable to do what I decided to to my garden.

Even non-gardeners might find themselves having to dig quite some feet down in their garden - eg if they found there was a tree or invasive plant there with deep roots that needed to be removed.

Unfortunately, money, you are apt to make inaccurate statements about things you have no experience of, which isn't fair to the OP, or anyone else taking information from this site.

A large % of houses have power cables running through their gardens, otherwise there would be no electricity present in them. These may be at lower voltages than the ones discussed here, but for most people that's academic. I have 11kv on my property and there are no hairs growing on the palms of my hands.....well, not yet anyway!

Cables can also go overhead, and very unsightly they are too, hence a large amount of money recently expended in a town near me, burying these.

You would not "cut through" the cables, as they'd be heavily sheathed in metal and heavy duty plastics, probably with yellow and black warning tape placed above them, all at a depth where you would have severe difficulty climbing out of the hole, had you ever dug one that deep.....and I doubt if you have!

The other point is that you'd probably know the approximate location of the cables, just as we did when excavating a trench across the path of one with a digger last year. It's not a big deal, unless the route taken would affect development potential, as DRP says above.

moneyistooshorttomention

That's the theory - I'm not sure the practice necessarily matches up.