Buying home and old owner won't release internet line is there anything I can do?

Helpwithhouse

I am completing on a house next Friday the 28th. I've already exchanged and I am attempting to finish everything in preparation of the move.

I contacted Sky broadband to complete a home move so I won't have to wait for internet at my new property but the current owner is refusing to release the line so I may have to wait two weeks after moving in for the internet.

The entire house buying process has been awful with the current owner delaying and creating difficult at every turn. We think he's quite bitter towards us as we got the property for less than the asking price (just 2% less but it'd been on the market for two years!)
Anyway is there anything we can do at all. After having called Sky they're telling me the owner is outright refusing to release the line to us and all Sky can do is force a take over on the 11th.

Do you think maybe our conveyancing solicitor can help? Or is this just a case that we're stuck? It'd be a real pain though as I work from home and my partner is doing her masters


imgur.com/a/gMeER (copy of chat with Sky)

anselld

They will not release the line before completion. Why would they?

So sort it out at completion. It should be straightforward. I don't know about Sky but last move I did with virgin it was sorted within hours.

Can you not tether to your mobile short term?

Helpwithhouse

anselld wrote: »

They will not release the line before completion. Why would they?

So sort it out at completion. It should be straightforward. I don't know about Sky but last move I did with virgin it was sorted within hours.

Can you not tether to your mobile short term?

The problem is this is for after completion.

And how can we sort it out at completion it needs to be done two weeks in advance for a home move. The vendor knows we're buying his house so refusing to release the line seems petty on his part.

Cornucopia

Get something mobile based for a temporary fix. If you are moving house you will have more important things to worry about than this.

Hoploz

I think he is concerned his Internet will go before he leaves.

My seller managed to get my phone line and Internet cut off a week before we were due to move. I had no say, it just happened.

What was really annoying was having to organise getting it all put back on again due to him deciding to pull out at the 11th hour.

So tbh if I was asked about this another time, I would be refusing too.

looknohands

Are you relying on a sale? When we were FTB we just gave ourselves time after completion to switch everything and stayed at our rented house for a month, got an engineer in and then when we did move in internet took 20 mins to set up, easy!

Helpwithhouse

Whilst I understand the seller not wanting to lose his internet. If wither one of us pull out now it'll cost us ten grand so I think he must know we're moving in next Friday so why wouldn't be prepared to have cut off and moved then?

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

I wouldn't do it if I were the vendor. No matter what these companies tell you, there is always the propensity for them to mess it up and leave me high and dry without Internet. Just wait.

deFoix

For goodness sake, just go to a mobile phone shop and buy a data sim card for 20 quid.

Chanes

Buy an EE mobile dongle thingy or tether to your mobile, that's what we did until we had the internet a week after moving in.

thegirlintheattic

Sky has to disconnect the old line to connect you. That is why the vendor won't do it as he doesn't want to be without internet for a week (which IMO is more important before a move for sorting out last minute stuff).

We've just set this up with Sky but as the house we're moving to is empty we can set it up, we still get cut off a week before we are connected at the new place.