Renting and Landline Phone

savagevixen

Hi,
Can anyone help? I have searched extensively and couldn't find anything on this.
We are moving into a new (old) house tommorrow. It is a large terraced victorian house and has definately had a phoneline in the past.

I phoned BT to change my phoneline from the previous address to the new one, and all the details were taken, and I was told someone would contact me within 5 working days.

When I was in Sainsburys I ahd a call, saying that there was no phoneline in the property and I would have to pay £125 for the wiring/connection. (An engineer has to come out) Frankly I was horrified and have searched and found it is not uncommon. However, if you are renting a property, should it be set up to go?
For example one would assume it had to have running water, heating, electricity, should this not also include a phoneline in this day and age. If an engineer has to come out and work on a house that is NOT mine. And if we move out at the end of the tenancy, then we will have paid for the service. Is this correct?
The actual landlord owned the house (5 beds) and the one next door (also 5 beds) and his family lived in both. I can only assume that the working phoneline was in the other property and thus for the period he lived there, the one we will live in had no landline. Does anyone know my rights?
He also owns 11 other houses so he's no short of a bob or too!

Many thanks in advance

dmg24

However, if you are renting a property, should it be set up to go?

No. You may be able to get the landlord to pay towards the connection fee, but he is not obliged to do so.

PasturesNew

ditto what dmg24 said.

BobProperty

What they said. Ask for a contribution towards it, his next tenant will want it anyway.

savagevixen wrote: »

He also owns 11 other houses so he's no short of a bob or too!

Oooh! Careful, that's a sweeping assumption that'll start another [strike]argument[/strike] discussion. I can think of a few people who own (or owned) several houses who are short of six figures or so.

clutton_2

surely you read your tenancy agreement carefully before you signed it ? did it not itemise which utilities were/were not provided ?

savagevixen

clutton wrote: »

surely you read your tenancy agreement carefully before you signed it ? did it not itemise which utilities were/were not provided ?

....appointment at 12.30 tommorrow to sign tenancy agreement and exchange money/keys. Just wondering what you guys thought of the situation. I will phone the agent in the am, before the rendezvous, as I feel there should be an arrangement regarding this (I hope!) Always pays to be nice, and you don't ask if you don't get!

And I will be reading the tenancy agreement.

savagevixen

BobProperty wrote: »

What they said. Ask for a contribution towards it, his next tenant will want it anyway.

Oooh! Careful, that's a sweeping assumption that'll start another [strike]argument[/strike] discussion. I can think of a few people who own (or owned) several houses who are short of six figures or so.

If people want to [STRIKE]argue[/STRIKE] discuss that, then they can feel free. I met this man, he is definately very wealthy, I saw his car and his wife and his kids. Yes he has mortgages on some of his properties, but he obviously has a thriving business and frankly £125 is a lot less to him than it is too me. So I would be happy to meet half way.

And I am sorry, but I couldn't give too hoots for people who owe six figures and own several houses. If it bothers you, then sort it out, if you manage, then carry on managing.
I would love to own one piddly house for me and my kids, but frankly it's unlikely.

Don't mean to sound rude at all, it's just that I have been in debt and there are things you can do about it, and it has made every penny count even more now!

roses

I think BT charge this to all new customers now, even if there is already a BT socket in the house? They tried to charge me as they said my phone line was inactive so I got cable instead.

ukmike

I think BT charge this to all new customers now, even if there is already a BT socket in the house?

NO,they didn't charge me a penny 6 months ago & i had to have a master socket fitted as only the old style loose wires were inside the house.

bristol_pilot

BT have lost their records of which properties have existing wiring in place, so thay have to tell you that it will be £125 for an engineer to come out. However, if the engineer finds all the wiring in place and you don't require the socket moving, they will re-connect for free. That was the situation when I moved into a new rented place recently - the previous tenant had not had a BT line (he was on cable) but the BT wiring was still in place from the tenant before so they did not charge the fee. However, the engineer told me that BT will not commit to this in advance in case the engineer turns up to find that the BT wiring has been ripped out.

pinkshoes

IF it's had a phone line in the past, then it's free to reconnect. The £125 is paid by the first person to ever connect the line.

The bit about an engineer coming out is just a myth to make you think you're getting your moneys worth!! The phone lines are usually put in when a house is built, so it's usually connected using a computer from the comfort of their BT offices... I don't know why they always tell you an engineer has to come out!?!?

You can always ask the landlord to pay, but in "this day and age", most people have mobiles, so a landline telephone is rather old hat... If you want internet through the phone line, then you'll probably have to pay for it to be connected, but make sure you tell BT that it HAS been connected in the past!