Legal help with DNO / Electricity supply

john_r1

We are buying a piece of land with outbuildings that have been out of use for approximately 10 years.

A few years ago the neighbour built a house on the plot adjacent to this land, and commissioned the DNO to set up a 'temporary connection' to the power supply that was servicing the outbuildings we're now purchasing. This was done without formal written permission from the landowner of the outbuildings. The outbuildings were out of use at this point, and the existing supply into the outbuildings didn't cross the neighbour's land at all. No wayleaves / formal permissions were sought or established by the DNO.

The meter boxes and associated apparatus for this 'temporary connection' (the DNO's words, though it's now 6 years old) are on the outbuildings we're purchasing. There's literally a cable coming out of the meter box and then over the wall into the neighbour's house.

The DNO's wayleaves dept have told us that legally this power supply still belongs to the land we're purchasing, although the MPAN is registered to the neighbour's house. They closed our case for a new connection some months ago and told us no work was required; we had a connection, and the neighbour needed to apply for a new connection. They told us that we would be responsible for disconnecting the neighbour from this power supply.

The latest is that someone higher up at the DNO has got involved and told us they cannot cut the neighbour off and that it is us that needs to pay for a new supply.

The twist is this: The existing supply cannot be split into two due to capacity. It's a semi-rural area, and a new connection was quoted at being over £16k (around 40 metres of road, 100 metres of driveway). And there's apparently a chance they might not be able to get a new supply into either property at all, due to surrounding land being privately owned, and needing permission to lay cables.

We're also aware the neighbour probably has some rights to this supply (they've been connected and paying bills for years) and we don't want to unplug their electricity!

The DNO have as good as admitted that they didn't do their due diligence when connecting the neighbour up to a supply on private land. Essentially they've taken a serious amount of value out of the land we're purchasing as they've removed the power supply to the buildings without permission, and potentially left the property without any power at all.

Struggling to get anywhere with the DNO, they seem to be passing the buck around departments and getting different answers. This has been going on for almost six months now.

Has anyone ever come across this kind of scenario before?

What are the DNO's responsibilities here? What are our rights / our neighbour's rights? Who pays for the new connection? When might statutory powers come into play? (if they can't obtain permission from surrounding landowners)

...is this one for the ombudsman?

Any help appreciated... (hope this is in the right place – apologies for the lengthy post!)

FullForce

john_r1 wrote: »

We are buying a piece of land with outbuildings that have been out of use for approximately 10 years.

A few years ago the neighbour built a house on the plot adjacent to this land, and commissioned the DNO to set up a 'temporary connection' to the power supply that was servicing the outbuildings we're now purchasing. This was done without formal written permission from the landowner of the outbuildings. The outbuildings were out of use at this point, and the existing supply into the outbuildings didn't cross the neighbour's land at all. No wayleaves / formal permissions were sought or established by the DNO.

The meter boxes and associated apparatus for this 'temporary connection' (the DNO's words, though it's now 6 years old) are on the outbuildings we're purchasing. There's literally a cable coming out of the meter box and then over the wall into the neighbour's house.

The DNO's wayleaves dept have told us that legally this power supply still belongs to the land we're purchasing, although the MPAN is registered to the neighbour's house. They closed our case for a new connection some months ago and told us no work was required; we had a connection, and the neighbour needed to apply for a new connection. They told us that we would be responsible for disconnecting the neighbour from this power supply.

The latest is that someone higher up at the DNO has got involved and told us they cannot cut the neighbour off and that it is us that needs to pay for a new supply.

The twist is this: The existing supply cannot be split into two due to capacity. It's a semi-rural area, and a new connection was quoted at being over £16k (around 40 metres of road, 100 metres of driveway). And there's apparently a chance they might not be able to get a new supply into either property at all, due to surrounding land being privately owned, and needing permission to lay cables.

We're also aware the neighbour probably has some rights to this supply (they've been connected and paying bills for years) and we don't want to unplug their electricity!

The DNO have as good as admitted that they didn't do their due diligence when connecting the neighbour up to a supply on private land. Essentially they've taken a serious amount of value out of the land we're purchasing as they've removed the power supply to the buildings without permission, and potentially left the property without any power at all.

Struggling to get anywhere with the DNO, they seem to be passing the buck around departments and getting different answers. This has been going on for almost six months now.

Has anyone ever come across this kind of scenario before?

What are the DNO's responsibilities here? What are our rights / our neighbour's rights? Who pays for the new connection? When might statutory powers come into play? (if they can't obtain permission from surrounding landowners)

...is this one for the ombudsman?

Any help appreciated... (hope this is in the right place – apologies for the lengthy post!)

It is not permitted to offer legal advice on MSE; you should consult your solicitor in regards to any legal advice over the land purchase.

If I understand you correctly, you have been quoted £16k to connect electricity to the land.
Simply reflect that in the price you offer to purchase the land.;)

Although you then suggest you may not be able to have a connection at any price. If an electricity supply is important to you, get that finalised before you exhange contracts.
Could you live with a generator of your own? If not, and a mains connection is ultimately deemed impossible, then it sounds like you should not proceed with the purchase.
Your decision.

Owain_Moneysaver

john_r1 wrote: »

The twist is this: The existing supply cannot be split into two due to capacity.

How much capacity would you and the neighbour actually need? Although DNOs usually now install 100A supplies, many older properties had 60A or even 40A supplies.

The obvious answer is to bring the DNO Point of Connection back to your outbuilding, fit the supplier meter there, and then fit two submeters for you and the neighbour to split the supplier's bill.

You'd really need an electrical contractor with experience of submetering and Building Network Operator works.

The legal process involved in electrical connections

How to get an increased electricity supply

If you use LPG or oil for heating and hot water, and forego instant electric showers or storage heaters, you could probably run each house off 30A or less!

You may need additional power during construction work though, so be prepared for a genny for that.