Providing a phone line in rental property

debhyp

Hi,


Is it a requirement to provide a working phone line in a rental property or more of just a courtesy to tenants?


The property doesn't have a phone line or phone sockets at the moment.


I've read that it can cost £140 to have a line put in. The other option would be to sign up for a broadband deal for 12mths to waiver that fee but then we're paying for the line rental etc for 12mths, unless tenant is willing to take over the line rental/bb costs.


Thanks in advance

davidmcn

I would say it's entirely a matter for the tenant.

Morbier

No legal requirement for a phone line, I would have thought. Similarly for a TV aerial.
Most properties (whether for sale or rent) will have a phone line nowadays and I suppose it's bad luck if you own/rent one without.

If you're landlord, it would certainly make it more marketable if you installed one. Speaking as a tenant, it would be a deal breaker if I had no access to the internet.

dimbo61

Many people don't want or have a home phone.
Broadband on the other hand is often considered essential.
However new tenants can order and shop round for best deal

Morbier

dimbo61 wrote: »

Many people don't want or have a home phone.
Broadband on the other hand is often considered essential.
However new tenants can order and shop round for best deal

Yes they can just use the broadband and not plug in a landline phone, but they still need a phone line in the first place. Not many tenants would go to the expense of having a line installed, other than some guarantee from the LL that it would be a long-term tenancy.

davidmcn

I'm a tenant who preferred cable from Virgin, in which case a BT line wouldn't have helped me any.

debhyp

Thanks for your comments. We are limited to providers in this area so it would always have to be a BT line (no Virgin coverage).
I think I'll leave it for now and once we have lined up a tenant we can have that discussion and see what the best option is.