A Wayleave question (new underground HV cable through my garden)

ProDave

I hope this is the right place to discuss this, if not please advise me where.

I own our own house in the countryside.  A few miles away planning is in for a new wind farm.  That needs to connect to the substation a mile or so the other side of me.  Most of the route from the wind farm will cross farmland and a couple of roads, but it appears our little settlement in the countryside, just a single row of houses, stands in the way.  So their cable must pass under one of the gardens, and it appears they have chosen my garden. (I have spoken to all the neighbours and no others have been approached)

So far my discussions with them have been informal and now they want to send a surveyor to survey my garden.

Before I take this process too much further, I want to know exactly what my rights are.  Basic things like do I have to say yes to this cable?  If I say no, can it be forced through under some statutory powers?  And the big one is how much compensation can I likely expect for allowing this? (I feel this is almost ransom strip teritory)

And the other questions are how much would such a cable through the garden devalue the house?  It would no doubt put some buyers off, it would certainly restrict what you can do e.g you could not build over it or even within a certain distance each side of it.

This is in Scotland in case it makes a difference to the answers.

Robin9

You can say no but the electricity company can go for a compulsory wayleave but they would need to prove there is no practical wayleave

See what financial and legal arrangements they propose .   Legally could be a wayleave or an easement. Don't expect to get rich

user1977

Wayleave? Or servitude? The latter is what I'd expect for a transmission cable (more permanent and gets registered against your title).

I would suggest you get them to agree to meet your fees, including those of a surveyor to negotiate whatever the price ought to be. You'll be prohibited from building anything (or planting trees/similar) within a certain width of the cable route.

Ultimately yes they can use compulsory purchase-type powers.

Slithery

Is this the Norfolk Vanguard project?

user1977

Slithery said:

Is this the Norfolk Vanguard project?

Only if they're taking a very convoluted route with the cable!

ProDave said:

This is in Scotland

ProDave

No this is in Scotland.  And no I am not expecting this to make me rich.

If I had the choice, I would just say no, go and find somewhere else for your cable.  The fact they have chosen my garden suggests there is not much other option.  so it is a case of make the best of it that I can.

If it is going to go ahead, I need to be happy from a technical point of view, i.e. they put it where is will be less inconvenience to me and they adequately compensate me for the loss off amenity and loss of value to the property.  It would be good to have an idea from others what that actually might be?  If it were say just a few £hundred in compensation then they can whistle and force it through on some statutory power.

The worst thing is I don't know what to expect which is why I ask the question. 

GDB2222

Do you have an idea of how deep it will be?

ProDave

GDB2222 said:

Do you have an idea of how deep it will be?

No technical details yet.  Perhaps that will follow after the survey and I will get a firm proposal?  All I know at the moment is it will be an underground high voltage cable, I would imagine quite large in size.

I know once there you will be restricted from building anything over it, and within a certain distance either side, but i don't know what that distance is.  And i think someone mentioned restrictions on planting things like trees.  That in itself could be a problem as there are a couple of big trees already in the garden.  It would be a shame if the existing trees prevented it from being installed (not).

Bendy_House

'High Voltage' usually equates to a smaller diameter cable, the higher the smaller. So I wonder if they'd sleeve this in a duct so that in the extremely unlikely event of it needing replacement, it could be pulled through with no affect on your property - ie no build-over restriction required either?

Some folk, as you say, will undoubtedly be put off by the 'thought' of it, 'radiation' and all that malarkey, so yes, I'd expect it to affect your property value to some degree - not a scooby how much, tho'.

Do you have LP on your insurance? Not sure how it might help as this is such a specialised matter, but they may be able to provide a guide as to who you should be talking to?

There must be plenty of firms specialising in putting a value on such wayleaves, as these are pretty common events. How to find them, tho'... I guess read reviews, and see if their customers were pleased with their negotiating outcomes?

user1977

Bendy_House said:

Do you have LP on your insurance? Not sure how it might help as this is such a specialised matter, but they may be able to provide a guide as to who you should be talking to?

This is (at present) a voluntary transaction being proposed, so nothing to so with insured legal cover for claims (any more than selling the house would be).

As I suggested above, it's a pretty common part of such deals that you get your costs covered, so I would be seeking an undertaking from the wind farm that they'll cover such costs and then go and get advice from surveyors/solicitors.

ProDave

I do know the solicitor we have used for all our property transactions and he seems pretty clued up on servitudes and other rights so that would probably be my go to place for legal advice and yes make clear to the wind farm company that any agreement as well as providing some form of compensation must also cover in full all my legal costs.

Re build over or not, I thought the issue was protecting the cable and not either digging it up by mistake (big bang) or exerting force on it from a building on top.  Again I would have to see what restrictions they want to impose.