Openreach equipment on my house

PerhapsLater

There is a BT/Openreach box on the side of my house with wires from the box serving at least 3 neighbouring houses. I have lived here for 5 years and am not aware of any agreement existing for the box being attached to my property. There is a telegraph pole only a few metres away (on public property) that has clear access to the relevant properties. All houses in the area are being upgraded with external insulation and new roughcasting. To complete the work on my property the junction box needs to be removed and either re-sited when work is complete or, preferably, moved to the adjacent telegraph pole (from which there is already a cable going to the junction box).
I contacted Openreach who were extremely unhelpful and stated that they would attend and quote for the removal but the quotation would cost £1000 and full costs of removing or re-siting the box would be notified after the quote was completed.
I have also spoken to the contractors carrying out the insulation and rough-casting but they categorically refuse to become involved and told me to contact Openreach. The insulation work is partially funded by local and national government grants under their Green Agenda but this does not mean any assistance from either of these bodies.
I am looking for any advice on how I can progress this issue (fairly time critical as the insulation programme has already started and should be completed within the next 4-6 weeks), what route to follow and any appeal / formal procedures that I can pursue as to my understanding the BT/Openreach junction box on my wall is effectively "trespassing".

Neil_Jones

I'd say if it was there before you moved in you need to do some digging.  There maybe a Wayleave in place.

It's not "trepass" if there's a wayleave in place, however Openreach do have legal powers via a court order for this sort of situation so even then its still not trepass.

Robin9

Who is actually in charge of the project ? Local Council ?

ladruid

PerhapsLater said:

I am looking for any advice on how I can progress this issue (fairly time critical as the insulation programme has already started and should be completed within the next 4-6 weeks), what route to follow and any appeal / formal procedures that I can pursue as to my understanding the BT/Openreach junction box on my wall is effectively "trespassing".

I think you will need to get the assistance of a legal professional that has background with property law. If it is attached to your property then this sort of info should have been highlighted by your surveys and searches when you purchased the property (if done correctly).

You could try emailing your local MP and explaining the situation, and see if they can offer any help.

I suspect you have little to no chance to sort this personally within your timescale...

iniltous

Is the property an ex local authority property ?, historically some local authority’s had an arrangement whereby, especially on terrace housing , a ‘BT’ block could be fitted at one side of a terrace and individual cables  ran from it to each property on the terrace , this could mean someone having neighbours ‘wires’ attached to their property and someone could have the distribution block and other peoples wires on their wall , this was long before councils were required to sell off their housing stock , so at the time the tenants of each property and had no ‘right’ to object, but why would they , as it meant should they want a phone line provided it would be a relatively simple job to provide it.
If someone purchases a property in this situation then the wiring and block was provided legitimately at the time , and was ( or should have been ) pointed out by the solicitor conducting the conveyance .
Its a grey area if a wayleave was never provided to BT by the council because it was covered by a general covenant or understanding between the local authority and BT or it’s predecessor, requesting removal of something that predates the current house owner’s purchase isn’t necessarily going to be considered, and if removing it is insisted upon by the homeowner , it may well be chargeable work , obviously if it’s not ex local authority and no wayleave exists that a different proposition 

35har1old

PerhapsLater said:

There is a BT/Openreach box on the side of my house with wires from the box serving at least 3 neighbouring houses. I have lived here for 5 years and am not aware of any agreement existing for the box being attached to my property. There is a telegraph pole only a few metres away (on public property) that has clear access to the relevant properties. All houses in the area are being upgraded with external insulation and new roughcasting. To complete the work on my property the junction box needs to be removed and either re-sited when work is complete or, preferably, moved to the adjacent telegraph pole (from which there is already a cable going to the junction box).
I contacted Openreach who were extremely unhelpful and stated that they would attend and quote for the removal but the quotation would cost £1000 and full costs of removing or re-siting the box would be notified after the quote was completed.
I have also spoken to the contractors carrying out the insulation and rough-casting but they categorically refuse to become involved and told me to contact Openreach. The insulation work is partially funded by local and national government grants under their Green Agenda but this does not mean any assistance from either of these bodies.
I am looking for any advice on how I can progress this issue (fairly time critical as the insulation programme has already started and should be completed within the next 4-6 weeks), what route to follow and any appeal / formal procedures that I can pursue as to my understanding the BT/Openreach junction box on my wall is effectively "trespassing".

BT and Openreach are two seperate companies 

ladruid

iniltous said:

this could mean someone having neighbours ‘wires’ attached to their property and someone could have the distribution block and other peoples wires on their wall

Does that stop you ripping out every cable attached to your property though... I bet BT would sort it pretty quickly if multiple neighbours ended up complaining Internet went down...

"Would you mind if we attach these cables to your house?"... "Sure, no worries, what's fair compensation? say £100 a month rental for the space on my property... or I guess you find another way, like that pole right there..."

**evil grin**

Eldi_Dos

@PerhapsLater

Get in touch with Openreach Plant Protection Officer, they will be aware what the latest policy is in dealing with situations like yours.
With more and more buildings being clad and insulated it is something they will be dealing with more often than before.

Any costs will not be carried by you, I assume it would be part of the tendering process who is responsible for them.

Call or go to Local Councillor and explain what the problem is.

Jonboy_1984

Is it possible the box is classed as a common service "which serve the property jointly with other properties" and referred to in the 4th schedule of the property deeds?

If so mine states that any costs to "renew and relay when necessary" should be equally shared by all properties connected to them....

gt94sss2

ladruid said:

iniltous said:

this could mean someone having neighbours ‘wires’ attached to their property and someone could have the distribution block and other peoples wires on their wall

Does that stop you ripping out every cable attached to your property though... I bet BT would sort it pretty quickly if multiple neighbours ended up complaining Internet went down...

I know you were probably jesting but before anyone actually tries this be aware they would be facing a very large bill for damaging Openreach property + possible criminal charges.

ladruid

gt94sss2 said:

I know you were probably jesting but before anyone actually tries this be aware they would be facing a very large bill for damaging Openreach property + possible criminal charges.

The 1st line being a question and the grins at the end affirm your reasoned conclusion of impish jesting.

But it does raise the question, if there is no mention on the deed of a wayleave, and their cables cross your property, if removing them would be classed as criminal damage or not. Openreach has broad statute flyover rights with a few cravats. I am not aware of any such rights at ground level unless a wayleave is agreed.

https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/obtaining-wayleaves

Specifically this section...

If you're the land owner and would like more information about apparatus on your land

Please complete the OFCOM statutory code notice (Paragraph 39(1)) in full.  You can download the form from the Ofcom Templates notices page and then email us with the information.