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New House - New Pole with 11000kVA cables

Legacy_user
Legacy_user Posts: 0 Newbie
in House buying, renting & selling
My wife and I have been looking at new houses. We visited a developer's site yesterday and found a lovely property albeit for the fact that it has a new wooden pole situated about 30 ft into the garden with 2 bright steel stays extending towards the kitchen window. Further investigation has revealed that the original farmland site had an overhead cable running across it. The developer has paid for two poles which allow the cable between them to be buried underground. I am told that the pole in question is now firmly enshrined in the property deeds and nothing can be done about moving it.

We like the property but the post and, in particular, the metal stays are a big turn off and a potential difficulty if we ever want to sell the house. The developer has said that other potential purchasers have had similar concerns about the pole. Thoughts?
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Comments

  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,100 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper
    If you are not used to the use of overhead lines in the countryside then they can come as a bit of a surprise. Yes they may put questions in the mind when you come to sell as they have as yours.


    PS its 11,000 volts not KVA
    Never pay on an estimated bill
  • Cakeguts
    Cakeguts Posts: 7,627 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    You will not be able to move this pole. It is going to stay there. I will put people off when you come to sell as it is putting people off when the developer is trying to sell it.

    If you don't like the pole in the garden buy one that doesn't have a pole.
  • System
    System Posts: 178,093 Community Admin
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Robin9 wrote: »
    If you are not used to the use of overhead lines in the countryside then they can come as a bit of a surprise. Yes they may put questions in the mind when you come to sell as they have as yours.


    PS its 11,000 volts not KVA

    I stand corrected. I have just had a chat with the MD of the firm building the homes. Even he expressed surprise that the post has been sited so close to the house when there was a lot of garden, and a drop at the bottom of the garden to a hedgerow, to spare.

    If the post had been off to the side and not firmly in front of the kitchen window then I would be less concerned. Sadly, there are no other properties within our price range left on the site. We will start our search again. Thanks all.
  • hazyjo
    hazyjo Posts: 15,470 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    You may find 'second hand houses' cheaper than new builds. Is there a reason you're buying new?
    2023 wins: *must start comping again!*
  • Cakeguts
    Cakeguts Posts: 7,627 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Hengus wrote: »
    I stand corrected. I have just had a chat with the MD of the firm building the homes. Even he expressed surprise that the post has been sited so close to the house when there was a lot of garden, and a drop at the bottom of the garden to a hedgerow, to spare.

    If the post had been off to the side and not firmly in front of the kitchen window then I would be less concerned. Sadly, there are no other properties within our price range left on the site. We will start our search again. Thanks all.

    Well if the developer is having a problem selling this house even though it is cheaper than the others you would have a terrible problem when it is no longer new.
  • EachPenny
    EachPenny Posts: 12,239 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
    Hengus wrote: »
    Further investigation has revealed that the original farmland site had an overhead cable running across it. The developer has paid for two poles which allow the cable between them to be buried underground. I am told that the pole in question is now firmly enshrined in the property deeds and nothing can be done about moving it.

    I don't understand this. It is common during the development planning process to get utility plant, especially overhead HV cables, relocated to make the development better. Undergrounding cables that were overhead is a good example... the developer pays a considerable sum to get rid of unsightly or inconvenient plant and passes that cost on to each home in the development.

    So, in doing that the aim would be to leave all the properties unencumbered by utility plant. If poles are still needed they would be moved as close as possible to the boundary to minimise the impact. Remember, the developer is paying a lot for this, so wants to maximise the reduction in adverse impact on the sale value of the properties.

    Which leads me to wonder how this house has ended up with a HV pole plus stays in the 'middle' of the garden. If I didn't know better I'd assume that someone has made a male-chicken up with the plans and the poles weren't located where it was originally intended, or (perhaps unlikely) the house and garden aren't where they were originally intended to be.

    Either way I wouldn't buy a new build with HV poles in the garden. I'd be reluctant to buy a new build in any circumstances, but 'legacy' infrastructure like HV poles is not something anyone would expect to find in the garden of that kind of property.... and I suspect it would put most potential purchasers off. (but I'd have no qualms at all about buying an old property with a pole or two in the garden.... it adds 'charm' in that situation ;))
    "In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"
  • patman99
    patman99 Posts: 8,532 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker Photogenic First Post
    Who actually owns the pole ?. If they have moved the cables underground and no longer use the pole for cabling, would they not be willing to remove it?. After all, you can charge them £12 a year for having their equipment on your property (yes, I know you have not actually purchased the property).
    Never Knowingly Understood.

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  • cjmillsnun
    cjmillsnun Posts: 615 Forumite
    patman99 wrote: »
    Who actually owns the pole ?. If they have moved the cables underground and no longer use the pole for cabling, would they not be willing to remove it?. After all, you can charge them £12 a year for having their equipment on your property (yes, I know you have not actually purchased the property).

    This is one of the poles at each end of the undergrounding.
    2.88 kWp System, SE Facing, 30 Degree Pitch, 12 x 240W Conergy Panels, Samil Solar River Inverter, Havant, Hampshire. Installed July 2012, acquired by me on purchase of house in August 2017
  • EachPenny
    EachPenny Posts: 12,239 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
    patman99 wrote: »
    Who actually owns the pole ?. If they have moved the cables underground and no longer use the pole for cabling, would they not be willing to remove it?. After all, you can charge them £12 a year for having their equipment on your property (yes, I know you have not actually purchased the property).

    Probably not in this case. When alterations are made to the system to facilitate developer the network operator usually requires some form of waiver on any charges for wayleaves etc.
    "In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Photogenic First Post
    EachPenny wrote: »
    I'd have no qualms at all about buying an old property with a pole or two in the garden.... it adds 'charm' in that situation ;)
    As someone with both HV and stepped-down cables on their land, I'd say there's also quite a difference between the sorts of poles now used.

    The HV poles were upgraded here in 2014 to allow for larger farm machinery, so I expect that these, being new, will be similar.

    On the one hand, the new wires are less obtrusive in the fields, because they're at a higher level, but the poles are much more substantial and not something that could easily blend into a garden setting.

    Also, with most country property, the stepped down supply is fed from transformers just outside the garden boundary, so it's usually possible to hide the larger pole/transformer with foliage or an outbuilding. We don't see ours.

    I too suspect that this is a mistake. I'm not bothered by the 11kv lines crossing the fields and rarely "see" them, but there's no way I'd want them, or especially the supporting pole, in the garden of a modern, estate type of house.
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