Council making changes to our flat

Halifax402 · 25 April 2018 at 10:28AM

Westminster City council have decided to build another flat in the basement of the house we own a flat in, there are 4 flats in the terraced house already. As a result of the additional flat they have advised that the electricity supply in entire the house needs to be upgraded to accommodate the new flat.

The existing flats will need to be connected to the new supply and to do this they want to drill a hole above our front door into our flat and run trunking across our ceiling and down the wall all the way to the fuse board in our flat.

Currently the wiring to connect our fuse board is chased into the wall and not on display and the idea of having trunking will ruin the look of our flat and be unsightly and we feel really powerless and bullied.

Do we have any rights as lease holders to insist that they leave our flat as they found it i.e. chase the wires in and not use trucking?

They have told me I can pay for this but that seems unfair as its the council that is creating the flat in the basement and forcing this change upon the rest of the house/block.

Do we have any right with regards to this?

The Project manager said we may have no electricity if we didn't accept this or would have to pay ourselves to get connected at a later date if we didn't let them do the work the way they have outlined.

Any help/advice would be appreciated as this is worrying us and we feel powerless even though the flat is ours and not the councils

eddddy · 25 April 2018 at 11:16AM

So I guess this is the wiring on the supply side, before it reaches your meter.

TBH, I'd guess it's your electricity network operator that is insisting that this work is done, rather than your freeholder.

In which case, you'd need to check your contract with your electricity supplier, to see what it says about them replacing their supply wiring on your property, and what 'making good' they do afterwards etc.

You could try phoning them, as a start.

Tom99 · 25 April 2018 at 11:50AM

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Since there will now be 5 flats rather than 4, have the council suggested how your service charge %age will be altered?[/FONT]

Halifax402 · 25 April 2018 at 12:06PM

I'm not sure who is insisting on the work being done but dont think it has anything to do with my network operator as its the councils contractor who will be carrying out the work to install the new rifle board to accommodate the additional flat, my meter will just be reconnected to the new board so don't think my supplier will have anything to do with it.

Also with regards to my electricity supplier, its unlikely they supply every flat in the building as we're all free to chose suppliers.

Freecall · 25 April 2018 at 12:11PM

Halifax402 wrote: »

Also with regards to my electricity supplier, its unlikely they supply every flat in the building as we're all free to chose suppliers.

You won't be able to choose your own supplier, that is simply a function of where the flat is located.

Don't confuse the company supplying your electricity with the company you signup to for sending you bills.

Halifax402 · 25 April 2018 at 12:27PM

I only have the supplier who bills me and they are not responsible for this work taking place, are you suggesting the freeholder of the building has a different supplier and that they may be insisting on the work being carried out?

But if that is the case I don't own that relationship and the issue that is driving this change is the councils desire to build a new flat in the basement if they were not doing that there would be no need to change anything in the building or my flat.

So is it not reasonable for the party driving the change to pay for the impact of the change?

eddddy · 25 April 2018 at 12:46PM

Halifax402 wrote: »

I only have the supplier who bills me and they are not responsible for this work taking place, are you suggesting the freeholder of the building has a different supplier and that they may be insisting on the work being carried out?

No.

You pay your bill to an electricity supplier, then they pay an electricity distributor who delivers the electricity to your flat.

Typically, the electricity distributor is responsible for the wires on the supply side of your meter. (i.e. the ones being replaced)

If, for example, your flat is located in London or the South East, your electricity distributor will be UK Power Networks.

See: http://www.energynetworks.org/info/faqs/electricity-distribution-map.html

It may be that your council's contractor is a contractor approved by UK Power Networks, so UKPN let them do work on their behalf.

So you can discuss this with whoever you pay your bill to.

(It's a similar concept with broadband, for example. You might pay Sky for your broadband, but it is delivered over Openreach's wires. If the wiring needs to be renewed, you deal with Sky - and Sky deal with Openreach.)

pinklady21 · 25 April 2018 at 12:52PM

We had our supply wiring redone a few years ago. The infrastructure lines were all replaced, and a new supply box was installed on the outside of all the properties. We were told categorically by the installers that there was no choice as to where the wiring went, or as to where the box would go.
A few of us kicked up a fuss - we didn't want new heavy duty wiring crossing our land and interrupting our views, and some of our neighbours objected to the boxes on the front of their houses as they thought them unsightly.

In the end, we managed to get the electricity supplier to re-route the wires underground and into our property, and our neighbour's supply box was installed somewhere inside their house.

So - they will always try the line of least resistance and the cheapest option for them as a first resort.
But, it is your house, so they cannot do any works inside it without your co-operation, I would have thought. You need to find out who is in charge of the works, and speak and/or write to the most senior person you can find.
Advise them you are not happy with the proposals, and what you wish them to do instead. Best of luck!

Norman_Castle · 25 April 2018 at 1:29PM

The Project manager said we may have no electricity if we didn't accept this or would have to pay ourselves to get connected at a later date if we didn't let them do the work the way they have outlined.

Any help/advice would be appreciated as this is worrying us and we feel powerless even though the flat is ours and not the councils

Ask them what rights they have to interfere with the power supply to your home without returning it to its current condition. As you've said, you are happy with the current set up and the changes are not being requested by you and won't benefit you. I would expect the cost of this to be incorporated into the flat conversion costs.

How much are they expecting you to pay?

Are the properties council or ex council? It sounds like they are treating you as a tenant rather than a homeowner.

davidmcn · 25 April 2018 at 1:56PM

pinklady21 wrote: »

it is your house, so they cannot do any works inside it without your co-operation, I would have thought.

The freeholder almost certainly does have some sort of rights to carry out works in their flat - the OP should read their lease to check exactly what parameters apply.

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Council making changes to our flat

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