Denying access to cable for neighbours

[EatsShitAndLeaves]

So I got a letter in the post from Virgin Media who are in our locality.

They want me to give permission to lay cable down my drive to access the houses behind.

I live in an old farmhouse with a big front/back garden- before we moved in after the "field" at the back was sold and 3 houses built on it.

They have access to their property via my drive - but I own the drive.

I've done a very shitty picture to illustrate...R is road, G is garden and D is Drive. My house is the rectangle.

It's not to scale. The drive is very long and we spent a lot of money block paving it when we moved in.

I'm not at all keen on this being ripped up and botched reinstated.

As we are on the Main Street we would get access to Virgin services regardless. Allowing the work gains us nothing - apart from stress and hassle.

However if I deny the work then my neighbours can't take this service.

AIBU to refuse access?

Sorry if its been said, but as well as the poss inconvenience for future maintenance to said cables, you might want to consider whether it might put off buyers if you ever want to sell the house? I might not be keen to buy somewhere where companies need access for cables that aren't mine.

unapaloma has a fair point, it did put us off one a couple of years ago.

I might not be keen to buy somewhere where companies need access for cables that aren't mine
Good point.

I wonder if VM will need to put some kind of charge on the land to ensure that they can access to the cables in the future should the need arise, similar to when homeowners grant a lease to a solar panel company who have installed their panels on the roof.

I've had an incredibly helpful PM from the MNetter who works for VM.

You know who you are and thank you very, very much

If I'd had that response when I'd called VM I'm not sure I'd even have posted here.

DH is away tonight so I'm going to digest what I've learned and discuss white him tomorrow.

Thanks again all.

I would say no. It's your property. Knowing what these companies are like, the chances are they will come and dig up your property if there are any issues with the cables. Stand your ground and say no. Tough love on the neighbours. If they want more than 5 tv channels, am pretty sure there's other ways round their problem. If their lives revolve solely around tv, more fool them. Tough love.

I've never had a good install from VM.

This happened to me a few months ago. A letter from Virgin asking permission to dig up the drive for cable. I phoned and refused.
A site manager from Virgin came round and claimed that I couldn't stop them and if the 4 neighbours (who shared a drive) further up the road wanted Virgin, then it would be provided. Luckily only one of the the 4 wanted it, so it didn't go ahead.
Sounds like my situation is different to yours, OP and I don't want to worry you. The site manager said that the permission letter was 'a courtesy' and my permission wasn't needed because there was already a neighbour's service with a manhole cover in my front garden.

But as this was recent I thought I'd mention it.

claimed that I couldn't stop them
I think that he might have been lying to you there to try and make you agree to it.

You can't just dig up someone else's drive without their permission.

I've had some great PM's and I think there are some huge myths out there - some of which I'd bought into admittedly.

My position right now is the same. I've asked VM for a site visit.

Once/if I've had that DH and I will make a decision.

I would politely say no unless compensated for upheaval and costs. Do you think Richard Branson has to put up with this?

unapaloma and others. Can anyone tell me that if i wanted a phone line and BT and others now do them, they use BT's infrastructure, or if i went to VM and yes they do just phone lines as well what is the difference to BT putting any cables in the road to Virgin media why should they be treated differently under legislation.

And what about the other service providers leccy, water, gas, sewage, phone line providers?.

And please can we get away from the notion of just TV services they as i said do phone and Internet just like BT and others do.

Well I'm guessing Necker Island is a different ball game when it comes to connectivity

Isn't it just a wayleave they need across your land? Maybe I am missing something as I can't see a big issue

My position right now is the same. I've asked VM for a site visit.

IMO that is exactly the right position. Until then you don't know what they plan to do or how they plan to do it and there is a good chance that they don't either.

Virgin just lay cable outside our house and did an excellent job at maintaining the quality of the block paving. Replaced like for like, can't tell they've been now. Just ask where the 'box' (think BT side of road thingy) will go. And how long they'll take. Then decide whether that period of time's disruption to you is worth the animosity it may cause with your neighbour's for as long as you live there. The service is excellent & you will effectively be deciding how quickly three households can use the internet. The power is yours. If I lived in those houses, I'd hope you'd agree. I also agree with PP saying it might be worthwhile understanding charging rights for this drive for all cabling works. Good luck op!

I think a site visit is the best plan for now, I would try and download the deeds beforehand and have them to hand when the inspection takes place.

We have a very long private driveway leading to our last house, there were two houses at the end and the neighbours obviously had access but we owned and paid all maintenance for the driveway.
They wanted VM installed and cables needed to be put in from the road, down our very longs private driveway.

No problems, said yes without thinking it through, and it all seemed to be fine until we saw what a mess they left the driveway in. It took 3 years and a solicitor threatening court action for them to put it right, and even that wasn't a great job.

I urge you, if you go ahead, to make sure any works done by them are covered in your insurance or you insist they pay for a contractor of your choice to relay the driveway.

Good luck resolving this - you need to know what is being proposed and to stand firm. Get any promises to make good in writing, repair work to be to the standard of the paving supplied by X company. Lots of photos before, during and after.
(though feeling like I want to sulk and be jealous as Virgin seem happy laying cables to service 3 rural houses but refuse to come up our street - no shared drive issues- in a commuter belt suburb to serve the 50+ houses! We get patchy talk talk/bt broadband, sky satellite signal not great for TV!)

I do lots of stuff to be nice to neighbours, but, no, this is one too far. If it was an essential, or near essential service, fine, but loads of people don't have this. There are plenty of alternatives. This would be major disruption. To be honest, if one of the residents has requested this, I think it's a bit shitty that they haven't come to you direct to discuss first. Bit stupid too, because as you say, there's nothing in it for you, but a load of hassle, inconvenience, disruption, maybe permanent damage to your drive. This would be a massive favour to a stranger, and they've not even bothered to talk to you about it first...

Can anyone tell me that if i wanted a phone line and BT and others now do them, they use BT's infrastructure, or if i went to VM and yes they do just phone lines as well what is the difference to BT putting any cables in the road to Virgin media why should they be treated differently under legislation.

The cable that Virgin puts in is actually two separate wires - one for the phone and one for TV and broadband. They won't put in just the phone service because it's not economic for them to do so. Because they use a coaxial cable for broadband they can provide much faster broadband than other services using BT lines.

Sky use the dish for TV, and the BT line for phone and broadband.

All other providers use the BT line for everything.

You can of course use a dish to receive Freesat TV without paying Sky.

And Virgin Media is owned by a US company. It has nothing to do with Mr Branson.

Hope that answers your question!

Personally I wouldn't allow it. Not because I'm vicious but because it's in your property you are then reasonable for the upkeep

You should be able to obtain a copy of your deeds online from Land Registry. Also if you have legal advice with your home or car insurance, you can give them a call to get the perspective from a legal point of view.

Virgin can probably provide service another route but your driveway will probably be the cheapest route for them. I wouldn't oblige. No way will your drive look anything like it does now if lifted up in patches and then repaid. Say No.

I would definitely say no. Why do they need Virgin?

However, Virgin did some work in my lane and the contractors did return it to original state. I think monoblock is easier to replace neatly.

I would definitely say no. Why do they need Virgin

we would not consider a house without fibre to the door now for broadband (luckily we are in a fully cabled area - apart from new estates which are no longer selling quite so well here as the penny drops)

After having it, you really get to rely on it. Went to my sister who has BT and it is just not a patch on the Virgin service. We are also a great distance from the nearest BT superfast fibre box, so cannot get ANYWHERE near the speeds that Virgin can supply.