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?

We had ours laid in an armoured duct in a shallow slit trench up the side of the drive - so they cut into the grass/ flowerbeds at the edge, not the drive - the people behind us had to pay for it to be done that way - they were not going to dig up our drive - no way!

YNBU but as a solicitor experienced in property I would dig out the deeds. If land was sold off it does usually confer rights for the owners of the new houses to have such cables laid.

Say not. Your neighbours can get sky instead.

Sky can't provide the fast broadband that VM can. They are restricted to BT's lines.

Dig up your expensive drive, for a non-essential service that isn't even for you? Fuck that
Exactly.

If it was for water, gas or electric then I think that you would have to do it but for Virgin TV, no way.

Sky can't provide the fast broadband that VM can. They are restricted to BT's lines
But that isn't the OP;s problem.

When I moved into my new build house 4 years ago, BT said they would install phone lines within 7 - 14 days.

It took 9 months and in this time we had no telephone or internet.

Two years ago one house on part of the development decided that they wanted VM and so the whole area was cabled so that in the future the cable would be there for anybody else that wanted it.

VM took three days to do this, made a lot of noise and caused a lot of inconvenience just so that one house could get the VM that they wanted.

Nobody has since got VM installed either.

If I were you OP I would definitely say no.

Your neighbours should have realised this when they moved into the house.

VM would not be asking to put the cable in unless someone had requested their services.

Basically most of the main streets are fully cabled but small roads and cul-de-sacs are not cabled until someone wants the service.

Once one house requests VM, the immediate area is fully cabled so that they don't have to come back out and dig the road up again.

In our development of 40 houses, VM came out and laid the cable for all 40 houses just because one house requested the service.

It was a pain in the arse.

Don't do it op - you'll regret it!

.

A Mnetter who works for VM has kindly been in touch offering to help.

I've asked some questions and see where we go from there.

TBH I think I'm at the point I need to download the deeds. Thank you to the poster who told me how to do this

Can't they surface lay them but hidden from view? Is there no way to hook them from pole to pole like telephone cables? Isn't there a wall that they could use to run the cable?
It would be a kind thing to do, to allow them to lay cable but I would definitely get a solicitor to draft a letter dictating a standard of condition when job is done.

I don't know Kindred that's why I asked for someone from VM to come and speak to me on site

It may be the work can be done less intrusively - I don't know.

Tell them only if they replace the drive! To be fair they did use Tarmac on our drive which was ok but you can tell it's been repaired

To be clear VM are laying cables through the entire village.

I don't think it's a certainty that a neighbour has specifically requested this.

I think/guess that it's standard for such firms to send access rights to landowners in the vicinity to maximise the potential customer base.

Given the neighbours haven't spoken to me about it (as per one of my pp we all get along ok and have discussed previously any "shared" issues constructively) I suspect it's been initiated by VM rather than my neighbours.

Not read all replies - but here is mine: Please consider contacting a Chartered Surveyor for advice asap (See RICS Website Helpline and 'Find a surveyor' service). The normal position is that you will get all your surveyors and legals costs paid for by the cable company and the cable co should sign a legal easement or license and agree to pay you for the right to lay the cable over your land to serve the third parties. This is the case for any services, water, gas etc when they cross private land. The key issue is that you as landowner should be paid for this use and if you come to sell your property in the future - you do not want to inadvertently create rights to third parties without them being formally agreed and documented - can mess up your sale. Good luck.

Good advice - thank you Broken

Say NO.

YANBU. Don't allow it. They will do a rubbish job re-instating it - they basically just want the cable down any which way they can. There are alternatives for your neighbours and you are not required to agree to this.

You're welcome. They cable co will probably try and stick their standard contract in front of you. Do not sign without getting aforementioned advice, you do not have to sign 'their' form of contract. Imagine if in the next 20 years the conduit down your drive is not longer serving 20 homes but 20,000 homes. You need to ensure you are paid your due percentage for allowing the cable co to make their income from using your property.

How do the residents of the three houses access the properties? Do they come over your property at all? If they have their own road I would wonder why VM are not laying under the road leading to the properties. Are other services such as gas electricity water and sewers attached to your property?
I have similar going on here. I am about to contact the services and have a word or several with solicitor.

How is the electricity and water (and gas?) provided to the 3 houses? If it's via your drive they'd have to dig it up to access problems. Does the Virgin cable have to go down your drive in other words?

It may be the work can be done less intrusively - I don't know
This is going to sound selfish but there is no benefit for you personally in allowing VM to put cable under your drive.

I really don't see any reason why you would want to allow this when you don't have to.

So you're happy to take money for the land knowing houses will be built there, and those houses will have to use your driveway as access, but want to deny them accessibility to Vurgin services ...

I think you are bring a little unreasonable. You've known about this possibility from the start.

If you really are that bothered, why don't you come to some sort of arrangement with the house owners about making the driveway shared, so that all of you share ownership, upkeep and cost of running repairs?

Too bad let them take sky, or netflix or prime etc.....

Writer if you had RTFT you would know I'd bought the house after the land had been sold....deep sigh...

Is it just me or are some posters just desperate to cry "selfish bitch" even when the whole point of this thread was to ask opinions because I'm actually very reasonable.

To be clear there is no more land for additional homes.

That's not an issue.