Martin's Blog 10/09/09 - Telegraph Pole in the Garden - Martin Roberts

I visited a property last week that had been purchased at auction and that had a telegraph pole in the garden. Whilst the purchaser had studied the legal pack in detail, there was nothing in there to highlight the fact that there was such a thing, and it came as a bit of an unwelcome surprise. (This is another good reason why there is no substitute for visiting the property itself).

Having now purchased the property, our buyer needed to find out what his rights were regarding the pole and if he could do anything about it.

BT Wayleave Agreements

Whilst BT don’t have to seek your approval to erect a telegraph pole on your property, they do have to pay for the privilege of having their masts on your land Anybody with a pole on their property should ensure that there is a Wayleave Agreement in place. This is a document signed by you as the land owner that grants permission for electrical apparatus to be present on the grounds of the property.

The Wayleave Agreement is a consent in writing between BT (or other utility provider) and you, the land owner, which confirms the rights of BT to install, maintain, adjust, repair, alter, keep and enter to inspect apparatus on, under or over their property for the statutory purpose as defined in the license.

Wayleave Agreements are usually terminable and run for a specific period of time. Issues can arise when you have been approached by the utility company to site new over head lines, cables or pipes on your land or when you with to explore the possibility of diverting or removing them. If you sell the property, the wayleave needs to be renegotiated for each new property owner

Charging Rent for Having Apparatus on Your Land

Along with the Wayleave Agreement you can apply for a Wayleave payment. This is a ‘ground rent’ that you are entitled to charge BT (or the utility company) for having their equipment or apparatus on your land. Don’t get too excited though – its not a lot of money and in some cases you’ll find that a previous owner may have accepted a ‘one off payment’ which means that you can’t then charge annual rent. The current ground rent that BT pays for telepgraph poles I £9.85 per annum or a one off payment of £145

Clearly, the place of utility apparatus on your land could affect the usage of the land and may affect its resale value to a future purchaser. Its therefore important to explore what your rights and options are if you are contemplating purchasing a property which carries a Wayleave Agreement.

What if You Object?

BT don’t ask for permission to erect their telegraph poles – they just do it and ask for objections afterwards. I’ve heard of people coming home from work to find a new telegraph pole having appeared in their front garden and they seemed to have no idea about it. If this were to happen, then there should be a notice on the pole inviting objections to the pole being there (there should be a number on the pole identifying it).

Be aware that there is a time limit to object. Usually BT will erect the pole but not install any wires on it until the time period has passed.

If you insist that BT have to move the pole to another location, then be aware that in doing so they need to put it somewhere else - possibly not the best way to get on well with your neighbours.