Fast broadband roll-out held up by legal requirement on landlords

Fast broadband roll-out is held up by landlords
Lynne Cameron/PA

Thousands of central London residents are being “locked out” of the quickest broadband by a legal requirement for landlords to give permission before fibre can be installed.

Bosses at Openreach, the firm responsible for linking up homes to fibre networks capable of supporting “ultrafast” broadband, say they face huge obstacles in securing so-called “wayleave” agreements that give them the right to enter apartment or office blocks.

The problem is most acute in the City where complex layers of foreign ownership have made it hard to identify who the freeholders are, resulting in years of costly delay.

Figures from Openreach suggest it has been unable to gain consent from the owners of 848 high-rise buildings — containing 9,941 residential or business premises — in the City alone.

Affected residents have spoken of their frustration at being left with slow internet speeds in the heart of the Square Mile. Civil servant Tim Figures, who lives in an apartment near the Gherkin tower, said he can access only “basic” broadband services despite lobbying for more than a year for fibre to be installed. It means it can take up to an hour to download a single TV episode and uploading files is “incredibly slow.” With fibre, downloading an entire HD film takes a few minutes.

The 48-year-old said: “Working from home can cause huge problems if I need to do anything beyond a basic email.”

Mr Figures said the managing agent of his building had approached the freeholder about access for Openreach but it had refused to sign a wayleave agreement. He added: “It’s incredibly frustrating, we’re just stuck in this legal limbo. The freeholder doesn’t have to pay anything, there is no liability, all they have to do is sign an agreement giving Openreach permission to lay cables.”

Openreach boss Clive Selly said he wants a change in the law to give the company the same legal rights to enter as gas, electricity and water suppliers.

Kim Mears, Openreach’s head of strategic infrastructure development, said the firm had been able to access only 44 per cent of City buildings, adding: “It’s a real tortuous drawn-out process.”

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