BT box on my wall for years

onthebeach · 26 Sep 2022

Hello,

There is a bt box attached to the front of my building been there years.
Ive realised that maybe they ought to be paying me to have their box there?
How do I investigate this please? I dont have internet or a BT line, nothing in the deeds to house.

onthebeach · 26 Sep 2022

Wayleave is the word i think.
Been in the property years.

Sureitsoff? · 26 Sep 2022

pics might help as it could be that it does nothing so could be removed

onthebeach · 26 Sep 2022

It's in use, openreach wanted to access it a few months back.

Shouldn't they be paying me for all these years it's been on my building.

Alec_t · 26 Sep 2022

This may help. But a copy of a Wayleave Agreement isn't free. If there is such an agreement, any fee payable to you by the grantee is likely to be trivial.

onthebeach · 26 Sep 2022

There was no agreement.
If they have had their box on my wall for at least 40 years, how can it be trivial.

Alec_t · 27 Sep 2022

onthebeach said:
There was no agreement.

Any wayleave agreement transfers from one house owner to the next. If there was none when BT installed the box then you, as house owner, can ask BT to remove the box or else sign a wayleave agreement with you. You can negotiate the terms of the agreement, rather than just accept whatever standard terms BT would like you to have.

onthebeach said:
how can it be trivial.

My parents once owned a property where there was a wayleave agreement for a telephone pole on site. They received the grand sum of £1 per year from BT under that agreement.

onthebeach · 27 Sep 2022

Its who to talk to is a problem at Openreach.

They should have asked for more than £1. Why should they pay so little for using someones property. I dont even benefit from the box.

Koolpc · 27 Sep 2022

Destroy it.

Then, no need to find out who to contact as they will be knocking your door!

"Damaged? Is it really? You need to put it through my solicitor if you require access etc".

Alec_t · 27 Sep 2022

onthebeach said:
They should have asked for more than £1.

They inherited the wayleave agreement from the previous owners of the property. I'm not sure if such agreements can be re-negotiated, or if there are legally-defined rates of compensation. Any lawyers here?
At least you could try issuing an ultimatum to BT (Openreach): either remove the box or agree to my wayleave terms.