If you have electricity poles within your land boundary, you may find it getting in the way of progressing home or business expansions. Here is our quick guide to everything you need to know to get a pole moved.
Critical first action
You need to determine if the pole subject to moving has a wayleave agreement or easement associated with them that should now be in your name. Wayleaves are more flexible in terms of moving, consisting of monthly payments from the Distribution Network Operator (DNO). Easements are one off agreements that may have occurred with the previous owner and make moving a pole more difficult. If you are purchasing a property/land, make sure any wayleave agreements are also passed over to your solicitor so transfers can be made upon confirmation and finalisation of land ownership.
Next steps:
Contact your DNO’s Diversion team to inform them of the proposed works and request a quote. You will need to provide site plans of the proposed works and where the poles will be moving to within your land boundary. This will assist them in finding the best places for the poles or suggesting trenches for buried lines, so that things are not in the way of any additional future plans.
Please note that any agreed plans can take the DNO 2-3 years to start - unless they are actively upgrading your area/agreed in writing to start sooner than that. This means that any planning permission must be started, and approved documents sent to the DNO so that they do not conflict with your building plans.
The Costs:
Once you have a quote, you can then decide if you need to make any negotiations to get the price lower or not. Most people offer to undertake all the contestable works (ground works) by a cheaper third party, which takes a sizeable chunk off the DNO’s quote, but some people prefer for less hands to be involved and accept the quote as is and continue with the project. It should be noted that in June 2020, most DNO’s revised their pricing structure so if you are comparing a historic quote to a recent more expensive quote, this will be the primary cause of the increase – not because they are trying to rip you off.
In the grand scheme of things, we see pole movement quotes anywhere from £2,000 to £6,000 for single pole domestic works and £5,000 to £25,000 for commercial works, where removal of multiple poles and installation of trenches can be involved.
If you are unhappy with your quote, we do offer an investigatory service to help determine the best courses of actions for you. We can also obtain the quote from your DNO for you on your behalf if you wish.
If you have a pole movement, wayleave, or DNO related query, please call the team on 024 7669 6512.