Still a little confused with how a linked order would work. Is it a case I pay the £250+VAT up front, wait for the proper quote then see if the other 4 addresses are willing to share cost?
I believe there are two possible approaches you can take.
One is the official "linked orders" approach. I've never seen this in action, but I believe you would have to submit all the linked orders prior to paying for the survey. This is because you're not, in fact, paying for a survey - you're actually placing an order (or in this case, a collection of orders). Once you get the final price, you have the option to drop out, although the £250+VAT is lost.
I'm unclear whether *all* the linked orders would each have a separate £250+VAT charge. It seems unfair if they did, since presumably a single survey and design will take place; but they might argue that the design is more complex for multiple-property installations.
The advantage of this approach is that you're *not* limited to just the 4 properties on the same DP. You can link FTTPoD orders with any interested nearby properties, and they'll do a survey and come up with a plan to connect you all. It's also possible to combine one business gigabit voucher (£2500) with one or more residential gigabit vouchers (£500) - up to ten of them I think.
The disadvantages are (1) these are separate FTTPoD orders, so everyone pays the higher rental charge for the first 12 months (£100+VAT from Cerberus); and (2) there is a level of trust required, because if one person cancels, all the other linked orders are cancelled. In theory, one participant could use this as a threat against the others.
I'd say this is the way to go for a few premises on different DPs, unless you have enough interest for a larger-scale Community Fibre Partnership.
Your other option, if all the interested parties are on the same DP, is "informal" sharing. Basically: you place the FTTPoD order yourself, and your interested neighbour promises to pay you a certain amount towards it. When your FTTPoD order is delivered, hey presto, they find themselves able to place a regular WBC FTTP order with any service provider they like - which is definitely cheaper for them - they may even get cashback.
However there's not much incentive for the neighbour to chip in with your FTTPoD cost, if they know that you'd go ahead without them anyway. Hence it's a poker game: you need to convince them that you would not, or could not, go ahead (even forfeiting your £250+VAT) if they won't join in. And even if they promise they'll pay, they could change their mind - unless you get the money up-front, which means they have to trust you instead.
All fun
Edited by candlerb (Tue 27-Aug-19 17:38:53)