CityFibre and wayleave

CityFibre have just finished installing on the road outside my house, which is on a little 'circle' off the main street. They did not attempt to install in our circle - when I enquired, they told me that it was not adopted and would need wayleave.

So I checked with the Highways department. Yep, we're adopted all right, and the guy checked their database, which says the same.

I've put in a wayleave request form to CityFibre, with no response so far, telling them that their information is incorrect. I also asked them to tell me where they get this information.

Now frustrated and annoyed. OpenReach tell me they propose to install fttp sometime before December 2026.

Has anyone else had this type of issue? Any suggestions? I'm going to try phoning CityFibre, but I suspect I won't fit the script and will just get a runaround.

Maybe you could consider posting a complaint on twitter (aka X) where there is a Cityfibre account.

The best result I had from CityFibre was from leaving a poor review on their Trustpilot page, they give you an email address to contact.

Is this a new development or recently undertaken resurfacing? Could it be subject to a section 58 prohibition order?

Neither. The houses were built in 1980, and the council last resurfaced (badly, but hey...) about 10 years ago.

Per the other suggestions - thanks, guys! I will try to phone on Monday, and if no joy will follow the trustpilot route, as I really don't want to rejoin x

In reply to a post by sarah3m:

I will try to phone on Monday, and if no joy will follow the trustpilot route, as I really don't want to rejoin x

Yep, having to kow-tow to Musk to get attention from a corporation does not sit right with me either.

Edited by DFScale (Fri 14-Feb-25 21:03:28)

Wayleave issues shouldn't usually occur with individual houses like they do with block of flats.

Are these houses managed by a housing estate management company? If yes, then contacting your local housing officer will be more helpful.

But if it is not, then the wayleave issue may not be related to your house but more related to somewhere on the streets that require local permission.

If Openreach are proposing to install by December 2026 then they may be facing a similar problem to CityFibre and the rollout may be delayed in the same way.

In my case I live in a block of flats and I had wayleave issues with Hyperoptic. Wayleave was never granted despite me being a registered Hyperoptic Champion 10 years ago and getting my neighbours to register their interest made no difference. In the end my management only granted wayleave to another Altnet Community Fibre and most recently Virgin Media nexfibre.

It is very much possible that wayleave can be granted for one Altnet provider but be totally rejected for another and contacting the ISP or network provider is futile because often they don't know why a housing estate is refusing them. Just like I never knew the reason why my management were so against Hyperoptic such explanation was never given.

But obviously in your case the situation may be totally different as you live in a house and not in an MDU. Unless the houses are Multi Dwelling Units like houses not being individually isolated but connected one next to another then this may have issues that require wayleave permission.

You can also check this website https://bidb.uk/ Enter your postcode and check if there are roadworks relating to CityFibre or Openreach within your area. This also shows what networks are available in your area and the coloured dots are individual ISPs on the map with their dates and approximation on when they will start and end their works. With this you will have a more familiar idea if any progress will be made.

Unfortunately that’s not necessarily accurate.

Wayleave issues can affect *any* property type, where the owner of the property that the infrastructure is installed upon / over / within etc is different to the subscriber of the service. Permission must be sought. Permission can also be revoked. Payments may be involved. These can be one off or ongoing, like a rental.

They are also conceptually broader than “fibre” or telecoms in general and can encompass many utilities or services on private property.

The fight goes on:

I managed to get through to a human on the phone yesterday, who took my details and said someone would get back to me.

They did:

Thank you for contacting CityFibre,

Your enquiry will need to be directed to our Wayleaves Team. Please see their page here, where you can raise a form to contact them directly.

The complaints team do not have access to the relevant information to assist you further, I apologise I have been unable to help today.

Thank you for your interest in CityFibre.

I have replied with details of the 2 wayleave forms I completed. Waiting for their next move...

The TrustPilot suggestion has worked! Many thanks for the idea...