"We're building in this area now" what's next?

Hello,

My postcode, an MDU has its status switched to "We're building in this area now" but there hasn't been any activity for over a month. Openreach has been given the wayleave.

Would anyone happen to know what sort of timeframes to expect before they deploy indoor?

Thank you.

Edited by squarecrumpets (Tue 09-Sep-25 10:02:59)

You may not see any visible activity for ages. Your property may not be included in the "area" of build. Even if you see them building today it could still be 6 months, a year or more before you could potentially connect.

Your best bet is to assume it will not be soon and if it suddenly becomes available then it is a bonus.

In reply to a post by ian72:

You may not see any visible activity for ages. Your property may not be included in the "area" of build. Even if you see them building today it could still be 6 months, a year or more before you could potentially connect.

Your best bet is to assume it will not be soon and if it suddenly becomes available then it is a bonus.

Ahh OK, thanks. What a shame....

In reply to a post by squarecrumpets:

Ahh OK, thanks. What a shame....

Just have to wait and see, here we had no plans and then all of a sudden it was here.
Is there no alternative network where you are?
I choose an alt network instead of Openreach, if there is none available where you are, then you just have to wait until something happens.

From the bottom of the checker webpage:

We're building in this area now

This means we’re already working to upgrade our broadband network to Full Fibre in your area and you may have seen our vans as our engineers work to upgrade our network.

And whilst our plans for this specific property aren’t confirmed yet, they could be soon as we’re aiming to reach 25 million homes and businesses by December 2026, and we’re continuing to build beyond that.

We’re building further and faster than any other broadband network in the UK.

If you register your interest, we’ll keep you updated and let you know as soon as Full Fibre is available - so you can upgrade to the UK’s most reliable broadband technology.

The status is an area status, it's not going to be customised to your building. If you have unresolved wayleave issues then they will remain unresolved.

That doesn't mean Openreach has been given the wayleave.

The checker is generic. See my post from last month in another similar thread as yours https://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4780364-re...

The thing is that's Openreach checker generically showing that they are building now. But I know very well that the wayleave hasn't been granted because if it has I would've received a letter or a topic would've been shown in the Housing Estate Management website particularly as it is an MDU just like in your case.

The only thing you can hope for is if you already had a wayleave agreed for another Altnet then there's a slightly stronger likelihood that a wayleave will be granted for Openreach.

But if you are still waiting for your first wayleave then that probability is low.

For example, we have Community Fibre here and a wayleave was granted in early 2021 but it went live in December 2022. So, I waited 20 months (1 year and 8 months) from the date that the wayleave was agreed to when the service went live!

Last year June 2024 Virgin Media wayleave agreed and the letter was showing 4 weeks to complete the estate! But I know that was false as it took several months for the buildings to go live except my own! I am still waiting for it and I asked my housing estate and they have no further clarity/information on whether they'll upgrade us or not despite a wayleave.

Wayleave doesn't always mean that they'll build for that specific building/premise. Openreach might ignore the build completely even after a wayleave has been granted! Or it could be delayed for much, much longer.

My psychological state at the moment is that I have 0% hope that Openreach will upgrade us to FTTP any time soon especially without a confirmed wayleave! I had my hopes up for VM, but now that feels dashed despite a wayleave. Don't be too excited or hopeful or you'll end up more frustrated. You have to mentally prepare for zero but hope for the best.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

In reply to a post by squarecrumpets:

Ahh OK, thanks. What a shame....

Just have to wait and see, here we had no plans and then all of a sudden it was here.
Is there no alternative network where you are?
I choose an alt network instead of Openreach, if there is none available where you are, then you just have to wait until something happens.

OK Thanks for sharing your experience. Was yours an MDU as well?
Nope no Altnets at all. Not even Virgin HFC.

Edited by squarecrumpets (Wed 10-Sep-25 12:10:59)

In reply to a post by BLaZiNgSPEED:

That doesn't mean Openreach has been given the wayleave.

The checker is generic. See my post from last month in another similar thread as yours https://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4780364-re...

The thing is that's Openreach checker generically showing that they are building now. But I know very well that the wayleave hasn't been granted because if it has I would've received a letter or a topic would've been shown in the Housing Estate Management website particularly as it is an MDU just like in your case.

The only thing you can hope for is if you already had a wayleave agreed for another Altnet then there's a slightly stronger likelihood that a wayleave will be granted for Openreach.

But if you are still waiting for your first wayleave then that probability is low.

For example, we have Community Fibre here and a wayleave was granted in early 2021 but it went live in December 2022. So, I waited 20 months (1 year and 8 months) from the date that the wayleave was agreed to when the service went live!

Last year June 2024 Virgin Media wayleave agreed and the letter was showing 4 weeks to complete the estate! But I know that was false as it took several months for the buildings to go live except my own! I am still waiting for it and I asked my housing estate and they have no further clarity/information on whether they'll upgrade us or not despite a wayleave.

Wayleave doesn't always mean that they'll build for that specific building/premise. Openreach might ignore the build completely even after a wayleave has been granted! Or it could be delayed for much, much longer.

My psychological state at the moment is that I have 0% hope that Openreach will upgrade us to FTTP any time soon especially without a confirmed wayleave! I had my hopes up for VM, but now that feels dashed despite a wayleave. Don't be too excited or hopeful or you'll end up more frustrated. You have to mentally prepare for zero but hope for the best.

We have given the wayleave to Openreach only. None of the other Altnets are looking to deploy to this MDU for now so there's no point giving it to them. So yes Openreach already has the wayleave.

In reply to a post by jpm:

The status is an area status, it's not going to be customised to your building. If you have unresolved wayleave issues then they will remain unresolved.

How is that so? Every building has its own postcode and they show different statuses when I enter them. I would have thought when it comes to MDUs they plan and deploy per postcode rather than area.

Thanks.