An investigation by Cable.co.uk has discovered that thousands of people living in new build estates are struggling with painfully slow internet speeds – or sometimes no connection at all – despite promises made by developers.
One customer writing to Cable.co.uk commented: “I am not exaggerating when I say that I would not have bought this house, had I known how poor the broadband speeds would be.”
Many who wrote in talked of long delays to get any connection at all. One customer from Exeter complained of a two month delay to get a basic phone line and ADSL setup, despite fibre availability being promised on purchase. He was then told that fibre wouldn’t be coming to his estate at all, as there was no capacity in the nearest cabinet.
Cable.co.uk highlighted a letter they had received from a customer of Barratt Developments PLC, one of the leading resident property developers in the UK. The letter revealed Baratts’ stance towards internet connectivity: not their problem. In a letter, a Baratts representative wrote: “We do not have an obligation to provide any broadband services and I must confirm that Barratt Homes will not consider any further investigations to upgrade the existing broadband provision to your development, either via BT Openreach or an alternative supplier.”
All this comes despite the European Union issuing a directive that all new builds are required to be “high-speed ready” from 2017 onwards. The Homebuilders’ Federation had voiced concerns that the UK wouldn’t be able to meet this directive, and that following it was set to set delay many new-builds, and this evidence collected by Cable.co.uk really shows how far away the UK is from being ready to meet the directive. It also stands in opposition to the Government’s highly publicised plans to get 95% of the country to “superfast speeds” of more than 24Mbps.