To get you connected to our network, we often need to secure appropriate land rights in order to locate our equipment or cables on your land or a third parties land.
Our stakeholder feedback of the Land Rights process is improving and we are continuing to implement initiatives to enhance the customer experience, please take a look at our latest stakeholder update!
The term land rights is used as a collective term to cover the acquisition of property rights, such as freehold and leasehold interests, a lease or purchase or servitudes, easements or wayleaves, that SP Energy Networks will require to be in place before we can make a connection for you to our network. In order to ensure the works are undertaken in a lawful manner we may also require ‘statutory planning’ consents such as a section 37 consent to install an overhead line or a planning consent to construct a substation. Other environmental consents, licences or permits may also be required for work in or around certain sensitive ecological habitats or species, water bodies or cultural heritage sites, some of which may have significant statutory protection.
We would ask you to take the following key factors into consideration when planning your project:
- We require the consent of the land owner prior to beginning any works
- The timescales associated with obtaining third party agreement may affect your project's delivery
- We do not seek such consents until you have accepted our quotation
- The price on our quotation is given subject to all consents being agreed
- Where consents are refused a new design and quotation will be required
- We cannot undertake any works on third party land until all consents have been agreed
More information is available in our Land Rights for Connections Customers guidance document which contains information on our process and requirements.
To further assist, we have provided the associated lease and servitude templates which may be required as part of your connection. See the links to these below:
Incorporated Rights (SP Manweb)
Where an IDNO is installing a new electricity connection, they will retain ownership of the network and therefore have their own land rights with the landowner. In order to better facilitate the land rights required for the IDNO's network to connect into SP Manweb’s network, we can incorporate SPM’s rights required into the agreement between the IDNO and the landowner. This allows the IDNO to secure SPM’s land rights directly with the landowner. Please see our Incorporated Rights customer process map for more detail and contact wayleavessouth@spenergynetworks.co.uk for enquiries.
How long will it take to obtain the Land Rights and Other Consents?
The time to achieve Land Rights and other necessary Consents will be depending upon the individual circumstances and the ability to reach agreements with the various parties involved. Timescales for the successful negotiations vary greatly but we will try to complete these as efficiently as possible to meet overall project timescales.
Any Statutory or Environmental Consent needed will be, where possible, progressed in parallel to the Land Rights. The timescales for these are in the main out with our control and will also depend on the specifics of the works and the third parties we will have to engage with.
Based on our past experience and the functional processes of both obtaining Land Rights and Statutory Consents we have developed a range of indicative lead times. These lead times factor in such elements set out above and are primarily dependent on the type of Land Right being sought. For example Wayleaves or Servitudes/ Easements and if any, what Statutory or other Consents are required.
Other factors may include where a third party Land Right is required from an organisation. These organisations could be a local Authority or a Rail Operator who may have set processes and timescales to deal with specific matters.
- A simple underground connection on your land may take approximately 5 weeks from the point of the Land Team having all the necessary information. We may seek a Way leave for this. Should you not own the land you are wanting the underground connection for may take as long as 10 weeks. If the land is owned by an Infrastructure Operator or Local Authority the timescale can be extended to 10 weeks.
- Where permission is required from third party Landowners the timescale can be any time between 18 and 22 weeks. Third party Landowners can be including an Infrastructure Owner or Local Authority. This timescale also applies in a case where Licence and Permits are required in relation to an environmental site.
- An overhead line that is less that 33kV required involving third party Landowners and is requiring a section 37 Consent with an environmental Licence or Permit, it can take up to 20 weeks.
- A more complex connection requiring an overhead line of a significant length, involves a variety of third party Landowners and requires section 37 Consents with sensitive environmental aspects, it may take up to 50 weeks for the consents to be granted.
The Project Manager appointed to your connection will keep you fully informed about progressing towards gaining any consents.
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