UK plans curb on freeholders blocking broadband cabling in flats

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Apartment owners will find it easier to upgrade their broadband under UK government plans to limit the ability of freeholders to block cable works, as ministers try to tackle one of the latest hurdles to the rollout of full fiber in Britain.

The proposals presented on Monday will mean that applications from tenants to allow broadband cabling cannot be “unreasonably refused” by building owners, who can currently cite concerns about disruption to stop upgrades.

The UK’s largest broadband network, BT’s Openreach, has more than 980,000 premises that cannot be upgraded from copper to fiber due to freehold issues, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Communications Minister Baroness Liz Lloyd told the Financial Times that the plans are designed to give the industry support “to get on with the job of building the infrastructure our cities, towns and hinterland need”.

“These measures will unlock expansion into the most challenging buildings, reduce friction in accessing buildings for cable, and give operators the confidence needed to invest and prioritize deployment to properties that still require fast broadband access,” she added.

Freeholding tenants will have the right to request a gigabit broadband connection – the equivalent of 1 gigabit per second of download speed – from their freeholder, who will have limited powers to refuse such requests.

Freeholders can currently block or ignore requests from tenants for updated technology – which is crucial for working at home and using multiple devices simultaneously – for reasons such as administrative burden.

The measures will apply specifically to tenants, as tenants will still have to request any upgrade from their landlord, who will subsequently have to ask the building owner on their behalf.

The Government consultation envisages leaseholders continuing to pay for broadband upgrades through service charges transferred from freeholders. The consultation will continue until February 16, 2026.

James Robinson, senior analyst at Assembly Research, said he was “hesitant” to say the proposals were “an early Christmas gift from the government to industry”.

“After saying in [June 2025] “An infrastructure strategy that would put forward proposals ‘as soon as possible’ and wait six months for consultation does not exactly represent the pace of action on an issue that has long been seen as a barrier that needs to be broken through,” he said.

“It will also take several months before tenants see the benefit,” he added.

About 87 per cent of UK homes have access to gigabit broadband, according to communications regulator Ofcom. The government has set a target of achieving 99 percent gigabit broadband coverage by 2032.