Broadband included with your flat: your rights

"Broadband included" can mean different things, and your rights follow from which one you have. In a building-wide (or "bulk") deal, the landlord, operator or developer arranges broadband for the whole building rather than each resident signing up alone. There are three broad set-ups.

• A managed service run for the building. The operator buys a service for every flat and residents simply connect. Hyperoptic, for example, sells build-to-rent developers and operators a fully managed Wi-Fi service across the whole development, with portals for the management team, residents and guests. Glide provides managed Wi-Fi and broadband to purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) operators and universities over infrastructure it builds, owns and operates.
• A building wired by a network, with each resident ordering their own package. The freeholder lets a network such as Openreach, CityFibre, Hyperoptic or 4th Utility run fibre through the block. Nothing is included in your rent. 4th Utility, for instance, partners with landlords and developers, and residents check availability by building or postcode.
• Equipment already in place when you move in. In new builds, Hyperoptic says its connection and Hyperhub router should already be installed so you can get online from move-in day. That doesn't mean a package is paid for, so ask whether you need to order one.

This guide is mainly about the first set-up. If your block still needs wiring, see getting full fibre in a block of flats; for bills-included house lets, see broadband for renters; for halls and house shares, see broadband for students.

This decides almost everything else. Hyperoptic's and Glide's pages about managed services are written for the building, not residents. Hyperoptic's build-to-rent page describes what it offers operators: dedicated account management, 24/7 support with maintenance, reporting and service level agreements (SLAs: promised standards such as repair times). It also mentions resident portals, and Glide's student page lists 24/7 student support (both checked October 2026). So ask whether you report problems to the network or to the building, who the network's customer is and what your own terms are.

If you order your own package, you're the customer. Citizens Advice says the person named on a broadband bill can be chased for the full amount even if others used the service.

Why it matters

• Service standards. In a managed set-up, speeds, support hours and repair times follow the operator's agreement with the network, which you may only see if the operator shares it.
• Consumer protections. Key telecoms protections are set up around the provider's own residential customers. Ofcom says its automatic compensation scheme (for slow repairs, missed engineer visits and late starts) covers residential broadband and landline products from signed-up providers, Hyperoptic among them. One Touch Switch is a requirement for residential customers only: you contact just the new provider, and your current provider must send you the switching information, including any early termination charges. With your own account, these apply to you; if the building holds the contract, ask the operator what it has agreed for residents.
• Complaints. The ombudsman route depends on being the provider's customer, or on using a service supplied to a qualifying customer with its consent (see below).

Often yes, but it depends on which networks are physically in the building.

If an open network also serves the block

Openreach says that once its Full Fibre is installed in a block of flats, residents can choose from multiple providers, there's no requirement to use the fibre and residents won't lose existing services (checked October 2026). CityFibre says that once a block is live, residents can order from a range of providers, the work inside each flat starts when a resident orders, and it advises renters to check with their landlord before ordering. If one of them is in your block, you can usually order your own package. Other networks, such as Hyperoptic and 4th Utility, also wire buildings and sell packages to residents, so check your address with more than one provider. Our broadband providers hub links to each one.

If the bulk service is the only network in the building

Then a second network needs a wayleave (written permission to install equipment) from the freeholder or managing agent, as Openreach and CityFibre both require. Ofcom's checker FAQ warns that a service can show as available but not be orderable for operational reasons, such as when a landlord's permission is needed.

ISPreview has noted that some landlords may have exclusive agreements with rival networks (March 2025), so ask whether your building's deal allows others in.

What the law does and doesn't give you

• Part 4A of the Electronic Communications Code (in force in England and Wales from 26 December 2022, Scotland from 1 July 2023) lets an operator go to court for access when a resident with a lease has asked it for service and the landlord ignores a request notice, two warning notices and a final 14-day notice. GOV.UK's guidance says a lease typically means exclusive possession of defined premises for a term at a rent, so a licence without exclusive possession may not count. It only helps when the landlord stays silent, as our full fibre in flats guide explains.
• The Renters' Rights Act 2025 doesn't give tenants a right to request gigabit broadband. Openreach backed an amendment along those lines (ISPreview, March 2025), but the Act as passed contains no provision on broadband or on installing electronic communications equipment.

Will you end up paying twice?

Possibly. Taking your own package doesn't automatically remove a broadband charge in your rent or bills; whether you can opt out depends on your agreement, so ask the landlord in writing before you order. If nothing else is on offer in your block, see whether 4G or 5G can replace fixed broadband.

The general rules are in our guides to broadband for renters and landlords providing broadband to tenants. In short, in England the Tenant Fees Act 2019 allows a broadband payment that your tenancy agreement requires, but where you pay the landlord, anything above its reasonable costs of providing the service is a prohibited payment. GOV.UK adds that broadband included in the rent must be listed in the agreement and reflect actual costs. Two points matter most in a managed or student building.

• Student rooms and licences are covered. Since its fee ban started on 1 June 2019, the Act has covered certain student lettings (granted by a university or other specified institution or body, or where the landlord's agent or the building's manager belongs to a specified housing management code of practice) and licences to occupy housing other than social or holiday housing. It also covers private assured tenancies: since 1 May 2026 the wording has been an assured tenancy other than social housing, after the Renters' Rights Act replaced the old assured shorthold wording. So a room in a student block or one let on a licence can fall under the same rules as an ordinary flat.
• Being told to use a particular provider. The Act stops a landlord requiring you to sign a contract with a third party for a service, but its wording exempts a contract for a communication service such as broadband. GOV.UK's landlord guide, however, lists requiring a tenant to start a contract for a service as prohibited without mentioning that exemption. So the Act's wording allows a term requiring broadband or a named provider, but the official guidance reads differently; ask why the term is there and get advice before signing if it matters to you.

If you think a charge breaks the rules

First ask in writing how the broadband charge is worked out. GOV.UK says you can tell the landlord, report it to the local council or apply to the First-tier Tribunal; letting agents can also be reported to The Property Ombudsman or Property Redress.

Wales, the rest of the UK and social housing

The Tenant Fees Act's bans apply to housing in England, and it doesn't cover social housing tenancies. In Wales, the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019 also allows a communication-service payment required under your occupation contract (the Welsh name for a tenancy agreement), but that paragraph doesn't include England's reasonable-costs wording. Social tenants should see broadband for council and housing association tenants; in Scotland or Northern Ireland, ask Citizens Advice.

If you own your flat on a long lease and the cost of a building-wide service reaches you through a variable service charge, the rules that protect you are in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. It extends to England and Wales only; in Scotland or Northern Ireland, check the rules where you live with Citizens Advice.

• What counts. A service charge is an amount payable, with or on top of rent, for services, repairs, maintenance, improvements, insurance or management, which varies with the costs (section 18).
• The reasonableness test. Costs count only to the extent they are reasonably incurred, and costs of services only if the services are of a reasonable standard (section 19).
• The tribunal can decide. You can apply to the tribunal (the First-tier Tribunal in England, a leasehold valuation tribunal in Wales) to decide whether a service charge is payable and how much, even if you've already paid it (section 27A). Paying alone doesn't count as agreeing, but you can't apply about a matter you've agreed or admitted, so don't confirm in writing that you accept a charge you want to question.

If the building's broadband seems overpriced or too unreliable to be of a reasonable standard, your argument is with the landlord, not the network. Keep a record of outages and results from our broadband speed test, ask the managing agent for the costs behind the charge, and check what your lease allows.

The route depends on your set-up; your welcome pack should give your building's process.

When it stops working

1. Check whether it's just you. Ask a neighbour; a whole-building outage needs the operator to chase it.
2. Report it in writing through the channel the building gave you, and note the date, time and any reference number.
3. Keep evidence of outages and speeds for any complaint or charge dispute.

If a new build's pre-installed Hyperhub is missing, Hyperoptic says to call it (checked October 2026); see our guide to Hyperoptic installation and set-up. In a student building, ask at check-in whether faults go to the accommodation provider or straight to the network's student support.

If you're the provider's customer, complain to the provider. If the service is the building's, complain to the operator and ask it to raise the problem with the network. Our guide on how to complain about your broadband provider covers the steps.

Can you go to an ombudsman?

Ofcom approves two free alternative dispute resolution (ADR) schemes for phone and broadband: CISAS and the Communications Ombudsman. Since 8 April 2026, an unresolved complaint can go to ADR six weeks after you first raised it, or sooner with a deadlock letter (the provider's written statement that it can't resolve it).

The catch in a bulk deal is eligibility. The Communications Ombudsman's terms say it can only consider a complaint if you:

• were a domestic or small-business customer of the provider (or applied to be one), or
• are acting for such a customer, with their consent, or
• are a user of a service supplied to such a customer and have that customer's consent.

A domestic customer uses the service outside their trade, business or profession; a small business has no more than ten individuals working for it, counting staff and volunteers. A company running a block with more than ten people meets neither definition, so if it's the network's customer, the consent route may not be open to you even with its agreement. If you hold your own account, or the building's customer may qualify, ask the scheme (or CISAS, if the provider uses that one) whether it can help. Its awards are capped at £10,000 per complaint (checked October 2026).

The Ombudsman also only deals with complaints against participating communications providers about services bought or rented from them, so a dispute with your landlord about what it charges you goes through the tenancy or service-charge routes above.

• Moving within the building. With your own Hyperoptic account, moving to another flat in the same building is free, while a different building is a new order (checked October 2026). In a managed building, ask the operator how your connection moves with you.
• Moving out. Hyperoptic asks you to leave your router for the next occupant and needs 30 days' notice to cancel, including on rolling plans. If broadband is included in your rent, ask the landlord or operator whether the service ends with your tenancy and whether you need to return any equipment.
• Renting in a Hyperoptic area (Wandsworth example). Hyperoptic's FAQ for rented homes in Wandsworth says tenants there probably won't need landlord approval to sign up; if they do, it contacts the landlord to arrange a free installation. Elsewhere, ask Hyperoptic and your landlord.

Door-entry systems and lift emergency phones are separate from your broadband; if the block is moving off old copper phone lines, see our guide to door entry and lift phones in the digital switchover.

Ask in writing, ideally before signing:

1. Is broadband included, and is it written into my tenancy, licence or lease?
2. Which network provides it, what type of connection is it, and what speed should I expect?
3. Who is the provider's customer, and will you share the service standards you've agreed?
4. Who do I contact for faults, at what hours, and how quickly are they usually fixed?
5. Can I take my own provider instead, which other networks serve the building, and would my rent or bills charge change if I did?

If you can order your own package, compare what's available for your exact address before you decide. Compare deals at your postcode to see live deals from our partner's tool, then confirm with the provider that your flat can be connected. If you rent, match the contract length to your tenancy: Community Fibre, which runs its own full fibre network mostly in London, says tenants with less than 12 months left on their lease should make sure they can see out the minimum period (checked October 2026); see our Community Fibre installation guide.

For building-by-building networks, see our Hyperoptic deals page, 4th Utility deals page and Community Fibre deals page. We compare deals through a partner's tool; we don't switch you or review providers, and this isn't legal advice for your situation.