Putting up Sky dish in apartment block

Jaysoose

Sorry if this is the wrong area for this thread.

Me and the missus moved into a new apartment a year and a half ago and were told that we could not get sky due to the fact that the dishes were not allowed for asthetic reasons, we accepted that this was fair enough and with moving in etc we had enough to worry about. Basically im sick of the ****ty service ntl provide and was wondering does any have any experience of this situtation? Im considering just getting sky in as the main reason for the dish not being allowed as it would cheapen the look of the complex and bring the value down, in this current climate and forseeable future i dont see this as an issue so can i just stick the dish up and will the management company take it down/enforce legal proceedings etc.

At this stage im going to go ahead as i own the apartment and am stuck there till the recession is over so i dont see it making a difference.

andrewh5

Jaysoose wrote: »

Sorry if this is the wrong area for this thread.

Me and the missus moved into a new apartment a year and a half ago and were told that we could not get sky due to the fact that the dishes were not allowed for asthetic reasons, we accepted that this was fair enough and with moving in etc we had enough to worry about. Basically im sick of the ****ty service ntl provide and was wondering does any have any experience of this situtation? Im considering just getting sky in as the main reason for the dish not being allowed as it would cheapen the look of the complex and bring the value down, in this current climate and forseeable future i dont see this as an issue so can i just stick the dish up and will the management company take it down/enforce legal proceedings etc.

At this stage im going to go ahead as i own the apartment and am stuck there till the recession is over so i dont see it making a difference.

You may well own the apartment but you only own the leasehold NOT the building. You management company are within their rights to demand the removal of any satellite dish fitted to either the wall or balcony of apartments on the development. They are also within their rights to take steps to remove it if you do not.

Go to the Sky website and check out their apartment block scheme then canvass the block to see what others think. If sky get enough people in a block to sign up they will install a dish on the roof for all the block and will do all the negotiations etc with the management company.

anotherlostie

In my development, the managing agent got a cherry picker to remove all the satellite dishes from balconies and charged people an administration fee (including the cost of the cherry picker) to get them back. Most people didn't bother.

Jaysoose

andrewh5 wrote: »

You may well own the apartment but you only own the leasehold NOT the building. You management company are within their rights to demand the removal of any satellite dish fitted to either the wall or balcony of apartments on the development. They are also within their rights to take steps to remove it if you do not.

Go to the Sky website and check out their apartment block scheme then canvass the block to see what others think. If sky get enough people in a block to sign up they will install a dish on the roof for all the block and will do all the negotiations etc with the management company.

Just had a look at the sky website and the share a dish scheme could be the way to go as i know the people on my floor are all permanent residents who may go for it.

Just hacked off with the lack of options to be honest and if this sorts it out without inviting hassle from the management company then happy days.

bk

anotherlostie wrote: »

In my development, the managing agent got a cherry picker to remove all the satellite dishes from balconies and charged people an administration fee (including the cost of the cherry picker) to get them back. Most people didn't bother.

Some one tried doing the same in Cork, some one called the Gardai on them, who told them to put the dishes back up or they would get done for criminal damage and trespass.

paulm17781

bk wrote: »

Some one tried doing the same in Cork, some one called the Gardai on them, who told them to put the dishes back up or they would get done for criminal damage and trespass.

Whoever put the dishes up has done the damage. In my apartment they are now allowed, if I put them up I am damaging the building. The owners all sign an agreement when they buy which includes no dishes.

Mossy Monk

Isn't there some EU ruling that says you have a right to use a satellite dish on an apartment block?

who_me

Check out skyinyourapartment.ie.

You can get one dish, per block, as long as you have 4 or more people willing to sign up; and the block isn't taller than 3 floors. At least with just one dish there's the chance you can put it somewhere innocuous.

von Smallhausen

As long as you have the landlords permission you should be able to get sky in your apartment. there might be an extra charge on count of the extra cables but other than that its possible.

bk

paulm17781 wrote: »

Whoever put the dishes up has done the damage. In my apartment they are now allowed, if I put them up I am damaging the building. The owners all sign an agreement when they buy which includes no dishes.

IANAL, however a point about Irish Law, just because you sign something in a contract, doesn't make it legally binding, only a judge can decide that by first checking that it doesn't contravene Irish and EU law and even then a judge can decide it was an unfair term.

As an example a contract might say that you have to give the company your first born child, but that doesn't make it legal.

In fact contracts are often full of things that are simply put their to scare the customer into doing with the company wants, but are completely unenforceable in a court of law.

A good example is many employment contracts have terms that say you can't go and work for a competitor, this is completely unenforceable in Irish law.

We won't know for sure until some one stands up to a management company in court, but it is highly likely that the management company would lose given the EU legislation.

BTW to anyone buying a new apartment, I'd recommend crossing out this term in your contract and initial it in front of your solicitor when signing the contract. Specially at the moment in a buyers market, no builders will argue with it.

muffler

And just to complicate things you will most likely need planning permission also.

muffler

I knew the legalities of this was discussed a while ago so I had a trawl back through the threads and a lot of the legal stuff was debated in this thread

Pete67

One of these might be an option, especially if you have a south facing balcony.

zulfikarMD

I have sky dish fitted in balcony for last one and half years and nobody even bothered to ask or raise questions on it. Now suddenly management co. has wrote to my landlord telling him to remove the dish asap or they will get it removed and charge. my question is there any legal binding as to tenant can't take SKY and install SKY dish in Apartment? My landlord has no issue with SKY dish. Can we argue with person or mangement co. who comes to remove the dish? Can gardai stop them to remove sky dish if called? what does irish law or EU law says on sky dish installation in apartments?

Any feedback or reply on this will be appreciated.

Thank you

evilivor

Saw this "classy" apartment install on John Street in Cork this morning, sorry the image is bit crap but my phone ain't the best. Dish on poll, lashed to balcony.

STB

Jaysoose wrote: »

Sorry if this is the wrong area for this thread.

Me and the missus moved into a new apartment a year and a half ago and were told that we could not get sky due to the fact that the dishes were not allowed for asthetic reasons, we accepted that this was fair enough and with moving in etc we had enough to worry about. Basically im sick of the ****ty service ntl provide and was wondering does any have any experience of this situtation? Im considering just getting sky in as the main reason for the dish not being allowed as it would cheapen the look of the complex and bring the value down, in this current climate and forseeable future i dont see this as an issue so can i just stick the dish up and will the management company take it down/enforce legal proceedings etc.

At this stage im going to go ahead as i own the apartment and am stuck there till the recession is over so i dont see it making a difference.

You cant just go ahead with sticking up with what you want. The whole idea of that clause in your lease agreement is so that the development maintains its look and does not end up looking unsightly through widespread anarchy. There is a strong likelyhood is that it will taken down. There are alternatives to obvious looking dishes, such as the selfsat flat dish, the globe and other camoflage methods.

Are you the only one unhappy with the service NTL are providing ? Get yourself on the management committee of the development and propose a new service without NTL. If you get enough interest you can have a scenario whereby communal sat dishes are installed on blocks covering up fed to multiswitches (NOT SKY). You do not need to get "Sky for apartments system" etc, This involves people paying a yearly sub. You could have a scenario wherby a sat company gets a once off connection fee for each apartment and then are paid through the management company (part of your yearly mang fee) for the yearly maintenance. You can then use FTA satellite with NO BILLS. If you sell this to the members of your development this way I am sure you will get their attention. Having a FTA satellite system like this also gives owners the option to subscribe to sky anyway if extra channels are required.

See freesat.co.uk for a list of the free channels you would receive. All apartments are prewired for whatever system.

If you do go down this road you should ensure their is only one system. The FTA sat system is actually better as people can also choose to subscribe to Sky for footie etc if the freesat lineup isnt enough. This is obviously better than NTL pay system or NOTHING.

zulfikarMD

Hi STB, does this mean you even can not keep dish loose (on the floor not erected)?

Thank you.

surf board

Am in an apt block too where no dishes are allowed. However there are a few apts that have dishes disguised as say balcony furniture. The dishes are covered sufficiently so they are not noticable as a dish but the covering is thin enough to recieve signal. Our management company does not allow any sort of dish & this has been questioned by residents but to no avail. They will not allow any dishes as per an agreement with the county council. Stupid if you ask me. A single dish serving an entire block can't be that noticable!

homelink

Jaysoose wrote: »

Just had a look at the sky website and the share a dish scheme could be the way to go as i know the people on my floor are all permanent residents who may go for it.

Just hacked off with the lack of options to be honest and if this sorts it out without inviting hassle from the management company then happy days.

Give them a call and they will contact the management co. to get the ball rolling but not all apartment blocks are suitable for a shared dish system.

Finne1993

Jaysoose posted his problem on this thread 16 months ago, I'd say he has it well sorted out by now!!;);)

zulfikarMD

surf board wrote: »

Am in an apt block too where no dishes are allowed. However there are a few apts that have dishes disguised as say balcony furniture. The dishes are covered sufficiently so they are not noticable as a dish but the covering is thin enough to recieve signal. Our management company does not allow any sort of dish & this has been questioned by residents but to no avail. They will not allow any dishes as per an agreement with the county council. Stupid if you ask me. A single dish serving an entire block can't be that noticable!

Surf board, I've had the dish there for almost 2 years now. No trouble at all. Suddenly Mgmt. Co. has issued a letter to get dish removed. Not sure what prompleted them after I am having dish for almost 2 yrs (which was not hidden at all)! But does this mean even I can't keep a dish loose on the balcony floor?

Thank you.

ricman

If you are facing astra ,a dish on the balcony floor, will get you sky, google how to install sky dish.
I KNOW some1 who has a small dish about ten inch wide, inside the bedroom, facing the window.it works fine.IT just looks abit odd.

I think the management companys are lazy, or stupid.
ie one large dish could serve at least ten apartments. placed on the roof ,its invisible to anyone ,passers,by .
OR else they manage company gets paid by a company to use 1 cable tv provider.

if you are on the wrong side of the building then you cant get sky.ie the building itself will block the signal.
I would not pay 150k 4 an apartment unless it allowed sky dish installation.
aSTRA 2 is at 28 degrees east.
you can buy a dish,skybox on www.adverts.ie or gumtree , 70euro.
if you wanna try it out.
Get a dish finder,ten euro, it attachs to lnb ,and and goes beep,beep, beep
when it picks up a signal from the satellite.
A compass is also handy too.
any sky dish will get bbc .itv,c4, music/news ,true movies free, film4 movies .
RTE 1,2, ARE encrypted.
if you are on the wrong side of the building ,there s not much you can do.

ricman

THE council dont not care ,if theres a dish on the building ,roof out of sight.
THEY WONT KNOW ITS THERE,
obviously if its a council block,you,d need to get permission to,get acess to the roof.in some areas there strict, they wont allow dishs, every area is different.
DISH ON THE ROOF IS invisible.it needs to be secure,bolted down, so it doesnt fall off the roof.IF A NO of tenants asked for it ,they,d probably allow 1 dish on the roof.
its easy to hide a ten inch dish on a balcony,put it on the balcony floor,behind a plant or a chair.
SOME PEOPLE IN A BLOCK MAY NOT want dishs cos they think,its common, or brings down the value of the apartment.

surf board

The county council don't care if you have a dish on your balcony. They do have a problem with communal dishes. It makes no sense! The council & mgmt companies can be quite fickle. We have additional lights on our balcony & were asked to remove them by the mgmt company. We refused & nothing was said after that. As ricman said, each apt block is different. Some are owned by the council, some not. Mgmt companies will only really act if its reported by other residents or they have a problem with it themselves. Tell them you have not attached it to anything & say its been moved & maybe try disguise it as "furniture" Not much they can do then.
Maybe have a flick through your residents handbook. There may be some reasons for them wanting it taken down there. Many new apts & mgmt companies have agreements with the county council that they won't put up communal dishes. i.e. safety reasons, agreements with cable companies etc. Take the case of the roof being blown off an apt block some months ago in Carrickmines.

zulfikarMD

surf board wrote: »

Maybe have a flick through your residents handbook. There may be some reasons for them wanting it taken down there. Many new apts & mgmt companies have agreements with the county council that they won't put up communal dishes. i.e. safety reasons, agreements with cable companies etc. Take the case of the roof being blown off an apt block some months ago in Carrickmines.

what has agreement between landlord and mgmt. company has to do with the tenant? if landlord is happy with the tenant putting up dish in the balcony can mgmt company object? if management company has agreement with cable company then they are trying to create a monopoly by forcing people to watch particular channels only..

surf board

zulfikarMD wrote: »

what has agreement between landlord and mgmt. company has to do with the tenant? if landlord is happy with the tenant putting up dish in the balcony can mgmt company object? if management company has agreement with cable company then they are trying to create a monopoly by forcing people to watch particular channels only..

You would need to ask your mgmt company what rules are in place regarding a dish. Doesn't matter if landlord allows it, its down to the mgmt co. How are they trying to create a monopoly? Some mgmt companies may only allow cable in the apts so the only options really are the likes of UPC or Magnet. So you do have an option of which cable co to go with.

zulfikarMD

surf board wrote: »

You would need to ask your mgmt company what rules are in place regarding a dish. Doesn't matter if landlord allows it, its down to the mgmt co. How are they trying to create a monopoly? Some mgmt companies may only allow cable in the apts so the only options really are the likes of UPC or Magnet. So you do have an option of which cable co to go with.

Haha UPC, Magnet and SKY they are all totally different..UPC doesn't give you foreign channels (non-english) where as SKY does. By forcing you to watch only channels provided by either UPC or Magnet they does create monopoly. if one is ready to provide 2 choices then why not 3 choices??

anotherlostie

I've heard that "Sky in your Apartment" is being installed in a 6 storey apartment complex at the moment, whereas previously they would not go beyond 4 floors. Technology has advanced, it seems. Suggests anyone whose building got turned down before might contact them again.

ricman

I think some companys are getting paid to allow one company in to a block,eg ntl,or chorus,so they dont want people to get sky,even though 3 dishs on the
roof would serve the whole building.
Get a 9inch dish and hide it on your balcony, behind a plant or something.
Theres no need to fix it to the wall,as long as its secured to the balcony.
You dont want a dish falling on someone from a height.I suppose its not easy in a new building
to provide say 100 cables from the roof if the ducting or cable network has just been designed for ntl acess from the lower level,or basement.

surf board

zulfikarMD wrote: »

Haha UPC, Magnet and SKY they are all totally different..UPC doesn't give you foreign channels (non-english) where as SKY does. By forcing you to watch only channels provided by either UPC or Magnet they does create monopoly. if one is ready to provide 2 choices then why not 3 choices??

Difference is Sky require a dish on the roof or wall!! That requires permission! UPC have euronews & some Asian channels in foreign languages, maybe not alot but they do have them. How are they forcing you to watch their channels? You are paying for their service & if someone doesn't like them then go with Magnet or someone else or get an aerial & then you'll only have 4 stations! I'd love to be able to get Sky but its not an option. The local council are above the mgmt company & says no, so theres nothing we can do.