Hi
I asked my landlord whether i can have a sky mini dish fitted and they said i’d have to use a communal dish ? On the block of flats ( 6 seperate apartments ) there are three mini dishes, are these " communal " dishes or not ?
Also, if the engineer comes to install my dish, will he have to phone the landlord/building management? Or is that for me to do ? as there are already 3 dishes on the premesis.
I’m in a block of 6 too - our communal is on the top of the building and is wired to all apartments so we just plug in and use what’s supplied. I mainly watch Freeview tho 
The block managers say there’s a communal dish, but there definitely isn’t - there’s just 3 sky mini dishes going into 3 different apartments.
I don’t know about the communal situation, you need to clarify that with your landlord/building managers, but when they come, they take instructions from you, they don’t ask for proof you’re allowed to get the installation done. If they end up installing a dish and you do get in trouble (which I’m sure you wouldn’t but obviously that’s your decision) you can’t blame the installers for not checking - you’re the person issuing the instructions.
I say get the installers round, tell them your landlord says there’s a communal dish, and see what they say. When you book the installation you can tell them how big your building is, if it’s more than few stories they usually have ladders to get to the top, but if it’s super tall they’ll need you to get them access to the roof from inside.
Why not just get a NowTV or Roku box and stream instead of getting a Sky dish?
I’ve had NowTV in the past but in my opinion it’s not very good, compared to Sky.
Sky are doing a really good offer, fixed price for 18months… Entertainment and HD package for £27 which is very enticing
Its a confusing one, my landlord keeps telling me we have a communal sky dish when we don’t. All we have is three mini-dishes going to three different flats on my block .
Don’t really know where to go from here
Photo evidence?
If you have a communal dish you will have the connections already in your property.
Thought so !
I don’t have one of those at all.
Going by the fact that four of the other flats on my block have sky dishes, should I be ok having one installed ?
It depends, you’d need to speak to your landlord. Each flat my have a different one who’s approved it.
I’d probably try to get the block managers to speak to your landlord as there has been miss communication.
Thanks @Jackcrwhitney
The law states
"Unless your building is in a designated area, you do not need to apply for planning permission to install a dish or other antenna on your property, as long as:
Which explains why there’s four dishes already. And im guessing if Sky go against this and not ask for permission they would be breaking the law.
I will contact my landlord again on Monday and explain that there’s no communal dish
I beilive that’s referring to planning permission from your local authority (county council).
You don’t need to request permission from them.
Building owner etc is a different matter.
I pay £27 for NowTV and get phone, internet and the Entertainment package with that. That’s including HD.
Have you looked into that as an option?
thanks @adinus
I have used NowTV plenty in the past and i’d much rather have Sky.
I’m going to call my landlord tomorrow and explain there’s no communal dish, however there are four tenants with their own sky dish.
Management says they own three of the properties, which means at least one tenant with the same owner as me has a dish
Hopefully soon you won’t need a dish for sky then it will solve this problem for everyone.
I know !
Anxiously waiting for Sky IPTV
Just sent a polite email to the block manager. Explaining there is no communal dish, however four other tenants have their own. Not likely it will be a yes, but at least then i’ve tried.
Heard back from the landlord and they said there is a " communal hook-up point in a cupboard "
found the cupboard but there’s no " communal hook up point " just these two boxes ? Do they look like they could be a sky hook up point ?
Honestly I’d book an installation with Sky. the engineer can look at any potential points in the flat and whether any of the dishes on the building are communal. If they’re not able to proceed you don’t get charged and your account can be closed at Sky without any fee.