Vicky Cranthorne M.A.R.L.A, Office Manager for iConn Property Management writes:

When tenants view a property to rent if a telephone socket is visible or advertised as available then the landlord has a responsibility to ensure it is in working order. This means that the physical lines and wiring into the property are in place.

It is a tenants choice as to whether they wish to have a working line during their tenancy. If you do require a telephone line then it is their responsibility to pay for any set up fees that may be applicable to have a working line as this is the tenants account set up fee.

Most telephone line providers have a general rule that if a line is not used for longer than a month they will disconnect it from the exchange and allocate the space to someone else. This means that if the previous tenants choose not to have a line, or used a different provider to the one the tenant would like to use, there is a high chance that the provider will charge the tenant to reconnect the line to the exchange.