The Digital Switchover in Leeds: What It Means for Your Personal Alarm
The analogue telephone network is retired on 31 January 2027. In Leeds the households that need to act are those where a personal alarm plugs into a phone socket, because that connection is being removed. Leeds City Council has already replaced thousands of analogue telecare devices, but not every alarm in the city came from the council.
Key facts
- The analogue phone network (PSTN) closes on 31 January 2027, roughly six months from now.
- Leeds City Council runs the city's telecare service, which it calls Leeds Tele Care.
- Postcodes run from LS1 to LS28 across the district, taking in Horsforth, Otley, Wetherby, Garforth, Rothwell, Morley and Pudsey.
- The council completed a £1.6 million analogue to digital telecare upgrade in October 2023.
What is changing in Leeds, and when?
Traditional landlines across the city are being converted so that calls travel over broadband, and the network behind the old lines is retired on 31 January 2027. The programme belongs to the telephone industry rather than the council. Openreach is retiring the analogue network and each provider migrates its own customers.
The original deadline was 31 December 2025 and it was put back so vulnerable customers could be better protected. Openreach has said there will be no cliff edge on 1 February 2027, with lines still on the old network moved to alternative arrangements.
In Headingley, Armley, Beeston or Seacroft the change usually means a router and a phone plugged into it. What causes harm is the equipment sharing that line without anyone noticing, and a monitored alarm is the classic case.
Will my personal alarm still work after the switch-off?
It depends entirely on the connection. Alarms with a mobile SIM inside are unaffected because they never used the line. Alarms that dial out through a telephone socket are the ones at risk, and the failure gives no warning. The unit still shows a light, the pendant still clicks, and the gap only appears when help is genuinely needed.
Around two million people in the UK use telecare, according to the Telecare National Action Plan published by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The plan commits that no telecare user will be migrated to a digital landline without the communications provider, the customer or the telecare provider confirming a compatible and functioning solution is in place. It works only when the alarm has been declared.
How do I check whether my alarm uses the phone line?
- Trace both cables. One from the base unit goes to the mains. If the second one ends in a telephone socket, the alarm is on the line.
- Look at the phone. Handset in a wall socket means the line has not yet been converted. Handset in the back of the router means it already has, so the alarm should be tested straight away.
- Read the label. Note the model and supplier printed underneath. If it says Leeds Tele Care it is a council device; if it names a company you do not recognise, ring that company.
Our article on the 2027 landline switch-off and personal alarms explains what to do with the answer.
What about alarms provided by Leeds City Council?
The council's service is Leeds Tele Care, which monitors alarms and sensors 24 hours a day. Equipment itself is provided at no charge. The council publishes a one off setup fee of £27, or £32 for a GPS package, and weekly monitoring from £9.99 to £13.18 depending on the package chosen, with extra sensors at 67p a week. VAT relief is available for people with a disability or long term condition. You apply online, or a doctor, health professional or the adult social care team can arrange an assessment.
Leeds has done more than most on the switchover. The council announced in October 2023 that it had completed a four year upgrade of its telecare equipment from analogue to digital, investing £1.6 million, replacing more than 5,200 items of equipment and supporting nearly 10,000 people across the city.
Two honest caveats. That announcement described the switch-off as happening by 2025, which is the old date, so the language is out of step even though the work was real. And we found no current, resident facing guidance from Leeds City Council explaining what households should do now. If you are a Leeds Tele Care user, the sensible step is to ring the service and confirm the equipment in your own home is one of the digital units.
What should Leeds residents do now?
Tell the phone provider a telecare alarm is used at the address by someone who depends on it, and ask for it to be recorded on the account. That is what puts the national protections to work.
Then consider power cuts. Ofcom requires providers to maintain at least one hour of access to emergency organisations when the power fails and to offer free battery backup to customers who depend on the landline to call 999. That unit comes from the telephone company, not the alarm service, and it protects the emergency call rather than the alarm itself.
The Leeds gap to watch
The council's upgrade covered its own Leeds Tele Care equipment. It did not cover alarms bought privately, supplied by a housing association, or fitted years ago in a sheltered scheme. If the alarm in the house did not come from the council, nobody has counted it, and the responsibility for checking sits with the household.
Talk to a UK monitoring team about a digital ready alarm
Holden Grange supplies digital ready personal alarms across the UK, monitored from our own alarm receiving centre in Southport, where 99.6% of alarm calls are answered in under 60 seconds.
Telephone 01704 332840 | info@holdengrange.com
Book a free call with HannahFrequently asked questions
Leeds Tele Care. Equipment is provided free, with a one off setup fee of £27, or £32 with GPS, and weekly monitoring published at £9.99 to £13.18 depending on the package. Extra sensors are 67p a week and VAT relief is available for eligible users.
Yes. The council announced in October 2023 that a four year, £1.6 million programme had replaced more than 5,200 items of telecare equipment with digital versions, supporting nearly 10,000 people. That covers council supplied equipment only, and the announcement still refers to the older 2025 switch-off date.
The landlord. Sheltered and extra care schemes often use hard wired warden call systems that are separate from Leeds Tele Care, and replacing them before the analogue network closes is the housing provider's job. Ask the scheme manager in writing what the plan and the date are.
Yes. LS21, LS22 and LS27 are inside the Leeds district and on the same national timetable of 31 January 2027. Outlying addresses with a long line back to the exchange often benefit most from a mobile connected alarm rather than one that depends on a copper line.
Where to start: check what the base unit plugs into, tell your phone provider it is there, and read our guide to the 2027 digital switchover. Our SOS pendant alarm page for Leeds sets out equipment and monthly cost. Call our UK team on 01704 332840.
Holden Grange is a UK telecare provider based in Southport, a TSA member and certified under the TEC Quality Standards Framework. Our alarm receiving centre is UK based and operates 24 hours a day.