Earlier this year, we blogged about the new Electronic Communications Code and the impact the changes would have for equipment installed by approved telecoms operators on private land. It has been announced today that the changes are coming into force on 28 December 2017. As a quick recap, the main changes are:
1. New no-scheme valuation method for setting rents payable to site providers, which will result in lower rents
2. Automatic rights for operators to upgrade and share equipment with other operators, as well as automatic rights to assign the agreement, in new agreements granted going forward
3. Transfer of the dispute resolution jurisdiction from the court to the First Tier Tribunal
4. Longer, two stage termination and removal of equipment procedure, with termination of rights based in statutory grounds only (including redevelopment)
5. Removal of dual security of tenure regimes for leases not contracted out of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
6. No statutory lift and shift rights for new agreements
7. Transitional provisions for existing agreements
To see our earlier blog on the changes, click here.
