Surveyor using site assessment equipment outdoors

New Sites

Have you received a proposal for telecoms equipment on your land?
Before anything is agreed, get the survey properly documented and the terms genuinely tested. We advise from the first site visit through to a signed agreement, or help you resist the approach altogether.

Talk to us

Home » Telecoms » New Sites

Assessing a new telecoms site proposal

Telecoms new sites usually start the same way: a Code operator or a provider without statutory rights approaches you about installing equipment, and you need advice before agreeing to anything. We work with you from the first site visit through to a signed agreement, or help you resist the approach if that’s the better outcome.

The process usually starts with a multi-skilled visit (MSV), where the operator surveys the site for design, access and radio planning suitability. This visit needs proper documentation. Handled carelessly, it can unintentionally confer rights to the operator before any agreement is even signed.

If the proposal sits on a building rather than open land, we work with your structural engineers to check the operator’s design and calculations, so your property stays safe and protected throughout.

Where there is a viable scheme, we negotiate terms tailored to your case. Not every letting falls under the new Code’s legislation, and the terms available can be better than expected. We work with your legal advisors to progress a consensual agreement, drawing on experience across a significant number of new lettings and lease renewals, both within and outside the Code.

You may also want to resist the approach entirely. Statutory grounds, including redevelopment, can support that. If you are being compelled to enter an agreement against your wishes, we advise on your position and can recommend specialist solicitors to manage any resulting litigation.

KEY CONTACTS

Tom Bodley Scott
MRICS FAAV
Tunbridge Wells

01892 509280

Email Tom

Robin Whatley
MRICS
Tunbridge Wells

01892 577430
Email Robin

Rows of solar panels on farmland at sunset

More than one way to earn from your land

A telecoms agreement is not the only option for land that is caught an operator’s interest, or your own. If you are weighing up what a site could realistically deliver, our Natural Capital team can talk you through renewable energy and other income options alongside it.

Explore Renewable Energy

Common questions about telecoms new sites

No, not automatically. If the approach comes from a Code Operator, they hold certain statutory rights, but you don’t have to accept the first proposal, and there may be statutory grounds to resist the approach entirely, including where you plan to redevelop the site.

It’s the initial survey an operator carries out to assess a site for design, access and radio planning suitability. It needs to be properly documented, since a poorly handled MSV can unintentionally confer rights to the operator before any agreement is signed.

Not if it’s properly checked first. Where a proposal sits on a building rather than open land, we work with your structural engineers to review the operator’s design and calculations, so your property stays safe throughout.

No. Not every letting falls under the new Code’s legislation, and agreements outside it can sometimes achieve better terms than you might expect. We work with your legal advisors to establish which rules apply before terms are agreed.

You may be able to resist the approach on statutory grounds, including an intention to redevelop. If you are being compelled to enter an agreement against your wishes, we can advise on your position and recommend specialist solicitors where litigation follows.