Excellent experience start to finish – always very responsive to any queries and the turnaround on the property I was buying was very quick, even in the busy time leading up to stamp duty deadline. Jenny was always very helpful and went above and beyond to close on a short timescale.
On 15 December 2025 the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 (Commencement No. 4, Saving and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2025 were passed which means that from and including 7 April 2026 landlords who had granted a tenancy under the old Telecommunications Act 1984 (prior to 28 December 2017) to companies that have been granted powers under the Electronic Communications Code (Code Operators) in England and Wales will find that and the new rent chargeable on a tenancy renewal and any interim rent (from and including 7 April 2026), will be determined in accordance with the new Electronic Communications Code and not the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
This means that from and including 7 April 2026, the new and interim rents will be assessed on a fictional “no network” basis, which means that the rent is assessed on the assumption that the rights to which the tenancy relates do not include the provision or use of an electronic communications network. Ignoring the fact that the Code Operator can in fact use the premises for the provision or use of an electronic communications network.
Not alone does this mean that landlords will receive lower rent under the new tenancy, but if the landlord continues to charge a higher passing rent under the current tenancy beyond 7 April 2026, they could very well find they have to repay some of the overpayment, back to the Code Operator on an interim rent application.
The relevant court or tribunal may order the Code Operator to pay compensation to the landlord for any damage or loss that the landlord has or will suffer as a result of the exercise of any of the Code rights under the new tenancy. Such damages might include diminution in the value of the landlord’s property, which is assessed in line with compulsory purchase compensation under rules (2) to (4) in section 5 of the Land Compensation Act 1961.
The above changes do not apply to any renewal of old Telecommunications Act 1984 tenancies (granted prior to 28 December 2017) where the date specified in the already served non-hostile section 25 notice is not later than 6 April 2026 or the date stated in the already served section 26 request is not later than 7 April 2026 (and extending those dates by agreement does not alter matters). For those renewals, the new rent continues to be assessed under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. This will result in market rents being paid to landlords (with no compensation payable).
If you would like discuss this topic with Seán, please send an email to [email protected] or call 0161 832 3304
