The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is likely to be introduced in the next year or two. It will allow LAs to levy a tax payable on the grant of planning permission for ‘development’.

A full planning permission will normally lapse after three years, which means that work must be started on the site within that time. With an outline planning permission, the time limit is two years from approval of details.

As in Telecoms Code - LTA 1954, it is vital to ensure that any lease with a telecoms operator is contracted out of LTA 1954. Common terms include:

if the lease is sufficiently long, there should be a provision for rent reviews. A market for comparables has now developed, so an ‘open market rent’ may be appropriate. Alternatively, one could have a stepped rent, or an increase based on RPI;

The Telecoms Code is now known as the Electronic Communications Code. Its aim is to ensure that no-one is unreasonably denied access to telecoms and network services (eg broadband), and thus it gives powers of compulsory purchase to telecoms operators.

An operator can give a landowner notice requiring agreement to use the land. If, after 28 days, the landowner does not enter into an agreement, the operator can apply for a court order. Often, a landowner will agree to the operator’s request without requiring the operator to enter into a formal agreement. Needless to say, this is a bad move. A formal agreement gives the landowner tighter control and, in particular, ensures that the landowner can exclude security of tenure given to the operator (as a business T under LTA 1954).

This could prove a useful quote:

A 1992 EC Directive requires there to be a system of strict protection of European Protected Species (EPS), such as bats, newts and doormice. That Directive is implemented in the UK by the Habitats Regs 1994. Needless to say, local planning authorities must have regard to those regs when exercising their planning functions.

Twin tracking is a tactic that has been used by developers to force through a planning decision as quickly as possible. What happens is that a developer submits two identical planning applications to the council, paying a fee for each.

The total demolition of a building will be construed as ‘development’, and it is also specifically defined as a ‘building operation’ within the definition of development (s55(1A)(a)TCPA 1990).

The partial demolition of a building will be ‘development’ (s55 TCPA 1990). It is regarded as a structural alteration, and thus falls within the definition of ‘building operation’. Accordingly, the general rule is that planning permission will be required for the partial demolition of a building.

In a declining property market, developers will want to preserve existing planning permissions but not necessarily fully implement them.