Labour threatening rural broadband crisis amid rental rows | Politics | News
Labor risks deepening the UK’s worsening rural connectivity crisis by expanding plans to cut rents paid to landowners who host mobile phone masts, it has been claimed.
Somerset landowner Roger Foxwell has been hosting multiple masts on his property for more than 25 years but has seen his rent for housing them reduced significantly.
The Electronic Communications Act (ECC) of 2017 changed how mobile mast rental rates are calculated by replacing market-rate rents with a “non-scheduled” valuation to make it cheaper and faster for operators to build and upgrade networks, especially for 5G.
This reform led to significant rent reductions for some landowners, sparking disputes and, according to some critics, slowing infrastructure development.
Mr Foxwell said: “At one point I had four on my estate. Since the new Act came into force, rents on my remaining sites have fallen by around 90%.
“This income wasn’t a luxury; it helped cover rising bills, supported grounds maintenance costs and covered operating expenses. I’m proud to support the rollout of 5G, but losing so much overnight makes you feel as if the system has been turned against the people who have kept rural areas connected for decades.”
A coalition including the British Property Federation and the Farmers’ Union of Wales have written to Telecoms Minister Baroness Liz Lloyd warning that Labour’s plans to expand the ECC to a further 15,000 premises will “entrench failure” and deepen the UK’s worsening connectivity crisis.
The group, which represents farmers, landowners and infrastructure investors, warned that the current system already forces farmers, small businesses, churches, charities and councils to accept vastly reduced rents.
They warned that the policy was deterring people from hosting poles, leading to “more litigation, more stalled renewals and more site losses” and undermining the UK’s ability to provide reliable mobile coverage.
In its letter, the coalition says reforms in 2017 caused rents to fall by up to 90 percent, triggered more than 1,000 legal cases and “collapsed the goodwill of landowners.”
Conservative MP Rebecca Smith MP asked ministers what assessment was made of the impact of rents paid to churches, local authorities, other public bodies and private landowners.
Responding on behalf of the government, MP Kanishka Narayan said: “These measures have not yet come into force and therefore no assessment has been made of their impact on rents.”
A Department for Science, Innovation and Technology spokesperson said: “Our priority is to continue to deliver high-quality digital infrastructure across the UK, which is critical to driving growth and improving public services for hard-working communities.
“That’s why we’re driving forward our ambition to achieve higher quality standalone 5G coverage across all populated areas by 2030. But we can only achieve this by delivering the infrastructure the country needs, removing barriers and supporting investment so everyone in the UK can benefit from next-generation connectivity. We will continue to engage broadly as we do this to ensure our approach delivers maximum impact for the public.”
