Telecom rents have stabilised after huge growth in recent years, but the market is splitting.
According to Leo Hickish of Strutt & Parker’s St Albans office, there is now much greater awareness about the rents achievable for sites suitable for masts, not only from mobile phone companies but also from television and other communications companies.
The market is now split between acquisitive firms, such as Orange and Hutchinson 3G, and others which are focusing on getting digital services up to date. These include One2One and mm02, the newly formed company amalgamating BT Cellnet, the telecoms arm, and BT Airwave, which deals with emergency service airwaves.
Although rents for a small cell rural site could be £2,500 pa, Hickish cautioned against seeing telecom income as a goldmine.
“Surveyors must be aware of the impact of mast-siting on their client’s core business or assets. The perception of a health risk remains. Some shops are now removing or refusing masts due to concerns that customers might be put off.
“One should also consider if one’s client is selling a farmhouse to non-farming interests. If there are masts involved, it may not attract a premium compared to one without.”
The drive to control costs in the industry has been sharpened by the collapse of two companies, Atlantic and Dolphin.
“Some landlords are being told by the receivers that they are simply pulling out with no further payments,” said Hickish.
“The cost of decommissioning these sites could be as much as £15,000, so we need to warn clients to exercise caution and make sure their lease covers this.”
