Objections to intrusive investigative works upheld in Electronic Communications Code reference (Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Ltd v St Martins Property Investments Ltd)

Article summary

Property Disputes analysis: The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) (UT) considered a reference under Schedule 3A to the Communications Act 2003 in which the claimant sought rights to access the roof of an office building in order to carry out investigations to assess its suitability for the installation of electronic communications apparatus. The leaseholder of the property did not oppose the grant of access to the claimant, but it succeeded in persuading the UT that access only for non-intrusive investigative works should be provided at this stage. The contractual compensation scheme proposed by the claimant was rejected, and the UT commented that the respondent’s request for reimbursement for the cost of a professional telecommunications agent should be refused. This left the matter of the parties’ legal costs—the respondent was awarded their full costs for the transactional work of advising on and negotiating the agreement, but their litigation costs were substantially reduced....