EE Limited v Edelwind Limited is another in the increasing line of cases concerning the operation of the Electronic Communications Code, contained in Schedule 3A to the Communications Act 2003. This one, before the Upper Tribunal, concerned the code's provisions governing the service of a notice to terminate a code agreement in terms of when and on whom the notice should be served.
The government considers that better data on land ownership and control is required to achieve its vision for the planning system, improve the development process and increase the public's understanding of who exercises control over land. The government's particular focus is on rights of pre-emption, options and conditional contracts, and it has published a consultation seeking views on how best to improve transparency around them and what additional data should be made public.
The government has published legislation to bring sweeping changes to the Use Classes Order for England, which will take effect on 1 September 2020. References to uses and use classes in the General Permitted Development Order remain as currently defined until 1 August 2021. What will be the impact of these changes on existing and new leases of commercial property and their provisions governing what the premises can be used for?
The Law Commission recently published its reports on leasehold enfranchisement, right to manage and commonhold. The common theme in all three reports is to make each process simpler, quicker and more flexible and to reduce costs for leaseholders. While commonhold was introduced more than 15 years ago, it has hardly been used and the Law Commission seeks to make it a preferred alternative to residential leasehold.
The progression through Parliament of the draft Electronic Communications Code has taken a sudden new turn. The government has had second thoughts, recently announcing that it is withdrawing the draft code and that the existing code will remain in effect.
The latest change to the Infrastructure Bill going through Parliament is to include a new Electronic Communications Code to replace the existing code in Schedule 2 of the Telecommunications Act 1984. The draft code is a big improvement on the existing code in terms of clarity and certainty, although it remains complex and procedural and will continue to involve the courts.