National property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) has been appointed by four local authorities in London to improve their revenue streams from telecoms sites.
Southwark, Kensington & Chelsea, Camden, and Lambeth borough councils hope that sites identified by LSH’s specialist telecoms team will enable them to achieve collectively in the region of £4 million a year in revenue.
Mobile phone operators have signed leases on numerous sites in the four boroughs following a thorough review of their portfolios by LSH.
The LSH team has also been appointed to undertake a number of other roles, including re-gearing existing portfolios, estate management and strategic asset management.
Mark Walters, director of telecoms consultancy at LSH Bristol, said it had identified potentially 250 sites across the boroughs that would bring in much-needed revenue for cash-strapped councils.
“Renting out rooftops on their public buildings is a potentially rich source of income for authorities that are having their budgets squeezed,” he said. “Our specialist team has undertaken a very detailed review of sites for these four London boroughs and identified around 250 sites that could be of benefit to telecoms operators.”
He said major mobile operators, including O2, EE and Vodafone, are always on the look-out for new sites for their masts, and its asset managers have brokered thousands of deals across the country.
“These are real opportunities and we would urge any local authority or business that is looking to boost its income to speak to us to see what unrealised revenue sources could be identified,” added Mark.
In Lambeth alone, the LSH telecoms team has successfully identified 40 new telecoms and wireless broadband sites across the borough, which will net the authority £750,000 p.a. in rental income from communications operators.
In Camden, over 30 telecommunications sites are being progressed, from which it hopes to generate up £900,000 annually in income.
LSH is the only national agent to have a telecoms specialist team with clients across the country and who are involved in different asset classes.
