Development and housing in our property department

The Development and Housing team specialises in commercial development and social housing development with clients ranging from Registered Social Landlords and development companies to individuals with expansive property portfolios. The team also gets involved with corporate and banking support work – assisting with the property elements of corporate and banking deals.

Since starting in this seat a couple of months ago I have been involved in many varied jobs. Day to day tasks include drafting reports on title and reports on leases, drafting contracts and transfers for the sale and purchase of plots of land acting for both buyer and seller as well as drafting and negotiating leases for Landlord clients and reviewing and negotiating leases for Tenant clients. I have also dealt with jobs such as granting easements, surrendering leases and varying terms of existing documents as well as dealing with post-completion matters which involves completing and filing the SDLT return and registering the new rights with the Land Registry.

For much of this work I am involved right the way through the process – effectively running some of the transactions under thorough and supportive supervision. I liaise with the client and the other side as the main point of contact. I draft engagement letters and advise on our likely fee and I deal with completion, post-completion and billing matters.

As a result of this experience and responsibility, I feel that I’ve learnt a lot in a short space of time. The team has provided me with lots of opportunities to be involved in varied tasks and I am sure this will continue in the next three months of this seat.