Browne Jacobson is a national powerhouse when it comes to delivering a cost-effective real estate service to local authorities. We have in-depth experience of working with over 200 local authorities. And, in each one, our lawyers are embedded every day in handling high-profile and strategic built environment projects and supporting the full range of transactional and operational requirements for our clients.
From housing to investment and place-making regeneration, we connect our clients with key stakeholders in other sectors and advise strategically in a setting which is steeped in the public sector.
With such an array of expertise, you will be in safe hands as we work together to find the right outcome for you. We look forward to seeing what we can achieve together.
Strategic acquisition of The Pavements Shopping Centre in Chesterfield from investment company vendors for Chesterfield Borough Council.
Acquisition of 9 Colmore Row - a significant tenanted city centre asset next to Snow Hill Station for Birmingham City Council.
Working with Coventry City Council regarding letting Bellway Homes for their regional head office.
“Golden Brick” purchases of affordable housing from developers to deliver good quality rented housing for local people for Sedgemoor District Council.
Investment zones have been introduced by the Conservative party to get the United Kingdom (UK) ‘working, building and growing’. They are to be designated sites which provide time-limited tax incentives, streamlined planning rules and wider support for local growth to encourage investment and accelerate the development of housing and infrastructure that the UK needs to drive economic growth. Processes and requirements that slow down development will be stripped back with the intention of attracting new investment.
Devolution is the transfer of powers in areas like transport, housing and skills in England and since the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 has been a much-discussed topic.
The concept of Legal Project Management (“LPM”) is increasingly relevant to the delivery of legal services, both in-house functions and private practice law. This is unsurprising, LPM is crucial if lawyers are to add value by controlling budgets, communicate pro-actively on risk mitigation and costs, and manage time by resourcing to deal with pinch points in the project.
The focus on the Levelling Up agenda and the availability of grant funding, means there are numerous important regeneration schemes actively being pursued across the country. With ever-escalating project and building costs, in many cases, applications that were made for grant funding were based on costs contingencies that have already been exceeded.
By the time PFI really got into its stride in the early 2000s, standard form contracts had pretty much nailed down the terms and anticipated anything that might happen, good or bad, during the course of the 25 years it covered.
Conservation Covenants come into force on 30 September 2022. We look at the impact on landowners, developers and responsible bodies.
Homes England, the government’s housing accelerator, has partnered with two local authorities, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Association of South Essex Local Authorities, in a new Strategic Place Partnership (SPP) which is designed to align with the government’s levelling up agenda by delivering new homes in the regions.
We have created a summary of the recommendations and consistent themes which we are now starting to see becoming more embedded in public sector procurement practices.
The climate emergency has reached a point where real and substantial damage is being caused to both the planet and society. There has been a shift from planning and theorising the most effective solutions, to a phase where practical, efficient, and sustainable solutions are required at speed.
As the Grenfell Inquiry continues, how have the Phase 1 recommendations changed the fire safety and building safety landscape?
On 4 May 2022, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the joint case of R (Elkundi and others) -v- Birmingham City Council and R (Imam) -v- London Borough of Croydon [2022] EWCA Civ 601.
This year’s Queen’s Speech has outlined several legislative changes and the overhauling of laws around levelling up, planning and economic crime that could affect conveyancers.
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill was introduced to Parliament on 11 May 2022. In this Bill, and in accordance with earlier reports, the government intends to replace section 106 agreements and the existing Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) with a new Infrastructure Levy.
On 14 February 2022, Secretary of State of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, announced proposals designed to pressure building developers and materials manufacturers to fund the remediation of unsafe properties.
Improvement to the planning system has arrived in the form of new digital tools which will make it easier for the general public to have their say on shaping and regenerating their communities.
