At Browne Jacobson, social and environmental impact are at the top of the business agenda and our reputation for delivering cost-effective real estate services sets us apart.
Our real estate team has a strong and long-standing reputation for delivering the very best expertise across all areas of real estate investment.
Clients in the private and public sectors trust us with their investment property. We understand the importance of timely, commercial, and practical advice across all aspects of your real estate portfolio.
We also address the wider social concerns of the sector, especially the ESG aspirations of investors and their investment managers.
Our expertise is as broad as it is deep, spanning acquisitions and disposals of large, multi-tenanted, investment properties (including property tax issues; sales and purchases, lease grants and renewals, SDLT, VAT issues and tax issues on larger one-off transactions) through to construction, assigning existing contracts or (for public sector clients) procurement issues, intellectual property transfers or disputes as well as planning, environmental, insolvency and employment, as well as transactional work relating to large portfolios (such as new leases and renewals, including green lease clauses, dealing with applications for consent and related licences, surrenders and variations) and issues with current tenants (including the lease renewal process from service of a Section 25 Notice under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, reviewing any notice served by a tenant, claims for dilapidations, enforcement of tenant covenants, rent recovery from a tenant and/or guarantor and forfeiture of leases and/or service of Section 146 Notices.
£26.4m acquisition of ‘best in class’ building 9 Colmore Row.
Sale of £44m industrial investment property to overseas investor.
Full legal support in asset management of various shopping centres.
Interim dilapidations claim where client’s surveyors re-entered the premises to carry the works out and recovered the cost from the tenant as a debt.
On 2 November 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the much awaiting case of Hillside Parks Ltd v Snowdonia National Park Authority [2022] UKSC 30. The Court’s judgment suggests that the long established practice of using drop-in applications is in fact much more restricted than previously thought. This judgment therefore has significant implications for both the developers and local planning authorities.
National law firm Browne Jacobson has advised long standing retail client, Wilko on the sale and leaseback of its Nottinghamshire distribution centre in Worksop to logistics specialist DHL for £48m.
Browne Jacobson has appointed Amy Chapman, the former Group Legal Director of global built environment experts Mace Group, as its first Non-Executive Director (NED) of its Construction & Real Estate sector strategy board.
Across the UK, homelessness is an urgent crisis, and one that is set to grow amid the rising cost of living. Local authorities are at the forefront of responding to this crisis, but with a lack of properties that are suitable for social housing across the UK, vulnerable individuals and families are often housed in temporary accommodation.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, landlords and tenants have experienced significant limitations in the way rent arrears could be pursued. We first saw the moratorium on the recovery of Covid related arrears, and more recently we’ve experienced the implementation of the Covid arrears arbitration scheme.
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.
Recent reports of flat roofs constructed using RAAC planks collapsing without warning prompted the SCOSS alert.
Conservation Covenants come into force on 30 September 2022. We look at the impact on landowners, developers and responsible bodies.
The Building Safety Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 (“Act”). The government has described the reforms introduced by the Act as “the biggest changes to building safety regulation in a generation”. For once the hype is justified.
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.
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.
In March the government proposed a number of changes to the Building Safety Bill. The new amendments propose additional protection for leaseholders to prevent them from being charged for cladding work if they own up to three properties.
We welcome you back after the festive break to our first Private Sector Development Club of the year. Join us on-demand for four high level presentations with a chance for you to ask questions to our experts.
This article takes key areas of focus within the NHS Estate and presents our top tips for implementing estates aspects of your Green Plan successfully from a legal perspective.
Watch our on-demand video about our private sector development club, where we will be discussing, planning updates, permitted development and negotiating development agreements.
Watch our first virtual private sector development club, where we guide you through a variety of topics relevant to property development, including updates on leasehold reform and planning law, plus a guide through the negotiation of promotion and option agreements.
