The whole property development cycle from site acquisition, assembly and contract negotiation through funding and construction to final disposal, is a particularly demanding challenge for real estate lawyers and is one we particularly relish. It is exciting work and an experienced lawyer can make a big difference to his or her developer client. This is not just in terms of risk avoidance through expert and comprehensive due diligence - though that is essential.
A specialist lawyer can also significantly enhance viability and profit margins. He or she can accelerate cash flow by taking a vigorous and proactive approach to disposals and, at the most fundamental, level the lawyer can be the difference between whether or not the deal happens in the first place. To reconcile the interests, aims and aspirations of the various parties to a development project often requires innovative thinking (so that the transaction can be structured or restructured effectively) and skilled negotiation.
For many years, we have acted for developers, funders, local authorities, institutions, businesses and other organisations and end users, on all matters relating to property development projects. These encompass every type of development venture from urban regeneration, business parks, mixed use schemes, shopping centres, hotels and offices to volume housing and standalone projects such as single-building flat conversions.
Our team has a full grasp of the wide range of legal issues relating to development and is supported by other specialist lawyers in the firm, in such aspects as property litigation, planning and environment, as well as by an experienced chartered surveyor retained as a full-time consultant with Lyons Davidson.
As with all our real estate and commercial work, we seek innovative solutions to resolve problems. If necessary, we will throw away the precedent books to unlock a site which cannot be taken forward using conventional structures and documents. Below are some examples of where we have successfully achieved unusual solutions for clients in the development context.
Property not fundable
Potential development sites earmarked by our developer client for acquisition were too speculative to attract conventional funding. We therefore designed schemes and documentation to enable acquisition and development of the sites without secured finance. This was through co-operation between landowner, developer and contractor after marketing and forward-selling units to end users on negotiated conditional contracts, even before the granting of planning permission.
Developers' cash flow
We have produced legal structures to improve cash flow for the developer by enabling the end-user tenant to complete on the acquisition of the legal estate at the beginning rather than the end of the development, and therefore give security to its funder to enable draw down of instalment payments through the construction phase.
Risk-free development
Acting for a charity, we designed a scheme and documentation to enable high-value development of land owned by the charity via a legal structure which ring-fenced the development risk and liability in a nominee company to avoid possible exposure of other charity assets to possible claims.
Payment in kind
We draft the documentation for residential developers who pay for the land by granting leases of completed apartments to the seller at the end of the development rather than by paying cash on completion of the purchase.
The Proactive Approach
For volume house-builders, our dedicated plot-sale team takes an energetically proactive approach to hitting our clients’ year-end targets for exchange and completion, by chasing up and down the chain to identify and resolve the weaker links causing delay. It has achieved a proud record of success in this respect.
Contact: John Hicks