Property Development & Planning

The planning & development of a property for can be a long and complex process. This will involve having to solve many legal problems.

Our Commercial Property team are experienced in acting for developers generally on site acquisition, planning agreements and onward sales. This includes advising on options and conditional contracts, development agreements and promotion agreements and dealing with local authorities on planning and highway agreements.

We can assist you with your requirements at each stage of the project, which may include:

• Development vehicle – whether you choose to incorporate a new limited company or enter into a partnership or joint venture agreement, we can assist with the legal documentation.
• Site acquisition – we can assist with the acquisition of the development site and strategic agreements such as option agreements or conditional contracts to enable you to ensure that you only acquire the site once all of your requirements have been fulfilled. Our commercial property specialists can also assist with:
  • Ensuring the land is suitable for development.
  • Checking if planning permission is available for the land in question.
  • Identifying any required right of way or right of access, and reporting where there is not one.
  • Reporting on the suitability of roadways and availability to connect to a mains sewer.
  • Reviewing the title and identifying any issues relating to boundaries, covenants or any other discrepancies.
• Planning matters – we can work with your professional advisors in relation to the negotiation and completion of any planning agreements to enable you to obtain planning permission, such as Section 106 Agreements.
• Plot sales – having dealt with the site since inception, we will be familiar with any issues and this will assist in the onward sale to private buyers of plots.

You can find further information about development and planning issues relating to commercial property in our Legal Resource Centre, or by contacting one of our team here