The report of the Parliamentary committee on residential leasehold reform has been published containing strong recommendations, many of them radical, and some where it is not at all clear how they could work in practice. Nevertheless, this is likely to be the future and a good commercial conclusion may be to assume that this will … Read more
Herbert Smith Freehills’ Exchange Network, a network of senior women in the London Real Estate department, recently hosted the “Healthy Buildings” panel discussion in conjunction with REWomen. Joined by over 90 attendees from the real estate industry, the panel discussed the economic drivers of well-being in the built environment, who the players are, who benefits, and … Read more
Contractor claims are an inevitable part of construction projects. Disputes are not. In order to mitigate the risk of contractor claims evolving into disputes, it is vital that they are evaluated properly and in a timely manner. Failure to do so can lead to costly and protracted disputes, which not only impact the parties’ relationship, … Read more
Over the last 18 months, Herbert Smith Freehills has been working with the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (the CREFC), a trade body for real estate debt lenders and investors in Europe, to help produce the new edition of CREFC’s due diligence guide for lenders against UK commercial real estate. The CREFC Due Diligence (DD) … Read more
A report commissioned for the Labour Party entitled “Land for the Many” has been published, proposing radical changes to the way that land is used and controlled in the United Kingdom. It makes many recommendations which are described as “proposals to the Labour Party” to consider as part of its policy development process in advance … Read more
Current crises in housing and in town centres have placed greater emphasis on the role that local authorities can and should play in compulsorily acquiring land to promote much needed development, whether to implement local plan policies or to help progress consented schemes. In a series of back-to-basics posts we will discuss the various stages … Read more
The Supreme Court has given judgment in the case of Telereal Trillium v Hewitt (VO) [2019] UKSC 23. The latest in a long line of rating cases to be considered by the Supreme Court in recent years, this case indicates that even the most unattractive, seemingly impossible to let, empty property is likely to be … Read more
On 14 May 2019, the Planning Inspectorate published its Inquiries Review Action Plan to explain how it intends to implement the recommendations of Bridget Rosewell CBE’s Independent Review of Planning Appeal Inquiries. This blog considers what progress has been made and what are the main challenges to full implementation. The Rosewell Review The PINS Action Plan … Read more
