The Building Safety Bill has finally finished its legislative journey. On 28 April 2022 it was granted Royal Assent, thereby becoming the Building Safety Act 2022 (the Act). Given the size of the Act, it’s no surprise that it took a few days to work out which of the many proposed amendments to the Bill … Read more

In July, we wrote about the coming into force on 1 August 2021 of Planning Gateway One, the first of three new stop/go “Gateways” within the new building safety regime. At that point we awaited details of the proposed “Gateway Two Levy”, the second of the two means by which the government is seeking contributions … Read more

In March 2021, the Construction Leadership Council published its findings of a recent pan-industry survey of over 1,000 firms, which confirmed a widespread problem experienced by many construction and architecture firms in obtaining professional indemnity insurance (PII) cover.[1] The survey found that companies were being prevented from taking on projects, and even having to change … Read more

It’s sometimes hard to remember that amongst all of the Covid-19 and Brexit related work that the government is contending with there is still other business to be undertaken. In July of this year, the government released a draft “Building Safety Bill” which aims to introduce a “new era of accountability … for the design, … Read more

This week, offices, schools and public places are being closed in response to COVID-19. Herbert Smith Freehills continues to provide a full client service, with our teams mostly working remotely but, as with all businesses, those involved in planning are trying to work out the best ways to continue with projects and what accommodations need … Read more

This article was first published on 11 December 2019 in Real Estate. Reconsidered. Our love affair with man-made plastics really began in the 19th century with a material derived from cellulose called Parkesine after its British inventor Alexander Parkes. Now there are around 45 unique types of plastics, each with dozens of variations. The key … Read more

This article was first published on 11 December 2019 in Real Estate. Reconsidered. In real estate development everything comes down to managing an (un)holy trinity of risks; namely cost, time, and quality. Take a building contract between a developer and a contractor: if the developer wants a high quality building delivered quickly, it will pay … Read more

Yesterday the HSF Real Estate team launched Real Estate. Reconsidered, a collection of our thoughts on some of the key issues that are impacting the real estate sector and our opinions on what the future may hold for the real estate market and its legal landscape. To read Real Estate. Reconsidered click here. Please contact us … Read more