Author: Matt Leggett, Associate, Real Estate, London Piecing together a large or complex development site inevitably involves dealing with tenants and occupiers in order to obtain vacant possession. On vacating the site, those tenants and occupiers often leave things behind.… Read more

Authors: Julie Vaughan, Senior Associate, Environment and Helena Thompson, Associate, Planning and Environment, London On 2 October 2016, Prime Minister Theresa May announced at the Conservative Party's annual conference that all existing EU law – and therefore, environmental law –… Read more

Authors: Alexandra Rhodes, Senior Associate, Planning and Matthew White, Partner and Head of Planning, London In September the Department for Communities and Local Government ('DCLG') and HM Treasury issued the Government's response to its consultation carried out earlier this year on… Read more

Author: Michael Mendelblat, Professional Support Lawyer, Construction and Engineering, London In this post, we examine the Supreme Court decision in the case of Hastings Borough Council v Manolete Partners Plc on 27 July 2016.  The court considered whether a local authority… Read more

Author: Matthew White, Partner and Head of Planning, London In the September edition of 'Property in Practice', the Law Society's Property magazine, Matthew White, partner and head of planning at HSF, examines the new power to override easements and other… Read more

Authors: Matthew White, Partner and Head of Planning, Real Estate, London and Lucy Morton, Professional Support Lawyer, Planning, Real Estate, London On 16 September 2016, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, decided not to confirm Southwark… Read more

Author: Adrian Brown, Of Counsel, Competition, Regulation and Trade, Brussels A recent High Court ruling has clarified the extent of a local authority's obligations to obtain best consideration and to comply with public procurement regulations when it enters into a… Read more

Author: Charlotte Dyer, Senior Associate, Planning, London After months of hard work preparing a planning application and engaging in discussions with the local planning authority and other statutory bodies, planning permission has finally been granted.  The team members reach for… Read more

Author: Julia Tobbell, Senior Associate, Real Estate Dispute Resolution, London Whilst a developer is in the early stages of planning and finance, it may be happy to leave the current tenants in situ to generate a little extra income before… Read more

Author: Rhian Arrenberg, Professional Support Lawyer, Real Estate Dispute Resolution, London In this post, we explore an issue common to many development projects in England and Wales: that of gaining access to the development site to carry out the works,… Read more

Author: Charlotte Dyer, Senior Associate, Planning, London Anyone intending to alter or extend a listed building must pay careful attention to the rules regulating development of listed buildings or they risk severe penalties.  Where such works have been carried out… Read more

Authors: Matthew Bonye, Partner and Head of Real Estate Dispute Resolution and Rhian Arrenberg, Professional Support Lawyer, Real Estate Dispute Resolution, London In this post we consider we consider one of the options open to a landlord who wishes to regain… Read more

Author: Rachel Croft, Senior Associate, Real Estate Dispute Resolution, London This post follows from our previous posts on a landlord's right to oppose a tenant's request for a lease renewal (under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954).  Here we look at… Read more

Author: Kate Wilson, Professional Support Lawyer, Real Estate, London The rise of privately-owned student accommodation developments in recent years raises a number of practical points for both developers and operators of such projects. The documents governing the development and ongoing management of the… Read more

Author: Matthew Weal, Associate, Real Estate Dispute Resolution, London It is of course open to landlords to grant their tenants express rights to light as leasehold easements.  Similarly, an easement of light in favour of a tenant may be implied… Read more

Author: Paul Chases, Senior Associate and Head of Corporate Real Estate, London  In the UK property market one investment or development project can vary considerably from another.  However, the prevailing feature that many such projects share is the corporate real estate… Read more

Authors: Matthew White, Partner and Head of Planning and Lucy Morton, Professional Support Lawyer, Planning, London Replacement section 237: Yesterday (13 July), the new provisions allowing local authorities to override easements and other rights (including rights to light) came into force,… Read more

Authors: Ben Elkington, Associate, Real Estate and Martyn Jarvis, Associate, Planning, London In this post, we consider the requirement to obtain a licence under section 177 of the Highways Act 1980 for construction of, and alterations to, a building which… Read more

Author: Julia Tobbell, Senior Associate, Real Estate Dispute Resolution, London Rights to light have had a fair deal of attention in development circles recently, with the state of play post-Coventry v Lawrence somewhat uncertain.  One potential weapon in the developer's… Read more

Author: Matthew White, Partner and Head of Planning, Real Estate, London There are many briefings on what Brexit means for real estate and I don't intend to repeat them in this blog entry. There are only so many ways of… Read more

Author: Frances Edwards, Senior Associate, Real Estate Dispute Resolution, London In our first article on this topic, we considered, in general terms, the first of the two elements that must be shown in order to recover possession of a business… Read more

Author: Frances Edwards, Senior Associate, Real Estate Dispute Resolution, London One of the most common questions we are asked by developers at the land assembly stage of their scheme is what they need to show in order to be certain… Read more

Authors: Tim Healey, Partner, Construction and Engineering, London and Michael Mendelblat, Professional Support Lawyer, Construction and Engineering, London The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (UCTA) can apply to contracts where one party's standard terms are partially incorporated - Commercial Management… Read more

Authors: Matthew White, Partner and Head of Planning, Real Estate, London and Lucy Morton, Professional Support Lawyer, Planning, Real Estate, London Section 237 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 gives local planning authorities powers to override easements and… Read more

Author: Matthew White, Partner and Head of Planning, Real Estate, London Matthew White, Partner and Head of Planning in the London team at Herbert Smith Freehills has written two recent articles: in "First Dibs for Londoners", published in the Planner magazine,… Read more

Author: Alice Dockar, Partner, Real Estate, London In England and Wales developers and corporate occupiers are used to measuring floor areas from practical completion of a building by reference to the "net internal area" as defined in the RICS Code… Read more

Authors: Matthew Bonye, Partner and Head of Real Estate Dispute Resolution, London and Judith Smyth, Associate, Real Estate Dispute Resolution, London In a reassuring judgement for landowners, the Court of Appeal has ruled this week that clear and visible signage… Read more

Authors: Matthew White, Partner and Head of Planning, London and Lucy Morton, Professional Support Lawyer, Planning, London The world of planning has been busy: the new Mayor of London is making promises including measures to improve air quality and to… Read more

Authors: Julie Vaughan, Senior Associate, Environment and John Buttanshaw, Associate, Environment, London In the aftermath of the extreme flooding of winter 2015/16 the government is currently undertaking a 'National Flood Resilience Review'. This will assess how the country can be better… Read more

Author: Shona Grey, Partner, Real Estate, London The scope and form of legal due diligence on the acquisition of a development site is key to ascertaining the parameters of your proposed development and any third party legal interests which will need… Read more