Planning

UK planning law is highly complex and changing rapidly. We have an in-depth understanding of the planning landscape and significant expertise in advising on and unlocking difficult planning issues.

Our planning legal experts work with funders, developer clients and local authorities as part of their professional team, alongside planning consultants, chartered surveyors and architects, adding significant value.

Administrative delays, legal complexity, special interest groups and conflicting government policies can combine to create a dangerous and costly obstacle course. With our cross-departmental expertise, our links with other professionals, our many years’ experience and commercial awareness, we help negotiate a path through the challenges with less pain and greater confidence.

We focus clearly on the results that you want to achieve and we will always be pragmatic, clear and candid on what’s the most realistic way to get there.

Our team regularly assists clients on Town and Country planning aspects of development projects and residential / commercial property purchases and sales. We also represent clients on planning / enforcement notice appeal work, both before the Planning Inspectorate and on High Court judicial reviews and statutory reviews. Of increasing importance, we have wide-ranging environmental expertise.

Our specialisms include:

• Reviewing the planning position for lending on developments
• Appeals and enforcement
• Judicial reviews and statutory challenges
• Advising on planning history ahead of any purchase
• Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) regulations
• NPPF and planning policy guidance
• Section 106 agreements
• Highways and infrastructure agreements
• Section 73 deeds of variation
• Permitted development rights
• Sustainability
• Biodiversity net gains
• Conservation covenants.

We work closely with our wider Real Estate and Real Estate Dispute colleagues to provide a seamless service.

Our Real Estate lawyers offer commercial advice and a London style service that helps you achieve your objectives as swiftly and cost effectively as possible.

We place an emphasis on understanding your commercial strategies and tailoring our services accordingly. We act for a wide variety of commercial clients including businesses, individuals, house builders and developers, pension funds, retailers, restauranteurs, charities, lenders, local authorities and other public sector organisations.

Our Real Estate lawyers practice in areas including:

• Acquisitions and disposals
• Portfolio asset management
• Commercial and residential development
• Real estate finance
• Agriculture & rural affairs
• Planning
• Construction
• Real estate disputes
• The Building Safety Act.

The size of the team and level of experience and expertise that we have, means that we can deploy specialist Real Estate lawyers at all levels, as appropriate. We can also draw on support from the firm’s very strong Corporate, Commercial, Employment and Private Wealth teams.