Residential Property

Our residential property team is experienced in assisting clients from across the globe to purchase, mortgage, let and sell their properties.  The team works to tight deadlines and provides clients with practical and understandable advice that takes the stress away from transactions.

Recent experience includes:

• Advised an overseas purchaser on the acquisition of a £24.5m Grade II listed family home in Chelsea.
• Advised on c.£8m purchase of a Kensington townhouse for redevelopment into three flats for onward sale.
• Assisted the seller (an Isle of Man SPV company) on a £2.6m sale of a leasehold flat in Kensington, with associated sale of shares in management company.  The transaction was complicated by the need to agree the form of a new lease to be granted simultaneously with completion of the sale.
• Acted for the seller of c.£8m property in Eaton Square via a corporate vehicle.
• Advising on the sale of a £11m townhouse in Westminster with associated parks licencing and structuring of the corporate vehicle ownership.
• Advising an overseas buyer on their acquisition of a unique Mayfair mews house.
• Acting for various trust companies on property, tax and structuring advice, including on de-enveloping of properties to reduce liabilities.
• Advising a client on acquisition (via a property swap) of a high value, long-leasehold Belgrave Square property and follow-on advice on enfranchisement rights to acquire the superior freehold interest. 

For further advice please contact Archie Campbell or Patrick Lundie.

Our construction lawyers have extensive experience of advising family offices, trusts and high net worth individuals across the full range of construction legal issues.  

We regularly advise on preparing a full suite of construction documentation for clients undertaking refurbishment or development of residential assets. Additionally, where clients are purchasing assets that are newly built or extensively refurbished properties, we ensure a robust suite of construction warranties and insurance are provided.

Recent experience includes:

• Acted for a multi-family office, advising on various construction and development projects relating to real estate assets held in the UK, including the refurbishment of a super prime residential property in Central London and the extensive refurbishment and upgrade of a Grade II Listed heritage country estate.
• Advising a UHNW client on the construction aspects of the purchase of newly constructed country estate with swimming pool and outbuildings. Among other things, we identified early on that the construction package on offer was inadequate and exposed our client to deficiencies in the base build. We successfully negotiated additional security from the vendor along with enhanced insurance protection and alternative warranties and guarantees to protect both our client and our client’s lender.
• Advising a UHNW client on the development of a large country estate. When complete the development will compromise newly constructed grounds, landscaping and lakes, a large main house, guest and lake houses, an estate managers house and other outbuildings. Privacy is of the utmost importance to our client, and we ensured all consultants signed up to appropriate non-disclosure agreements.

For development and refurbishment advice contact Navpreet Awal, Graeme Barton, Ryan Fordham.

When buying a residential property our Private Wealth team will assist in considering how best to structure and finance the acquisition to achieve the desired outcomes in terms of tax, succession and family governance.

We regularly help clients decide whether to own properties in trust and/or company structures, or whether such structures should be dismantled to ensure property portfolios are held in the most suitable way possible for each client.

For further information visit our Private Wealth page.

Our Property Litigation team can advise on the full range of disputes which may arise on residential property eg party wall disputes, boundary dispute disagreements, failure to complete sale and purchase agreements, lease disputes, adverse possession claims, and nuisances arising from neighbouring works.

Recent experience includes:

• Advising a UHNW on the development of a large country estate. When complete the development will compromise newly constructed grounds, landscaping and lakes, a large main house, guest and lake houses, an estate managers house and other outbuildings. Privacy is of the utmost importance to our client, and we ensured all consultants signed up to appropriate non-disclosure agreements.
• Acting for a residential property owner on a complex range of disputes arising out of their neighbour’s extension works in Central London. This engaged issues relating to breach of a party wall award, trespass and nuisance. We successfully resolved this through a range of tactics including court proceedings and a planning judicial review.
• Advising on enfranchisement opportunities and issues.

For advice on property litigation please contact Sophie Shulz.

For further information visit our Property Litigation page.

Our pricing for our residential conveyancing can be found here.

For further advice please contact Archie Campbell or Patrick Lundie.