The real deal

Lodders’ Real Estate team’s specialist market knowledge and legal expertise has earned it consistent top tier rankings in the Legal 500 and Chambers directories, industry awards, and clients including many of the UK’s most active housebuilders, property developers and land promoters. Partner James Mottram reviews some of the team’s latest highlights.

Using a combination of our technical know-how and understanding of every aspect of commercial property and real estate law, we are ideally placed to provide a full service for local, regional and national residential and commercial developers, land promoters, landowners, logistics companies, investors and owner-occupiers.

Led by Mark Miller, the team is the largest in the Midlands, with 30 specialist real estate, commercial property, planning, construction and highways legal experts (as of April 2021), based across our offices in Stratford upon Avon, Cheltenham and Birmingham.

The size of our team means we have the strength and depth of experience, whilst remaining agile enough to enable our clients to really get to know the individual or team working for them. We genuinely work in partnership with our clients, with the focus on delivering the highest possible level of client service, built on some fantastic professional and personal relationships that are especially vital to client transactional work. This contributes to a team that is thriving, energetic, always motivated, and which acts on a huge variety of transactions for existing – many long-standing – clients, as well as numerous new clients and instructions.

Portfolio

We act for national and regional property developers in the commercial sector, investment companies and individual investors, banks and pension schemes. Our clients include many of the region’s most active property developers and land promoters including St Modwen Developments, Spitfire Bespoke Homes, Cameron Homes, A.C. Lloyd Homes, Hayfield Homes, IM Land, Richborough Estates, Lone Star Land and Rosconn Strategic Land.

Our reputation as experts in strategic land development work continues to grow, and the team regularly works for large landowner consortia and landed estates, and national and regional land agents on significant new settlements and developments.

The team undertakes investment and portfolio management work for two of the biggest property companies in the Midlands - IM Properties plc and St Modwen Properties plc.

Our highways law expertise is second-tonone. The team has a national reputation for its expertise in all matters concerning highways, which is a highly technical area of the law. We regularly act for national housebuilders, developers, landowners, and local authorities, providing this specialist advice. The size of our team means we have the strength and depth of experience, whilst remaining agile enough to enable our clients to really get to know the individual or team working for them.

Launches

As the team has continued to grow, two new service offerings have been created to capitalise on our lawyers’ individual expertise and experience, and deliver an end-to-end comprehensive service to clients:

• Business Property and Renewables team headed up by partner, Alastair Frew

• Town and Country Homes team headed up by partner, Caroline Nemecek.

We also have particular expertise in the relatively new biodiversity credits scheme, which is a fast-expanding area of property law. Biodiversity net gain is an approach that aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than beforehand, by creating or enhancing habitats in association with development work.

Property development and real estate is on the cusp of a new era, with the imminent introduction of mandatory ‘biodiversity net gain’ requirements as set-out in the Environment Bill, and our team is very much at the forefront of this, working with and advising the pioneers of the biodiversity offsetting schemes; we frequently work with developers and landowners to help them navigate biodiversity net gain and biodiversity offsetting requirements, with the added benefit of a growing team of experts in this field – you can find out more from Victoria Longmore in her article on page 9.

There are clear opportunities for landowners to create long-term conservation projects that will deliver biodiversity units that can be sold to developers. Developers need to ensure their planning proposals are made with biodiversity net gain in mind, and that they are set out clearly to help the planning authority to readily assess, understand, and review the proposals.

2020 highlights

Residential development sector

OVER 150 DEALS WITH IN EXCESS OF £400 MILLION TOTAL PRICE

NEW DWELLING SALES BY LODDERS’ NEW HOMES TEAM 1,000 + A YEAR

Planning promotion deals

MORE THAN 100 DEALS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR DEVELOPMENT LAND IN EXCESS OF 20,000 ACRES

Commercial / employment / industrial sector

IN EXCESS OF 100 DEALS

BUSINESS PROPERTY LEASES

COMBINED INCOME OF £8 MILLION A YEAR

Renewables deals – together generating enough power for 100,000 homes:

120MW OF SOLAR POWER, 30MW OF GAS RESERVE POWER 30MW OF BATTERY STORAGE April 2020 began with a cautious pause in real estate transactions as everyone took a moment to gauge the impact of the pandemic and lockdown on the country - housing and development specifically - and see what would happen next, says James Mottram.

Deals were still happening, but the urgency for exchange and completion eased. Strategic land transactions largely continued, but sometimes with a reorganisation of the financial terms for land promoters.

The commercial property sector was probably hardest hit of all, with premises, especially retail, shut down.

By July, the feeling of the country reopening and getting back to some semblance of normality marked the beginning of one of the busiest ever six months for real estate. Fueled by the temporary Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday, the pent-up demand for new homes and house buyers was unleashed and unsurprisingly the sector responded to meet short and longer term predicted demand.

It is difficult to foresee how the economy and country will look by 2022. However, my view is that the rush by house buyers and movers will continue, possibly with a lull post September 2021 when the residential SDLT rates return to pre-covid levels, but the reintroduction of 95% mortgages is sure to have a positive effect and may mitigate that lull.

Developers will continue to acquire land and build, not least with an eye on national and regional housing targets, but also to keep up with the demand.

With the worrying predictions on rising unemployment figures – likely to be further impacted when the furlough scheme finally ends – we should also consider the wider societal impact, and the possibility this might mean changes to affordable housing demand as well as the government’s target figures. Perhaps too, there may even be a tightening in the planning regime so that the required percentage of affordable housing on each new development increases, which may depress land values.

the real deal bigdeal

Using a combination of its specialist technical knowledge, commercial appreciation and real estate sector know-how and passion, Lodders’ Real Estate team is ideally placed to deal with complex property transactions. Here’s a few examples:

Hinton Group - the acquisition of land at Harlequin Office Park in Emersons Green, Bristol for a new commercial development. The £22m commercial scheme will consist of a new 90-bed Travelodge Hotel, a Costa Coffee Drive-Thru and a Greene King Chef and Brewer restaurant, with the development expected to be complete and open for business in 2021. Lodders’ Paul Mourton led the deal, assisted by colleagues in Real Estate, Planning, Construction and Corporate teams.

Landowner sale to CALA Homes -

Lodders acted on behalf of a landowner in the sale of a significant residential development site to CALA Homes. The site comprises Phase 1 of the Long Marston Garden Village near Stratford upon Avon which is one of the first generation of new garden villages being created across the country. Phase 1 of Long Marston will deliver 400 high quality homes, 4,000 square meters of employment and commercial space, a community orchard, a new sports pavilion and 21-hectares of open space. The Long Marston Garden Village scheme will eventually include up to 3,500 new homes, a six-hectare business park, as well as a relief road.

Stroud Park Banbury - the installation of eight electric car charging points, in a deal which reflects the growing trend and interest in electric car ownership in the UK. Lodders’ Alastair Frew, together with Simon Harris of Howkins and Harrison Chartered Surveyors, brokered the deal between Stroud Park and the electric vehicle (EV) charging point providers, InstaVolt, which will enable employees at Stroud Park’s resident businesses, hotel guests and restaurant visitors to recharge electric vehicles on site.

Rosconn Strategic Land Limited -

the sale of a number of development sites with planning permission across the Midlands and further afield to regional and national housebuilders. Each of these sites had been promoted through the planning process and Lodders has been instructed to take a ‘lead solicitor’ role in dealing with the sale of the land on behalf of the landowners and our client to each of the housebuilders.

Warwickshire landowner - sale of a prime residential development site with planning permission for 500 new houses to national housebuilders, Taylor Wimpey and Miller Homes. Lodders’ team worked through a number of issues in collaboration with the housebuilders’ solicitors and other professionals. This enabled completion of the sale in a short timeframe from when the heads of terms were agreed for the sale. The firm has been involved in the site for a number of years previous to this as the development of the site had been ‘in the making’ for more than thirty years and there were a number of previous option agreements and transactions entered into before a successful sale was achieved.

Rosconn Strategic Land:

Langford Development Framework

Lodders’ Real Estate team - acted on the purchase of multiple phases across one of the largest current mixed use developments in Staffordshire with such phases comprising in excess of 300 dwellings. This transaction was particularly involved as the acquisition was made through a series of conditional contracts and options from the promoter of the development. The contracts were conditional on a number of matters including planning, extensive infrastructure obligations, the diversion of a bridleway and the discharge of certain planning obligations. In addition to the complexities created by the conditionality there were comprehensive post completion infrastructure obligations and a host of price (both pre and post completions) adjustments to address in the contractual documentation.

Lodders throws its support behind top-flight women’s rugby

Lodders has signed a sponsorship deal with Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC for the 2020/2021 season.

Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC – a partnership between Gloucester Rugby and Hartpury University and Hartpury College – provides Hartpury students with an opportunity to play at the highest level in the women’s domestic game.

Lodders is sponsoring the ambitious Allianz Premier 15s club, based at Hartpury University and Hartpury College.

Many past and present members of the Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC squad are current or former Hartpury students who have gained international caps, including England World Cup winner Natasha Hunt, England women’s player of the year Zoe Aldcroft, Kelly Smith and Tatyana Heard.

Commenting on the firm’s support Stuart Emmerson, director of business development at Hartpury, says: “We’re extremely pleased to be strengthening our association with an organisation that shares our wholehearted commitment to supporting the farming industry and we look forward to them engaging with our growing agriculture network.”

Lodders managing partner

Paul Mourton adds: “Hartpury and Lodders are both progressive, ambitious, prestigious organisations that are committed to supporting and engaging with their local communities.”

It’s great to be involved with Hartpury and its many exciting initiatives, such as its innovative Agri-Tech Centre, and supporting the Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s players.

Hartpury is a specialist educational provider in Gloucestershire with more than 4,000 college and university level students studying PhDs, postgraduate and undergraduate degrees, diplomas in the areas of sport, equine, animal, agriculture and veterinary nursing, and A-levels.

Located close to Gloucester and Cheltenham, Hartpury University and Hartpury College sit alongside one another on the same 360-hectare campus that has benefited from more than £50 million of investment over the past 20 years.

Students at Hartpury University have access to the largest equine educational establishment in the world, cutting-edge sports facilities, an extensive animal collection, an animal therapy centre, science laboratories with industry standard equipment and an on-site commercial farm.

Lodders live chat

Lodders has recently incorporated a live chat feature on its website, allowing you to talk to a member of the Lodders team in real time. This has been a key way for us to keep in contact with our clients and answer their queries throughout the pandemic.

Head to the website to give it a try! Simply click “chat with us!” in the bottom right-hand corner. You will then be connected to a member of the team who can answer your questions, or signpost you to the correct person or department.