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Built environment

A nationally recognised practice providing comprehensive service for civil engineering projects, disputes and real estate.

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Our built environment solicitors serve clients working within:

Our multidisciplinary team draws on lawyers with a range of skills to provide the very best advice to clients operating within these sectors.

The slow-burn changes ahead for the built environment — from tackling urban congestion and energy security to investing in schools, roads and housing — are relatively predictable, even if the impact of Brexit is harder to second-guess. One thing's certain: there will always be a need for good legal advice if you operate within the built environment sector.

From conception to funding, construction, completion and use, we work with owners, investors, contractors, property managers and landlords throughout the life cycle of buildings and major infrastructure.

Our clients include everyone from international contractors, national and regional housebuilders, commercial developers and investors to utilities, transport authorities,  and social housing providers. Many of our clients are household names — just some of the most noted and prestigious projects we've been involved in for blue-chip clients are:

  • The Shard in London
  • £1 billion extension to Manchester's tramway system 
  • £450 million new deepwater port facility, including biomass storage and energy facility and ancillary infrastructure works.
  • Manchester’s Cultural Quarter at First Street
  • Regeneration of East Manchester
  • Former Rio Tinto/ Anglesey Aluminium site at Anglesey, including a planned 299MW Biomass facility and major eco-leisure holiday resort 
  • 4,500 dwelling North East Leicester Sustainable Urban Extension Project
  • £65 million major highways project at Junction 10, M6

Housebuilding

Our Housebuilding team consists of over 25 people dedicated to dealing with every aspect of residential development. It is centred on our Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester offices, with additional resource available in our other UK offices, including lawyers based in Scotland.

We are immersed in the Housebuilding Sector and are aware of the issues that affect the housebuilding industry so we can tailor our advice accordingly and add value to our clients’ businesses. We work with a wide range of clients in the private and public sectors on many and varied projects — from major greenfield schemes to brownfield, urban regeneration sites.

We believe in utilising an innovative approach to our work, and commoditising and streamlining wherever possible to give a cost-effective and efficient solution for our clients.

Our Plot Sales team have over 25 years of experience in dealing with volume plot sales for various different clients and deal with circa 2,500 plots per year. They are skilled in dealing with the schemes used by Developers to deal with sales of their plots. We also have extensive experience in dealing with the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.

Our team is also able to call on the specialist advice of planning law, financing, construction, energy, utilities and environmental. We are also able to offer specialist advice to residential developers in relation to water and sewerage law, covering the provision of water supplies, and of foul and surface water drainage.

Our Housebuilding team offers a full service to residential developers which includes:

  • Advising on deal structures and matters prior to the issuing of Heads of Terms and also assisting and advising on the drafting of Heads of Terms
  • Land acquisitions and disposals (from straightforward sales and purchases to complicated conditional contracts dealing with deferred payments)
  • Financing issues
  • Infrastructure and planning agreements
  • Overage
  • Promotion Agreements
  • Option Agreements
  • Freehold reversion disposals and advising on Landlord and Tenant Act issues
  • Plot sales.

We have an established team serving a client base of regional and national developers to meet their various requirements, with a wealth of experience in dealing with high volume transactions.

For more information, contact Karl Jackson.

Private Rented Sector and Build to Rent

The Private Rented Sector (PRS) has experienced significant growth in the last ten years, overtaking the social rented sector, as the second largest housing sector and continues to grow. Build to Rent (BTR), a distinct asset class within this sector, has remained very resilient and is showing growth and sustained development, and, as a residential asset class, it remains a secure investment option well positioned to become a leader in terms of moving to net zero.

Weightmans are able to offer a complete service for every aspect of PRS and BTR projects. We have a team drawn from across the business to provide technical expertise in all aspects of such developments alongside a commercial and solution-driven approach to the challenges that each particular development project throws up.

We work across the whole sector, acting for investors, developers, operators and funders. We advise on land acquisition and disposal, site assembly, planning considerations, construction, funding, tax, energy, environmental issues and managing occupiers of the completed development. Whatever your requirements you can have complete confidence in a highly experienced multidisciplinary team of lawyers with a range of skills to provide the very best advice.

For more information, contact Karl Jackson or Rose Moss.

Property investment

Acting for private individuals and major institutional investors and all between the Built Environment Group is able to draw upon a wealth of expertise throughout Weightmans' offices. Understanding an ever-shifting market is key to offering sound advice in respect of all types of investment from stand-alone single tenanted properties to shopping centres.

For more information, contact David Tabinor.

Property development

The specialist team drawing upon colleagues from across the Built Environment Group provides technical expertise in all aspects of property development alongside a commercial and solution-driven approach to the challenges that each particular development project throws up.

For more information, contact David Tabinor.

Our team can also provide expert services in:

Services