Real estate asset management

Our experienced team of asset management lawyers provides a comprehensive service throughout the lifecycle of a real estate asset, from acquisition to management and disposal. Working hand in hand with our real estate investment and development specialists, we manage the assets of a wide range of clients across the UK, including the retail, office and industrial sectors.

We understand the importance of effective capital intensification to protect capital values, especially in the current market. We appreciate that our clients need their legal advisors to act quickly and efficiently to avoid rental voids, tenant issues and to keep costs to a minimum. The support we provide is timely, efficient and aligned with our clients’ priorities.

How we can help you

We cover all aspects of the landlord and tenant relationship including:

• Reviewing and advising on heads of terms
• Granting leases inside and outside the 1954 Act
• Collateral security including rent deposits and guarantors
• Day to day tenant requests including alienation, alteration, temporary licences
• Re-gearing and varying existing tenancies to maximise value
• Tenant disputes and serving notices
• Dilapidations settlement
• Landlord and tenant insolvency events including handling liquidations, administrations, Company Voluntary Arrangements
• Title issues relating to the site and wider redevelopment
• Acquisitions and disposals of individual freehold and leasehold assets and portfolios
• Planning, environmental and health and safety advice
• Development and redevelopment agreements
• Telecoms masts and wayleaves agreements

Examples of our recent work

• Acting for Mapeley, one of the largest commercial landlords in the UK, on their day to day asset management for the majority of their HM Revenue and Customs UK outsourced portfolio. This is a significant nationwide portfolio and we deal with all manner of property disputes from advising on lease renewals, dilapidations, rent review, lease break issues, and service charge disputes. This often involves strategic portfolio advice – we know the portfolio very well having acted on it for almost 15 years.
• Acting for a FTSE 100 landlord in securing vacant possession from various small ground floor retailers to enable a letting in their place to a national supermarket, thereby significantly enhancing investment value.
• Specialist advisors acting for commercial landlords such as Mileway, Dunedin Property and Ribston Property in respect of dilapidations, disrepair and debt claims and possession orders relating to their office and industrial units across the UK.
• Successfully acting for Lidl in the Court of Appeal case Generator Developments Ltd v Lidl UK GmbH (2018) which examined the nature of “subject to contract negotiations”.
• A national reputation in acting for disputed break options. The team successfully acted for the landlord in the leading case Avocet Industrial Estates LLP v Merol and Another. The landlord successfully defeated the tenant’s break option due to outstanding interest.
• Advising a large property holding group of companies (part of larger group), in circumstances where fixed charge receivers had been appointed over one property in the group’s portfolio. The result was a partial disposal of some of the portfolio without further receiver appointment, a restructuring of the debt across the properties by way of a single secured facility at a better overall rate, an investment into the companies by existing shareholders and a downward adjustment of personal guarantees without any of them being enforced. The bank/customer relationship was preserved.
• We have advised Marcol on its investment properties for more than 10 years. Recent issues include advice on a potential claim for an injunction to restrain a development which will interfere with light to one of our buildings in London, lease renewals, terminal dilapidations claims for various offices and warehouses, advising on the administration of a tenant which had previously been in a Company Voluntary Arrangement about which we had previously advised, rent collections under the COVID-19 rules, advising on numerous break notices.

Why choose Clarke Willmott for asset management advice?

• Tailored service to suit you and your agents
• Partner led with clear and regular communication
• Fair and competitive fixed fee pricing
• Effective cost management throughout
• Proactive can-do attitude
• Added value through training, resources, technology

Contact a real estate asset management solicitor

To learn more about how our asset management team can help you make the most of your real estate portfolio, please contact one of our lawyers directly, call us on 0800 652 8205 or get in touch online.