Commercial property

Specialist commercial property solicitors with unparalleled experience

Our partner-led team of commercial property solicitors is one of the largest in the UK. Operating across England and Wales, the team provides the expertise of more than 100 lawyers who advise at every stage of the commercial property lifecycle, from first plans to asset management and disposal.

We specialise in all aspects of commercial property and pride ourselves on our diverse offering. Our lawyers have worked with big businesses and small operators all over the world. We have particular expertise in working with clients in the following sectors:

• Real estate investor and developer
• Social housing
• Housebuilder
• Retail
• Telecoms
• Banking and financial services
• Public sector
• Agriculture
• Sport
• Healthcare
• Green energy
• Tenant lease portfolio management
• Real estate asset management
• Land registration for public bodies

Our commercial property team works closely with other specialist teams across Clarke Willmott, including construction, property litigation, planning, corporate and commercial, employment and HR, and restructuring and insolvency. This means we can provide you with all of the legal support your business requires, ensuring smooth communication at all times.

Examples of our recent work

• Acted for our client who acquired the entire business of Lidl UK GmbH, necessitating the transfer of all that company’s property assets – freehold and leasehold. The matter entailed liaising with mortgagees, landlords, and others. We drafted all of the transfers, SDLT returns, Land Registry forms and the like – also approved all necessary licences to assign.
• Acted for Mapeley Steps Limited in relation to the letting of a large office space in Euston Tower to Google. The Property is held by Mapeley as part of the historic HMRC portfolio on which we have acted for 15 years. Our knowledge of the portfolio and arrangements with HMRC meant we could deal efficiently and achieve the outcome the client required.
• Acted for Lloyds Bank Plc on a £2.9m financing. The purpose of the finance was to refinance a property portfolio consisting of 10 titles with 15 multi-use occupational commercial tenancies. Our role included advising on planning, investigating the title to the property to ensure the property is good security, reviewing the leases, reviewing security documents and registering them at Companies House and the Land Registry.
• Acted for Bovis Homes on their joint venture with housing association Metropolitan Thames Valley (MTVH) to build a 783-home development at Cambourne, outside Cambridge. The Cambourne West scheme, with a development value of £240m, will be made up of 70% private units and 30% affordable housing. It will provide £40m of planning contributions as part of the scheme, paying for the expansion of a secondary school and two new primary schools. Construction is expected to start in February 2020.
• Acted for the Guinness Partnership Limited on the acquisition of 109 s106 Units for Guinness at a development in Cumberland Way, Exeter. We carried out a full range of due diligence, using our specialised planning team and those in our renewable energy sector to provide specialist advice on the district heating system. This was a joint venture with Taylor Wimpey and the early phases have formed the basis for the future phases and other matters on other sites between the two.

Why choose Clarke Willmott for commercial property advice?

• Our Commercial Property team enjoys a strong reputation for the quality of its work nationwide.
• In-depth understanding of the industry and commercial awareness means we can offer focused, proactive legal advice.
• City-quality advice supported by extensive industry experience at regional prices.
• Innovative fee solution packages that enable us to deliver cost-effective advice.
• We are partner-led. This means that your matter will always be looked after by our most experienced lawyers.
• We are ranked in the legal directories The Legal 500 and Chambers UK.

What our clients say about us:

“Clarke Willmott have a great team of property specialists that deal with the technical complexities allowing me to get on and run my business.” The Legal 500 2022

“The property team at Clarke Willmott are able to provide a wide range of expertise across all aspects of property law and can call in assistance from other specialists within their practice quickly to deliver a seamless service where unexpected problems arise for the client. The depth in the team means that there is always someone available to help with unexpected matters as well as for day to day issues that arise. The land transactions has required some unique ‘outside the box’ thinking which Clarke Willmott have delivered well and kept the project timeline moving.” The Legal 500 2022

“A good team with very capable skillsets to cover all property requirements, with a practical and commercial approach.” The Legal 500 2022

“The team gave me complete confidence from the first meeting through to completion and provides allocation of appropriate resource to meet the client’s needs.” The Legal 500 2021

“All of the team are an asset to the firm. I have worked with a few over the years and each has the same professional, committed approach to the work and not once do they seem phased by the amount of work we put their way. We consider them to be a valuable resource.” The Legal 500 2021

“Clarke Willmott have a responsive and professional team who we hold in the highest regard and trust to deal with our matters. They are nice people to work with and we consider them to be part of our team.”
The Legal 500 2021

Contact a commercial property solicitor

To learn more about how our Commercial Property team can support your business or project, please contact one of our lawyers directly, call us on 0800 652 8205 or get in touch online. If you know the name of the lawyer you’d like to speak with, you can find their contact details here.

Clarke Willmott has offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.