Acting for Developers Buying Land - With Peta Dollar & Sarah Thompson Copsey

Introduction

Understanding the issues when you are acting for a developer is a key skill for property practitioners. A ‘developer' includes a buyer of hundreds of acres of land, as well as a purchaser of a small plot for the purpose of building a single property. Further, a ‘developer’ is any client buying with the benefit of unimplemented planning permission, or looking to apply for planning permission.

Your client is expecting you to help them realise development value, so are you aware of the existing title and other issues which may impact on value? Do you have sound knowledge to be able to negotiate appropriate terms for a conditional contract/option/promotion agreement?

If you are a commercial or residential property solicitor or other property practitioner, with clients who buy land to develop, this virtual classroom seminar is for you. It is envisaged that you will already have a good basic knowledge of property law but lack the experience of development work and the issues it raises. If you do have development experience, the course will also be a useful refresher.

Key learning outcomes:

• Understand developers’ concerns
• Identify and recognise factors that could affect development value
• Ensure that problems are dealt with before completion

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive session will be presented in 2 parts and will cover the following:

Part 1:

• Understanding the mindset of the developer - what are they looking for and what do they need from their legal advisor?
• Current major issues for developers
• Conditional contracts, options and promotion agreements, especially planning issues
• Dealing with existing easements affecting the site and ensuring that all necessary easements and rights are in place

Part 2:

• Dealing with existing restrictive covenants affecting the site
• Issues with adverse possession
• Insuring against problems
• Overage
• The impact of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (as amended) when developing on the roof (or in the roof space) of an existing building or when buying land appurtenant to an existing residential or mixed-use building

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.