hands of Bricklayer with Masonry Trowel laying bricks on mortar

Residential Development

From acquisition to occupation, our specialist Residential Development Team provides specialist advice at every stage of the housebuilding cycle.

The Team act for a number of national housebuilders, together with regional and SME developers, dealing with residential and mixed-use schemes ranging in size from 5 to 5,000 dwellings.

Our lawyers provide negotiation and drafting services for a variety of agreements including:

  • Conditional and unconditional sale and purchase
  • s106
  • Joint venture
  • Consortium and Collaboration
  • Overages and pre-emption
  • Bridge, highways, drainage and utilities

The Team can also assist with site assembly, development finance, disputes, PRS schemes and SDLT and VAT. Our dedicated plots sales team is also available to assist you through to the end of your development and has a long track record of managing plot sales. 

Our approach ensures we identify and understand any issues and development constraints early on, so they can be resolved in a practical and effective way. This, coupled with our knowledge of opportunities and market challenges, means we provide you with a full, competitive and seamless experience from start to finish.

Our Experience

Hollybrook

Birketts represented Hollybrook, an urban regeneration specialist, in the acquisition and development of Transport House in Dagenham. This project involves transforming a former office block site, previously occupied by Unite Trade Union, into 149 residential apartments. The development required a complex site assembly, including acquiring land from Premier Inn with undercroft leaseback arrangements for a new car park and temporarily relocating an electricity sub-station. This project marks Hollybrook’s second collaboration with BeFirst, following their successful development at Chequers Lane, Dagenham, where we also acted for Hollybrook.

Platform Housing

Birketts acted for Platform Housing on the acquisition of 136 affordable units from a national housebuilder, allocated via the S106 Agreement. The acquisition was particularly complex due to the structure of the deal comprising a Golden Brick and Development Agreement, on the back of a Build Lease with a local authority, and the housebuilder not having ownership of the land. Step in rights were required under the Development Agreement and Build Lease and our Construction Team was heavily involved in regards to advice around the collateral warranties and warranty provider.

Norfolk Homes Limited

Birketts have acted for Norfolk Homes Limited on a number of conditional and unconditional site acquisitions. A recent highlight was a purchase (as part of a consortium also including a national and a regional housebuilder) of a 1560 unit site in Norfolk, involving complex nutrient neutrality provisions, deferred consideration, overage and partitioning.

Hill Residential Limited

Birketts advised Hill Residential Limited entering into a complex hybrid promotion/option agreement with a multi-generational landed estate for a residential lead development project for a new housing settlement around the estate’s existing commercial complex. The transaction was complicated for a variety of reasons which included the complicated title and the negotiated contractual provisions for pre-emptions, overage, infrastructure arrangements and tax suspension.

 
 

hands of Bricklayer with Masonry Trowel laying bricks on mortar
Introducing Title InSite, our residential development site title appraisal service. 

A fixed price appraisal service, with a range of service options tailored to reflect your development journey.

Residential Development Insights

Contact Us
Contact Us
For general enquiries please call +44 (0)808 169 4320 or send a message from our Contact us page.