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Estates and land

Expert legal services helping you navigate the complexities of estate and land management.

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Overview Services Our work Our team Insights

The estates and land sector is an integral part of the UK’s heritage and economic fabric, representing a vast array of property and land types as well as landowners.

We support the management, transfers and leasing, and development of rural estates, agricultural land, and heritage properties. Every member of our team understands the importance of environmental stewardship, the intricacies of tax planning, the nuances of dispute resolution, and the foresight needed for effective inheritance planning.

Our approach is holistic, ensuring that every aspect of estate and land management is considered, from the preservation of natural beauty and biodiversity to the maximising of land value, natural capital and utility.

We pride ourselves on our ability to offer bespoke solutions that cater to the specific needs of landowners. We advise a broad range of estate and landowners, from new buyers of farms and estates to institutional and international investors in rural property, entrepreneurs, farmers and owners of historic estates.

Services

Property

Advising on land sales, purchases, mortgages and tenancies.

Strategic land advice

Advising landowners in development scenarios including options, promotion agreements, hybrid agreements and value equalisation arrangements.

Dispute resolution

Resolving tenancy and land occupation issues, partnership and trust disputes, and contractual disputes.

Tax, estates, and wealth structuring

Succession planning for landowning families/trustees; transactional tax advice including CGT/SDLT/IHT; wills and probate.

Heritage property advice

Heritage reliefs; claims for conditional exemption; acceptance in lieu; and creation and management of heritage maintenance funds.

Sporting businesses

Supporting field sport businesses including large shoots, sporting clubs; and advising on VAT exemption.

Family law advice

Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements; occupation agreements; relationship breakdown; wealth structuring and protection; and family law matters.

Environmental and regulatory compliance

Guidance on environmental issues; contamination and regulatory compliance for land management.

Planning and compulsory purchase advice

Obtaining and contesting planning consents, development opportunities and compulsory requisition.

Renewable energy projects

Advising on the development and financing of projects including wind, solar, biomass, biofuels and AD.

Business and corporate advice

Consultation on business structures, governance, and corporate partnerships.

Finance, restructuring and insolvency

Navigating financial security and advising distressed businesses.

Employment

Managing employment issues, from restructuring and redundancies to service occupation agreements and contracts.

Examples of our work

Estate purchase and management structuring

Structuring the purchase of a country estate (including farming, equestrian and shoot) via an offshore trust, enabling trading through a UK company for tax purposes.