From site assembly, development, redevelopment and regeneration through to buying, selling, letting and managing property across all asset classes. Whatever your investment and development needs, our expert team acts on a wide range of commercial and residential property matters, from multi-billion dollar funds to small scale developers across the UK, Europe and globally.
We understand that building and managing a successful property portfolio relies on expert, commercially-relevant advice. You need to be able to trust your legal advisors to be ahead of the competition, with a breadth of expertise across a strong, adaptable team.
At DWF we work hard to ensure that our clients get the very best, market-leading expertise. Our investment and development team has a strong and established reputation for working collaboratively with clients and other advisors. We draw in expertise from across the firm’s construction, planning, tax, banking, corporate, employment and commercial teams, as needed, ensuring that the right results are achieved for each business plan and project. Most importantly, this collaborative approach ensures that we are able to handle high-value single asset transactions and development projects, as well as large-scale portfolio acquisitions and disposals.
Being one of the largest legal teams specialising in this area, we can dedicate significant resources to achieving the results you need. What sets us apart is our ability to tailor this expertise to a wide range of specialisms and levels of experience, ensuring that tight timescales are met, whilst still achieving value for money.
We make it our business to ensure we understand what you want to achieve, so we can provide relevant, practical advice from day one. From the first moment you consider doing a deal we’re working hard to identify potential issues and barriers to your success, as well as making sure the process moves forward as efficiently as possible.
We believe that successful property transactions and development projects are grounded in strong client relationships. Site visits, regular face-to-face client meetings, all-parties meetings, surveyor networking, peer and fund manager networking and in-depth understanding of funding mechanisms, revenues and profit drivers are a fundamental part of the expert service we provide. Our investment in these, alongside specialist legal understanding and broad experience, ensures that your requirements are met whilst still protecting the bottom line.
We have developed a number of products which can be used to assist in making transactions flow smoothly. These include:
We have extensive experience of buying, selling, letting and managing property across all asset classes. We have particular expertise in establishing, acquiring and disposing of interests in UK and non-UK corporate, partnership and unit trust vehicles for real estate investment, joint ventures and fund raising.
We have a proven track record in forward funding and complex development arrangements, working with both private sector developers/landowners and public sector clients in bringing forward strategic and complex development projects as well as regeneration through public/private partnerships.
We also offer the full range of other real estate services you would expect from a market leading practice, with specialists in those areas working alongside and complementing our investment and development teams.
The tax team have considerable experience in acting on matters ranging from complex structuring for development or investment in the UK and cross border, to more straightforward acquisitions and disposals of real estate assets, or real estate owning vehicles. We also advise on tax efficiency for clients (ranging from major institutional fund managers and listed PLCs (including REITs), to regional developers and single asset private funds).
We have one of the largest real estate litigation teams in the UK and are committed to providing commercially aware, proactive and practical advice on the numerous issues encountered in the development, acquisition, management and disposal of all types of property.
Whether acting for developers, investors, landowners or for public authorities, we offer a broad range of planning services with extensive experience in providing due diligence support in investment transactions and guiding clients through the planning stages of developments, ensuring that developments are delivered in a timely and cost effective manner.
Our deep industry knowledge spans both contentious and non- contentious matters in pre-contractual stages like public procurement, joint ventures, service agreements and tendering through to the negotiation and agreement of construction contracts, professional appointments and other documentation such as performance bonds and collateral warranties as well as leasing and financing matters.