law firm

Ward Hadaway assists clients in gaining planning permission for £175m garden village development

Full-service law firm Ward Hadaway has successfully defended a judicial review claim in respect of planning permission for a multi-million pound garden village development in County Durham. Specialist planning lawyers within the organisation’s Built Environment Team provided advice during the planning application process and negotiated a substantial Section 106 agreement

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BDC 321 : Oct 2024

law firm

Ward Hadaway assists clients in gaining planning permission for £175m garden village development

Full-service law firm Ward Hadaway has successfully defended a judicial review claim in respect of planning permission for a multi-million pound garden village development in County Durham. Specialist planning lawyers within the organisation’s Built Environment Team provided advice during the planning application process and negotiated a substantial Section 106 agreement on behalf of North East-based contractor Tolent and its subsidiary Coolmore Land Limited for the £175m South Seaham Garden Village project. The project team also worked closely with Home Group who are also heavily involved in the project. The 77.75ha development, which will be located close to the A19 near the Dalton Retail Park in Seaham, will bring 1,500 new homes of mixed tenures to the area including shops, a café, a new primary school, a park and village square, community health and wellbeing village, community allotments and a world class business innovation and research hub surrounded by extensive green open space. Working closely with Home Group, Tolent will build around 1,000 of the new homes, of which 750 will be affordable homes (representing 50% of the housing on the site) designed for a range of buyers from first-time buyers to those in need of assisted living creating a truly inclusive community. Land for the remaining 500 homes will be sold on the open market with other national housebuilders likely to become involved. The ten-year project is expected to be home to some 4,000 residents and will create an estimated 1,000 jobs. The garden village project is one of 19 schemes announced in the UK and development is expected to start on site this autumn. Ward Hadaway has had a long-established relationship with Coolmore Land Limited, part of Tolent, having acted for Coolmore since 2009 when it first acquired an interest in the site with a view to future developments. Melissa Flynn, an associate in Ward Hadaway’s Built Environment team, said: “This has been a significant project and one which fully demonstrates the range of skills and capabilities of our team. Our dedicated planning experts have worked with our client from initial concept, advising on legal matters around the planning, judicial review and section 106 agreement with colleagues in the wider Built Environment Team also advising on the sale of the site to Home Group and other developers. “The garden village scheme will significantly boost the local economy, providing quality affordable homes, investment, innovation and jobs. We are proud to have assisted Tolent in this significant development project and we look forward to seeing the development come to fruition.” John Wood, director of Tolent, said: “Receiving garden village status is befitting of such a great development that really will be a national exemplar. Our vision to create a truly sustainable community with a mix of distinctive, high quality housing that improves quality of life is what we’re doing here, as well as creating jobs for the next decade and beyond. “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the team at Ward Hadaway for their support.”

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Irwin Mitchell Property Experts React to Government’s Leasehold Consultation Announcement

Residential Property Experts Say Consultation ‘A Welcome Move’ But the Devil Will be in the Detail   Leading national law firm Irwin Mitchell’s property experts are calling the Ministry of Housing’s latest consultation on implementing leasehold reforms a welcome move overall, but retain some caution over implementation.   The consultation, announced this week follows the recommendations made by the Law Commission’s earlier call for evidence to address a number of significant issues that buyers and sellers face in the housing market. In particular it focuses on: the use of leasehold houses in new developments, the impact of high ground rents and the fees linked with getting information when properties are sold.   The consultation proposes that future ground rents are capped at a nominal £10 per annum. On one hand this will ease the buying and selling process and remove the current problems facing lenders where Assured Shorthold Tenancies have been unwittingly created by exceeding the rent limits. However, as Brian Dowling, Senior Associate at Irwin Mitchell pointed out, “A properly administered ground rent can often incentivise effective management of leasehold property. There is an attraction to having a stable, indexed long-term income from an asset and it is arguably more transparent to describe this as a rent than try and recover a profit element from providing services under a service charge”.   “It does not seem that a compelling argument has yet been made to justify ground rents or argue that the rate of increase should be capped. This consultation seems like the last chance for developers and investors to do that.”   A second aspect of the consultation indicates that the sale of leasehold houses will not be banned altogether as there are some justifiable circumstances where the use of the leasehold system will be necessary to ensure management of common facilities on a new development. Shared ownership properties, community-led housing and certain sites on Crown and National Trust land will be exempt from any ban on new-build leasehold houses. This may also be extended to retirement housing and sites with complex infrastructure.   Brian Dowling commented, “If the democratic decision is made that ground rents should no longer be chargeable on long residential leases then the only reason for having long leasehold houses is when it is essential to ensure that a shared structure or infrastructure is effectively maintained, or to secure the long-term use of a house in accordance with charitable purposes. This view seems to have registered, which is encouraging. In particular, retirement living developers, community land trusts, and co-housing groups will be encouraged, as they all have their own reasons for wanting to sell leasehold houses.”    “The devil is in the detail though and it is important that developers and investors make the case for using leasehold when the structure of a development scheme demands it. Examples including having duplex homes above shops or commercial space, or having houses above shared underground car parks.   One further element of the Government proposals which will be welcomed by house owners, is the proposal for equivalent rights to be given to freeholders to challenge reasonableness of freehold service charges or estate rent charges for maintenance of common areas which are currently only available to leaseholders.   Dowling commented, “It is not clear though that freehold house owners on new or recently built estates face the same problems with escalating or opaque charges that a number of leaseholders have faced. In particular, the service charges are typically low because few services need to be provided- often just minor roads and planted areas. It is also common practice for the house owners to eventually control the management company following the sale of the last house on the estate.   “If these rights were introduced, they may impact more on groups of neighbouring owners who need to keep their estates looking smart and have to negotiate amongst themselves, rather than on consumers dealing with management companies, as at present.”   The consultation further seeks to ensure that information packs required for the transfer of ownership of leasehold properties is provided in a timely manner by managing agents and freeholders. This is move welcomed by Irwin Mitchell. Marcelle Turner, Associate and specialist residential leasehold lawyer in Irwin Mitchell’s Leasehold Enfranchisement Team said, “Investing in leasehold property can be risky for those who are not properly informed.  Many buyers are unaware and often confused as to their rights and the correct legislation which applies to their property.  The consultation seeks to align some of the procedures which will benefit both freehold and leasehold owners although current owners will not see any change to their existing leases.”   The consultation will run for six weeks and closes on the 26th November; Irwin Mitchell will be submitting a response.

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