Blog
Bankside Yards and the changing landscape of ‘rights to light’
The recent High Court ruling in Cooper & Ors v Ludgate House Ltd marks a pivotal moment in the law of rights to light, with serious implications for urban developers across the UK. At the heart of the dispute was the tension between private rights and large-scale regeneration – specifically, whether long-standing neighbouring homes can…
Read MoreThe rise of AI in commercial property transactions
The commercial property sector has long been defined by its traditions – relationship-driven dealmaking, document-heavy diligence, and a reliance on human experience that cannot be easily replicated. As artificial intelligence begins to permeate every corner of professional life, from litigation support to investment modelling, the UK property world is finding itself at a crossroads. The…
Read MoreA turning point for commercial rent reviews?
It’s a development that few in the sector saw coming. With little preamble, the Government has announced plans to outlaw upwards-only rent reviews in all new commercial leases in England. Long a staple of institutional leasing, these clauses have offered landlords reassurance and investment stability. But if the proposals go ahead as suggested, we may…
Read MoreAn interview with Michael Clifford, founder of Liberty Funding
We recently interviewed Michael Clifford, who has founded Liberty Funding, a newly launched specialist finance brokerage. What is your background and experience in the property industry? I left school and attended college, studying accounting for a year, before spending approximately a decade working for a family office with its own property finance division. In that…
Read MoreA guide to understanding preliminaries in construction contracts
In any construction project, the focus often falls on the visible outputs: the steel, the bricks, the finishes. But behind the scenes, a critical part of the build is quietly powering every stage: the preliminaries. Often misunderstood or dismissed as background costs, preliminaries are in fact a core part of every construction contract. They can…
Read MoreAre JCT Contract amendments now too complex to be useful?
JCT contracts have long been a mainstay of the UK commercial property sector. Their structured, consensus-based drafting, wide adoption, and clear allocation of risk make them a familiar and trusted foundation for development projects. But in an industry now defined by escalating legal complexity, constrained contractor availability and heightened risk sensitivity, it’s worth asking whether…
Read MoreDilapidations at Lease End
When a commercial lease ends, it’s not just a matter of handing back the keys. For both landlords and tenants, this moment can trigger one of the most technical and financially significant issues in commercial property – dilapidations. Put simply, dilapidations are claims made by a landlord when a tenant hasn’t complied with lease obligations…
Read MoreMartyn’s Law: What commercial property owners and occupiers must know
The quiet progression of a vital piece of public safety legislation became official on 3rd April 2025 with the passing of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act – better known as Martyn’s Law. Its formal enactment represents not only the fulfilment of a government promise, but also the culmination of years of determined campaigning by…
Read MoreFlex office leases: Negotiating with commercial landlords
As flexible workspace becomes a mainstream office model, providers are stepping into increasingly complex lease negotiations with commercial landlords. This was certainly our experience during our negotiations for our landlord client at Victoria, where the provider had a lot of operational requirements to accommodate. These aren’t your standard institutional leases. Operators offering short-term licences to…
Read MoreNavigating UK loan maturities in a shifting debt landscape
A wave is coming, not of new acquisitions, but of refinancing. Across the UK commercial real estate sector, developers and landlords are approaching a critical moment: loans issued during the late-cycle optimism of 2018–2020 are beginning to mature. In many cases, those loans were written at historically low interest rates, high leverage levels, and without…
Read More