The firm acts on behalf of a client within the care sector, which develops and operates care villages.

The acquisition was a sub-purchase of part of a brownfield development scheme in the south of England. The target site had formed part of a larger area and was being acquired by a national housebuilder, with the firm’s client acquiring a 6-acre site on which a care village would be constructed and the national housebuilder developing an adjoining residential scheme.

This was a complex land assembly. The land was acquired unconditionally, subject to a hybrid planning consent. The development of both the residential and care elements were outline and so agreement had to be reached between both the housebuilder and the firm’s client in order to regulate the reserved matters application that would follow acquisition and subsequent implementation of any consent. However, the hybrid consent was also detailed insofar as it authorised works to adjoining land, which would be carried out by three separate parties. Five separate entities therefore controlled implementation of the overall consented scheme and the satisfaction of different elements of both the hybrid consent and its attendant planning agreement. The interrelationship between these parties had to be documented and preserved in terms of both the initial land acquisition and the sub sale.

The national housebuilder also contracted to provide a serviced site for the care scheme and so obligations (backed by corresponding rights of step in and indemnity) had to be incorporated into the sub-sale contract.

A complex funding scheme was put in place to enable the transaction, which resulted in security being offered over a wider group.

This was a transaction that saw the firm working with some of the UK’s leading real estate practices to deliver what was a very satisfying outcome for its client. The firm continues to advise on the advancement of this scheme and other schemes for this client.