Seamless development support from the ground up

From advice on planning strategy, right through the building phase to sale agreements, HCR’s development team made a new inner-city mix of housing and commercial units over five storeys possible for developer Hatchbury, helping the development to progress despite the Covid-19 pandemic and all of the associated site closures.

Hatchbury wanted to buy a mixed-use development in one of Bristol‘s most historic areas, St Paul’s, demolish the existing buildings and create a new development, with residential units to be transferred to a housing association and commercial units on the ground floor.

But buying the site was conditional on having the right planning permission, at which point the HCR team’s involvement began.

Drawing together the expertise of planning expert Rosalind Andrews, construction partner Mark Carter, head of real estate in the south west, and Harry Bengough, head of banking and finance, HCR’s project team dealt with all the legal aspects of the development.

The planning permission, crucial for the acquisition of the site, included a Section 106 Agreement to meet the requirements of the lenders and Registered Provider of Affordable Housing.  The team then supported the developer as the project progressed, advising in relation to variations to the Planning Consent and Section 106 Agreement, minimising CIL liability due to the variations and negotiating Section 38, 278 and Section 104 Agreements.

We supported the construction aspects of the development by negotiating and drafting a full suite of construction contracts, appointments, warranties and bonds and supply support during the build phase, including negotiating a build over agreement and crane oversail licence.

To enable the project to progress, we provided specialist banking advice and support for both senior and mezzanine funding, including providing warranties. The team also acted on a development agreement selling the residential units to the housing association and including a further variation to the development agreement to accommodate three extra ground floor residential units.

John Kennedy, founder of Hatchbury, said: “Hatchbury have been using Harrison Clark Rickerbys for a number of years with regards to all legal matters for our residential property development business. They have always shown fantastic professionalism in dealing with all matters, whether it be Mark Carter’s general counsel’s expertise in dealing with all construction issues or being able to lean on Harry Bengough’s knowledge of finance.

“Always available, Harrison Clark Rickerbys’ staff can be relied on for providing well thought out advice, which ultimately provides a solution to all problems. The ability to lay out the full picture and break it down to make it understandable is a great trait and one that ensures that all individual cases all dealt with efficiently and on time.

“We have greatly enjoyed working with all of the team and will continue to do so for many years to come.”