Page 12 - The Growth Region

Agriculture & Rural Property

Agriculture and rural property expertise runs deeply through Hewitsons, so our lawyers
understand the challenges that modern landowners face.

The changes that farming and rural businesses are likely to encounter over the coming years are
unprecedented. Many see that income for agricultural use of land may drop so selling land for
development may provide essential additional capital to the business. At Hewitsons our
Agricultural and Rural Property team have many years of experience in working with our clients
in structuring the promotion and sale of strategic development land for landowning clients. This
can range from selling some redundant farm buildings for conversion to houses to mixed use
developments with over 6,000 houses or extensive employment uses.

The planning conditions and developer contributions imposed on a site have a very material
effect on the value received by the landowner. Under many promotion and option agreements
the landowner does not lead the negotiations with the planning authority agreement so it is vital
the landowners planning team works closely with the developers. Our Agricultural and Rural
Property team regularly work with our planning team to ensure the planning conditions are
correctly structured to maximise the value to the landowner and to allow for as flexible a sale
strategy as possible.

If a site already has planning permission then we will deal with sale contracts for conditional and
unconditional sales. Frequently this causes us to consider issues arising from deferred payment
structures, claw back of repaid developer contributions and overage.

If there is a tenant to deal with we, and our real estate litigation team, can work together to
advise on the best way of resuming possession whether it be negotiating an agreement to
surrender or the best tactics to employ when serving a Case B notice to quit on an agricultural
tenant.
Regardless of the matter, throughout the entire process a dedicated partner will take the time to
get to know you and ensure you receive the right advice – clearly, promptly and adapted to your
needs.

Works closely with:

Agriculture & Rural Planning &

Property Disputes Environmental

Real Estate Disputes

www.hewitsons.com 10 Cambridge I London I Milton Keynes I Northampton