Explore the legal and practical implications of the 'pay now, argue later' principle in construction disputes through the landmark case of VMA Services Ltd v Project One London Ltd.
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Property & Construction
Our award-winning property and construction group is one of the largest in the UK.
Talk to usOur property and construction sector team includes lawyers from a wide range of disciplines to support investors, funders, landlords, developers, corporate occupiers, local authorities, infrastructure companies, registered providers and more with all their legal needs.
With experts in asset management, building safety, commercial development, construction, housing, property disputes and litigation and the public sector, we have the depth and breadth to support even the most complex and large-scale of projects — whether residential, commercial or industrial.
We recognise that our clients in the property and construction sector require support on matters focused on real estate law and beyond. That's why we provide advice on a wide range of topics including employment issues, corporate structures, commercial contracts and public procurement.
We understand that property and land assets can deliver both high rewards and high risks — especially in a regulatory and political environment that changes by the day. Whatever your role in the sector, our team of experts is on-hand to help you manage your rights and liabilities to support your real estate dealings and realise the value of your assets.
We're proud to have won the Legal Team of the Year award at the EG Awards 2024 and Legal/Professional Team of the Year for commercial property at the Property Awards 2023.
We’re also delighted to act for many exceptional clients including Peel Waters, Muse Places, Ion Developments, Peel Ports Group, Morrisons, Primark, Beaverbrooks, Arnold Clark, Cobalt Housing, Onward, The Regenda Group, Torus and Your Housing Group.
We make places work — specialists in urban renewal & regeneration
We’re an award-winning leader in supporting complex, large-scale and long-term regeneration projects that breathe new life into towns and cities across the country.
Working with pace, precision and purpose, we help developers to build with confidence, investors to move with certainty and public sector partners to deliver on their promises.
Our expertise in property and construction is essential in ensuring that every project successfully turns plans on the page into spades in the ground. With a commercial and practical focus on what’s deliverable — not just theoretically enforceable — we seamlessly integrate with our real estate development team to maintain the ‘big picture’ view of every party involved in a project and enable end-to-end consistency.
The team’s unique experience — bridging publicly-funded social housing and regeneration projects and large-scale commercial development projects — helps us to make places work and deliver lasting social value for local communities.
Watch: Making Places Work — introducing our regeneration team
Award-winning property lawyers
Our team is led by Iain Gamble — a Partner who oversees our entire real estate offering. A skilled negotiator with specialist expertise in large-scale regeneration projects, Iain is recognised by The Legal 500 for his “innate confidence and depth of knowledge… of deal structures and issues”, as well as his ability to “get deals done within a reasonable timeframe and cost”.
Iain works closely alongside Head of Construction, Barry Goodall, Head of Development, Roy Barry, Head of Investment and Property Management, Richard Roberts and Head of Property Litigation, Andrew Rogers, as well as Ross Shine, who leads our public sector team and Jo Morton and Helen Brown, our Joint Heads of Housing.
Recognised by
“Iain Gamble manages to seamlessly combine his role as head of development with undertaking complex property transactions of substantial scale. His calm, non-confrontational and pleasant manner pays dividends in negotiations as it discourages counterparts from taking fixed positions and he’s seen as honest and trustworthy by all parties.”
The Legal 500, 2024
“We worked with Roy Barry and his team on our strategic partnership with Salford Council. I was particularly impressed with the manner in which the Brabners team got to grips with the history and commercial background fast and then ran with it to find legal solutions with a collaborative approach. The team’s deep sector knowledge and collaborative approach were instrumental in navigating complex legal issues to get us into contract at pace.”
Claire Slinger, Legal Director, Muse Places
“Iain Gamble has an innate confidence and depth of knowledge. His knowledge of deal structures and issues is excellent and his drafting is clear and concise. He can draw on a wealth of knowledge of recent transactions that support the current negotiations. Fees are fair and his overall approach helps to get deals done within a reasonable timeframe and cost.”
The Legal 500, 2024
“Brabners has an exceptional ability to deal with complex regeneration projects with a calm collaborative approach that instils confidence and trust in both us and our public sector partners. The team’s deep understanding of the development process has helped us complete a detailed multi-phase development agreement for our Hind Street Development as well as supporting us with procurement and planning advice. This has enabled us to achieve our commercial objective whilst meeting our clients’ requirements.”
Steve Parry, Managing Director, Ion Developments
“We’ve dealt with Brabners for over a decade and have never received anything other than first-class service, support and advice from Jennie Jones and her construction team. We regard Brabners as strategic partners and regularly consult the team whenever we require swift, sound and reliable guidance and advice. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Jennie and her team to anyone — they’re truly professional and highly effective.”
Client feedback
“Brabners has worked with the Peel Waters team on the Liverpool Waters project since it began. The team’s knowledge of what is one of the largest regeneration projects of its kind is essential to us delivering on our 30-year vision for the area. The collaborative approach and commercial pragmatism from Iain Gamble and his team allows us to navigate any legal issues that arise and ultimately helps us meet our objective of transforming the city’s iconic waterfront and bringing life back to the historic docklands.”
Chris Capes, Development Director, Liverpool Waters
“It’s not just the size of the business, it’s what you do with it. That is what led our judges to select this year’s legal award winner. A firm that is purpose-led, true to its roots and putting its business where its values are.”
EG Awards 2024
“The Brabners housing team has worked with Cobalt for many years on the land acquisitions and construction contracts required to progress our ambition to regenerate our Croxteth heartland and improve our communities. Brabners’ deep sector knowledge is second to none and their collaborative approach supports our development partnerships and is instrumental in navigating complex issues to achieve our regeneration objectives.”
Louise Davies, Executive Director, Communities and Regeneration, Cobalt Housing
“We worked alongside Brabners and the Council to deliver the procurement of a private sector partner for the regeneration of Oldham Town Centre. As a project team we managed to get from first legal dialogue session to award in just seven months. That is fast on a project of this scale and complexity. It demonstrates how both the CBRE and Brabners teams are quick to deliver positive outcomes in public procurement for regeneration, which can sometimes suffer from slow and cumbersome processes. The sector knowledge and collaborative approach of Roy Barry and Michael Winder in particular were instrumental in navigating complex legal issues to achieve the Council’s regeneration objectives.”
Adam White, Executive Director, CBRE
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