Mairead Hannon

Mairead Hannon

Mairead is a Solicitor in the Commercial Real Estate team and has also qualified as a solicitor in 2024. Her focus is mainly on commercial residential property transactions acting both for private developers and social housing providers with particular emphasis on newbuild leases; shared ownership leases and advising on the preparation and set up of developments for off plan sales and managing the onward disposals of both freehold and leasehold properties.

Mairead has specialist expertise in all aspects of residential leasehold law advising in respect of voluntary and statutory lease extensions, the right of first refusal and collective enfranchisement and also acting for social housing providers in respect of tenants exercising their right to acquire and preserved right to buy.

Confident and pro-active in maintaining client relationships, Mairead is committed to providing an efficient and practical service to clients, delivering creative solutions to meet their needs.

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Nadine Gibbon

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Ella Jones

Ella Jones

Ella is an Associate in the Planning team.

Ella has particular experience in dealing with residential developments and the provision of affordable housing.

Specialising in planning since 2020, she enjoys undertaking planning due diligence for acquisitions of residential and commercial sites as well as due diligence for financing transactions acting for both lenders and borrowers.

She provides tailored advice to a wide variety of clients including hotel groups, private individuals and care provides. The advice that she provides centres on listed buildings, community infrastructure levy, use classes and affordable housing.

Ella also regularly negotiates various agreements including section 106 agreements, section 278 and 38 agreements and nomination agreements with councils and clients across the country.

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Nadine Gibbon

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Jonathan Preece

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Jonathan is Counsel in the Commercial Real Estate team where his practice focuses predominantly on commercial property transactions with particular emphasis on the acquisition, development and disposal of complex fully residential or mixed-use sites for both social housing providers and private developers.

This often involves advising on joint venture structures, planning and construction issues, option agreements, overage, clawback and pre-emption arrangements, the negotiation of development agreements and land contracts, infrastructure agreements and the structuring of each transaction in the most tax efficient manner.

Jonathan has considerable experience advising on all aspects of commercial landlord and tenant, including leasing, licensing and strategic management advice across the retail, office, leisure and mixed-use placemaking sectors.

Throughout his career he has also represented numerous clients in various sectors on hundreds of lettings of commercial units and buildings. In recent years Jonathan has focused this aspect of his expertise on placemaking and commercial lettings within residentially-led mixed-use schemes owned by affordable housing clients.

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Nadine Gibbon

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Charlotte Youngs

Charlotte Youngs

Charlotte is a Senior Associate in the Commercial Real Estate team and is experienced in a broad range of commercial property work, including acquisitions/disposals, development projects, real estate finance and leasing. Her practice focuses on the acquisition and development of large and complex mixed-use sites as well as the disposal of commercial or mixed-use sites for institutional investors, affordable housing providers and private developers.

This often involves advising on joint venture structures, development agreements, planning and construction issues, option agreements, overage and pre-emption arrangements, building and land contract negotiation, infrastructure agreements and the structuring of each transaction in the most tax efficient manner.

She has a particular focus on the affordable housing sector, understanding policy and funding considerations for registered providers as well as the regulatory matters they need to consider in their developments. In recent years, Charlotte has also started advising on the Building Safety Act 2022 to ensure compliance within the affordable housing sector.

She has a particular interest in sustainability within real estate, and she plays an active role in our internal committee that helps shape our client offering. This includes advising on green lease provisions, other environmental and energy drafting as well as legal provisions to support social and place-making initiatives.

Charlotte is hands on in supporting junior members of the firm by offering guidance and comprehensive training on a number of topics, including residential and mixed-use developments and building safety.

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Sara Branch

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Ranked in the Chambers UK Guide for over 17 years including 2024, Sara is praised for her expertise in the acquisition and development of mixed-use sites.

Sara is a Partner in the Commercial Real Estate team and is Head of Affordable Housing. She has a strong real estate development and regeneration practice with extensive experience working for both public and private sector organisations.

In the affordable housing field, Sara acts for registered provider clients on a range of projects from complex projects involving multi-party joint ventures, profit-sharing arrangements, development and construction documents, and disposals including build to rent, to the acquisition of the affordable provision under section 106 agreements. She also frequently advises on transaction structuring as well as strategic acquisitions and disposals.

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Nadine Gibbon

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