Real Estate
Our team of real estate specialists offers clients the full complement of real estate services, including commercial property, finance, litigation and construction.
We have a long history in Real Estate but offer a modern and entrepreneurial approach with both the appetite for and the experience of working on innovative and ambitious projects. We work in genuine partnership with our clients who often tell us we know their business better than they do.
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“Hamlins provides excellent advice and has excellent knowledge throughout. Its service is impeccable. ”
Chambers 2025 -
“Hamlins' advice is particularly strong on complex matters relating to property purchases and sales and lease negotiation. The team is very responsive and is exceptional in its advice. ”
Chambers 2025 -
“A very good law firm. From employment through to landlord and leasing issues, Hamlins have the experience to guide and advise their clients.”
Legal 500 2025 -
“Intelligent. Reliable.”
Legal 500 2025 -
“Their legal expertise on real estate is top-class and their work ethic is excellent.”
Legal 500 2024 -
“The partners are exceptional and their quality and support from the other solicitors makes us enjoy working with the team. They have particular ability in investment work and are quick to carry out all the due diligence when purchasing and submitting contracts.”
Legal 500 2024 -
“Great people. Commercial minded. They are invested in getting the client the result.”
Legal 500 2024 -
“Their advice commercial and deals sensibly with complex legal intricacies when these arise. They grasp the sense of the deal and help direct the legal side towards the commercial goals.”
Chambers 2024 -
“The team is very adept at finding the simplicity within the complexity.”
Chambers 2024 -
“The service level provided by Hamlins is first class.”
Chambers 2024 -
“This was a significant and complex transaction and the Hamlins team delivered expert advice under very tight timelines. We are hugely grateful to Hamlins for their expertise and support in this exciting venture.”
Tobi Weissinger, Partner, Hamilton-Pyramid Europe -
“Hamlins has the same values as my business. It's very supportive, thinks big, acts small, the detail matters; they are very caring. I don't think many law firms give you the feeling that the relationship matters.”
James Horler, Ego Restuarants -
“You have provided great counsel, first class service and have been a real pleasure to work with on this project.”
Adventure Leisure
We provide expert advice to the full range of property clients on sales, purchases, developments, leasing and management, and assist with complex structuring and lending issues. We also have specialists in construction and financing.
Our clients include investors such as professional property companies, sovereign wealth funds, private equity investors, banks and high-net-worth individuals. Whether you’re purchasing, selling or leasing commercial property, as an owner, occupier, lender, borrower, investor or developer, our well-established real estate team can provide expert advice and help.
We work closely with several clients who own portfolios worth between £0.5bn to £2bn who value our commerciality and ability to assist them in maximising their asset value.
We have a particular strength in the leisure and retail sector and we act for longstanding hotel and restaurant clients including both boutique operators and global brands, advising on development, pre-let, operating agreements and acquisitions of premises including grant of leases, managing the roll out of large restaurant chains, and preparing for, and then acting on, disposal.
We also specialise in high end residential matters, acting for both sellers and buyers, and we have extensive experience of the complex and specialist area of Leasehold Enfranchisement.
Our way of working
We are recognised for our strategic and pragmatic advice and for our welcoming and commercial approach. We offer clients a personal, tailor-made service, provided by experienced partners and staff with extensive industry knowledge and in-house experience.
We offer advice on:
- Investment acquisitions and disposals
- Ongoing investment asset and property management, including leases, agreements for lease, licences to assign, deeds of variation, licenses for alterations
- Development acquisitions, site preparation and disposals
- Construction, including JCT contracts, appointments and warranties
- Real Estate litigation, including landlord and tenant litigation, construction litigation and business disputes
- Real Estate Finance
- Inter-company restructuring
- Serviced office or apartment arrangements
- Planning
Recent work includes:
- We acted for Hamilton – Pyramid Europe, an independent world-class hotel advisory company, on a EUR500m joint venture with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) focused on the European hospitality sector.
- Acting on a £240m refinancing of part of the Structadene Group portfolio comprising more than 100 properties.
- Acting for Criterion Capital on its sale of the East India Dock Estate in London’s Docklands for £170m.
- Management and onward sale of 65 multi-let properties with an initial valuation of £350m, six of which are multi-let shopping centres and many are properties with complex titles.
- Advising the developer on the construction and development of a 180,000 sq ft refurbishment of India Buildings, Liverpool, including drafting and negotiating the building contract, consultants’ appointments warranties and forward funding development agreement.
- We act on a range of key matters for the William Pears Group, one of Britain’s largest property companies, in connection with the management of its £6bn property portfolio. Examples of our work include the acquisition of industrial estate, office buildings and retail units.
- Acting for Powerleague, the leading operator of small-sided football artificial pitches with 42 football centres in the UK, Ireland and Netherlands, on site acquisitions and leases.
- Acting on behalf of a national gym provider on the acquisition of a portfolio of 15+ gyms (as a going concern) from another national gym provider conditional upon the assignment in each instance of each of the 15+ leases.
- Advising leading high street natural fast-food chain, LEON Restaurants, on its property matters. We have acted on the roll out of over 60 units and continue to act on LEON’s ongoing expansion.
- We provide strategic advice to the Burhill Group in addition to several successful leisure/activity brands which the group operates throughout the UK, including Mulligans (indoor games/activities), Ninja Warrior UK (indoor adventure/obstacle courses) and Bunkers (indoor crazy golf). We act for the group on leases of sites throughout the UK.
- Acting for Park Plaza Hotels on the acquisition, construction and refinance of a new hotel development in London.
- Advising NCP, a long standing client, on various matters relating to their significant property portfolio.
Our Work
Daedalus Waterfront
We are acting for Patron Daedalus Limited on the acquisition and regeneration of a 42-acre waterfront site at Daedalus, Lee-on-the-Solent in a joint venture between MurrayTwohig Development, Orwell Real Estate...
Orwell Real Estate: mixed-use development in Basildon
Hamlins acted for Orwell Real Estate on the forward sale of a landmark mixed-use development and regeneration scheme in Basildon, in the south east of England. The joint venture between...
St Dunstan’s, Ovingdean
We acted for James Taylor Homes on the purchase of the landmark former Blind Veterans UK centre, known as St Dunstan’s, in Ovingdean, East Sussex. The 1930-built listed building overlooking...