City regeneration keeps Birmingham property lawyers busy

Property development specialists in the Birmingham office of law firm Browne Jacobson have made a strong start to the first half of the financial year on the back of a number of significant multi-million pound regeneration projects across the Midlands.

The firm’s property team, which has trebled in size in the last six years, has successfully completed a string of signature projects recently including acting for the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) in connection with the sale of the recently restored Aston Tavern and the sale to HydraForce of its proposed new 120,000 sq ft factory at the Advanced Manufacturing Hub in Aston. The Birmingham team also advised the HCA on the disposal of a former colliery site at Cotgrave to BDW Trading (Barratt and David Wilson Homes) for a £100 million housing development of approximately 450 homes which will create around 200 jobs.

The team, whose clients include a mixture of developers, investors, corporate occupiers and public bodies such as Inland Homes Plc, UK Mail, University College Birmingham and Heyford Developments, were one of only seven law firms nationally to be re-appointed to the legal panel of the HCA, the Government’s national housing and regeneration agency for England.

Dominic Swift, Head of Property at Browne Jacobson, said :
“Growing overseas investment in sectors such as manufacturing and digital technology along with central and local government backing for major regeneration projects in areas such as Lozells and Aston has been a welcome shot in the arm to the region’s professional services sector and to firms such as ours who have a well-established and highly experienced property team. The Government’s Help to Buy scheme has also been key to reviving the development market with activity levels expected to continue on an upward curve.

“It has been a busy first half of the year which reflects the major re-development work that is taking shape in Greater Birmingham as well as a healthy flow of instructions from both new and our long standing existing clients.

“Our unique public and private sector client portfolio has also been a defining factor in driving the team’s  growth throughout one of the most challenging economic periods the country has seen and the recent upturn in the economy presents a fantastic opportunity for our team our project pipeline has never looked stronger for the year ahead.”