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Real Estate

With a recently strong UK real estate market struggling to keep up with demand, competition for prime assets is higher than ever. In addition to availability, landlords, developers, asset managers, investors and occupiers face a range of challenges and opportunities in the current climate. These include the increasing globalisation of the real estate investment market, the growing demand for а high quality built environment with continued focus on achieving sustainability, and the increased use of technology and rising cyber security risks.

With one of the largest real estate teams in the UK, we have the resource and expertise our clients need to respond to this fast-paced market. Our lawyers provide decisive, pragmatic solutions allowing clients to react quickly to seize opportunities. With dedicated planning, finance, tax, construction and dispute specialists as part of the group, we are able to ensure that our clients are realising the most value possible from their assets.

We are delighted to have maintained a Tier 1 ranking for Real Estate categories in the recently published Chambers and Legal 500 UK 2023 directories.

We are one of the few City-based firms able to offer clients a truly full UK-wide service with offices in London, Aberdeen, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Reading, Liverpool and Sheffield.

In addition to our UK offering, the CMS Real Estate Sector practice is the largest real estate specialist team in Europe and one of the biggest worldwide, providing full-service legal assistance in all real estate matters. We have over 800 lawyers, spanning across 73 offices worldwide, the CMS Real Estate Practice is one of the largest specialist teams worldwide.

We are very proud to be working with some of the most dynamic real estate businesses around at the moment. Our clients range from large international and private investors to developers, universities, utility providers and occupiers.

"The team is one of the best teams that I ever collaborated with. The CMS real estate team is always available, deals with the toughest deadlines and delivers the best quality."

Legal 500, 2023

"With a real depth of experience and an impressive breadth of resources - CMS is hands down one of the strongest firms in the global real estate industry."

Legal 500, 2018

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Construction
Whether you are an employer/owner, contractor, funder/investor or you are buying an interest in a project that is under construction or has recently b
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Data Centres
A proper understanding of real estate and landlord and tenant issues is integral to any data centres business. Our market-leading real estate team has
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Planning
We are one of the largest planning teams in the UK with over 30 specialist lawyers. We are motivated by a passion to help to create exceptional places
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PropTech
The real estate industry is currently going through an unprecedented phase of digital transformation against the backdrop of ‘the fourth industr
commercial office buildings
Real Estate
With a recently strong UK real estate market struggling to keep up with demand, competition for prime assets is higher than ever. In addition to avail
building construction and cranes
Real Estate & Planning Disputes
As a developer, landlord, contractor or occupier, when a real estate project or transaction becomes contentious, it is essential that matters be dealt
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Real Estate Development
Competition for sites, access to funding, changing legislation, achieving planning consent, rights to light issues and community infrastructure levy a
mound of yellow pipes
Real Estate Energy
We are one of the few London-headquartered real estate groups to have a dedicated real estate energy team. With a market-leading energy practice, we p
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Real Estate Finance
The real estate finance market has undergone significant change in recent years, with increased regulation, the entrance of more categories of lenders
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Real Estate Investment
With demand for prime assets higher than ever, real estate investment is becoming an increasingly global market. Being able to respond quickly to inve
glass constructed building
Real Estate Occupiers
As an occupier in today’s market, there are a number of key issues to consider. These include establishing strategies for disposal of surplus pr
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Real Estate PRS
Residential property in the UK has never seemed a more attractive investment. With a shortage of quality rental properties available and development s
Keys lying on a floorplan
Residential Real Estate
CMS’ Residential Real Estate practice has extensive experience and offers pro-active and tailored advice, handling a broad range of work for com
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Student Accommodation
Student housing has moved from the “alternative” asset class firmly into the mainstream in recent years. Whilst student housing is a high
10/11/2023
Driving sustainability in real estate and construction
Contributing to the fight against climate change and creating social value are now priorities for the real estate and construction sectors.   The long-term nature of the built environment means that resilience and sustainability should be considered at every stage if buildings are to be environmentally and socially responsible. This brings both opportunities and challenges for the businesses that create, own or maintain it. They must consider the evolving technical, regulatory and market landscape, to ensure that their investments are future-proofed commercially, as well as environmentally and socially. This section of Bandwidth looks at some of the ESG issues that confront developers and property owners, and how they can incorporate practical solutions into their businesses.
13/12/2023
MEES - are the regulations working?
MEES is a flagship policy to help the UK meet its net zero targets. MEES returns over 50million hits on Google, so it is undoubtedly a widely discussed piece of legislation that should play a major role in reducing the carbon footprint of the non-domestic property stock in the UK. But is there sufficient bite to these regulations? 
Law-Now: Real Estate & Construction
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13/06/2024
CMS Real Estate webinar: Repurposing the High Street for Life Sciences...
Candice Blackwood and Henrietta Oliver will share the key findings of our recent thought leadership piece about the transformation of the UK High Street, and the opportunities for life sciences and healthcare (including medical diagnostics) to fill the voids left by retailers.
15/03/2024
Real estate finance law in the United Kingdom
A. Mortgages 1. Can security be granted to a foreign lender? Yes. Security can be granted to a foreign lender. 2. Can lenders take a mortgage over land and buildings on the land? Yes. Lenders can take...
07/03/2024
CMS Spring Seminar Series 2024: “Bricks & Mortar: The Life Cycle of Commercial...
Thursday 7, 14 and 21 March 2024  
06/03/2024
Spring Budget 2024 – key tax announcements
Against the backdrop of an election (probably) later this year, the Chancellor was evidently feeling the pressure to make tax announcements that would find favour with the electorate, whilst constrained...
01/03/2024
The Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land: 1 Month...
From 1 April 2024 those who are subject to, but have failed to comply with, duties imposed by the Land Reform Scotland (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) Regulations...
01/03/2024
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill – Over to the House of Lords
Following publication of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (the “Bill”) on 27 November 2023, the Bill has been progressing through the legislative process and the Government has recently published...
01/03/2024
Pre-conditions to arbitration and the FIDIC 2nd Edition
Amendments to the FIDIC 2nd Edition contracts published in November 2022 have narrowed the definition of “Dispute” to more closely align it with the pre-conditions to DAAB and arbitration proceedings...
23/02/2024
The CBAM – what is it and how will it affect the market?
Regulation (EU) 2023/956 establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) entered into force on 17 May 2023. The implementation of the CBAM has been divided into a transitional period (from 1...
23/02/2024
Scottish wildcat group’s challenge to windfarm permission unsuccessful
Wildcat Haven, a community interest company, sought to challenge the decision of the Scottish Ministers to grant permission for construction of a new wind farm at Clashindarroch Forest in Aberdeenshire...
22/02/2024
Establishing liability under the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers)...
The Scottish Court of Session has, for the first time, considered what is required to establish a ‘liability’ for the purposes of the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 (the “2010...
21/02/2024
MEES - why are local authorities failing to enforce?
The UK government has a continued drive and commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Yet the risk of MEES enforcement is low. Against a hotly discussed political backdrop, why is it that local...
21/02/2024
Introduction to Planning Law (Episodes 1-3)
In this series of Planning Ahead, we address Heritage & Conservation within the Planning System. Over three episodes, Nicola Insley introduces the key concepts planning law, discusses conditions vs s106 obligations and provides an overview of what you might expect from planning decisions, appeals and call-ins.