Our Commercial Property Team, who form part of the Walker Foster Business Team, specialise in all aspects of Commercial, Agricultural and Development property matters.  

We offer friendly, personal, practical and professional advice tailored to each transaction as we appreciate commercial transactions have their own unique requirements. We can also provide site visits, where necessary, to personally assess your situation. 

Our Commercial Property team, headed by our Director Craig Williams, strive to balance commercial objectives against a way of life and local reputation through providing practical, no-nonsense advice.

We also appreciate that transactions involving commercial, agricultural or estate property often have special complications or considerations. 

However, due to our many years of experience, we can guide you through a wide range of business-related property matters using pragmatic legal advice and expertise on your circumstances.

Some of the most common matters we deal with on a daily business relate to:

• Sale and purchase of commercial property
• Farms and rural businesses 
• Agricultural and farm business tenancies
• Business tenancies 
• Grazing tenancies and licences to occupy, overage and pre-emption agreements 
• Property disputes (rights of way, boundary issues etc.)
• Grant, variation and surrender of easements
• Common land issues 
• Agri-environmental schemes 
• Renewable energy projects including wind, UV and solar panels, mines and minerals rights 
• Property and land development
• Sporting rights 

As a company, Walker Foster are trusted solicitors for generations, which means we forge long relationships with clients.

We have been on the journey with our clients, sometimes from the beginning, and helped them grow throughout the years to expand their business with additional sites or an expansion to their existing property.

No matter your legal matter,  our priority to make each transaction as efficient and personal as possible.

Definition of Terminology 

• Easements – An easement is the right of one landowner to make use of another nearby piece of land for the benefit of his own land. An easement may take many forms; however, the most commonly encountered easements are a right of way, a right to light and a right of support.

• Overage – Claw-back or uplift, an overage is an agreement that the buyer will pay extra, on top of the original purchase price, if and when certain events happen. For example, if the buyer increases the value of the land by obtaining planning permission.

• Pre-emption Agreement – Gives a right of first refusal to a company or a person in the event the landowner decides to sell the land. An Option Agreement, however, typically gives a company or a person the right to require the landowner to sell the land to them.

• Promotion Agreement – A Promotion Agreement is a legally binding contract between the landowner and their partner – usually a land promoter. They can be applied to any type of site but are typically used where securing planning permission is not straightforward and may take several years to achieve.

• Sporting rights – A type of right granted by a landowner to a third party, entitling them to undertake activities on the land. Most commonly, these activities involve fishing, hunting, and shooting. Such rights are characterised by the term ‘profits à prendre.

You can contact Craig and his team by emailing cw@walkerfoster.com or by calling her on 01609 711158.

This article must not be construed as legal advice. All cases are different on their facts and you should consult with us directly on your case.