Buying a property in a luxury new build hotel and branded residences development
Insight
Every month the Farrer & Co Residential Property partners give us a brief insight into their working lives. This month we provide an overview of a recent buyer panel transaction acting for an international client on their purchase of a property in a luxury new build hotel and branded residences development.
The Brief
We were recently instructed by a non-UK resident client on the purchase of a luxury apartment on the top floor of one of London’s finest new build branded residences. We are buyer panel lawyers for the residences, so this is one of several recent instructions in this development.
Executing the Brief
We already had an excellent working knowledge of the scheme. Our first site visit was during the early stages of construction and our involvement from this stage means that we had run searches, reviewed the sales pack, negotiated the standard form contract and lease into acceptable form and raised enquiries of the developer’s legal team before the first apartment had even launched for sale on the market.
Given our familiarity with the development and the paperwork, our client expected an unrivalled speed and efficiency of service. We were able to work through all documents within hours of receipt to identify points unique to this apartment and to this client and then picked these up on a call with the developer’s lawyers the next morning to settle a route forward.
On this occasion, our client wanted to enter into an arrangement which is distinctive to certain branded residences attached to a hotel where a limited number of apartment owners are allowed to offer their home into the pool of rooms that hotel guests can book to stay in. We explained to our client that this was perfectly possible but planning restrictions in this country mean that they will not be able to rent the property via the hotel (or any other means) for more than 90 days per year. Our client was happy to proceed on this basis. This is a fairly complicated arrangement requiring bespoke documents and careful consideration of the SDLT and planning position, so some detailed drafting needed to be settled before we were comfortable that the arrangement would be watertight from our client’s perspective.
The debrief
Exchange of contracts took place once our client was comfortable with the final agreements. Our client is delighted to have secured such an exceptional London base: a home away from home with all the luxuries and amenities that would usually be exclusive to a stay in a 5* hotel, with the icing on the cake of an income stream for some of the time that the apartment would otherwise be vacant.
We have a vast amount of experience in handling off-plan and new build purchases of properties in London’s most prestigious schemes, many of which are branded residences. Please refer to our New Build brochure for an overview of our services and expertise in this area and our article originally published by Luxury Lifestyle Magazine for some further reading on the rise of luxury branded residences in London.
We are always happy to discuss the conveyancing process and how to manage a transaction.