We’re hosting a free-to-attend online event alongside event partner BDB Pitmans which will focus on the investment and regeneration opportunities across the East of England. Ahead of the event, which includes involvement from First Base, Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor, All Party Parliamentary Group for the East of England and South Cambridgeshire District Council, we’ve been speaking to BDB Pitmans Legal Director Katy Klingopulos…

Q. You work within BDB Pitmans Cambridge Office, what would you say is BDB Pitmans main regional presence?

BDB Pitmans’ Cambridge office is just over four years old, having started its journey in January 2017 with the acquisition of a branch office to a major city law firm.  At that time the office was solely a commercial property practice.  However over the last four years the office has gone from strength to strength, to become an office with full-service capabilities.  Commercial property and property development remain a core area for the office and given the levels of activity across the East of England, residential-led development is a key part of that.

Q. What are some of the most common legal constraints when it comes to working on housing projects?

Possibly the most challenging constraint is the changing legal framework within which our clients operate. In the last year or so they have seen proposed changes to ground rents, and how the leasehold structure can be used, changes to safety regulations and proposed planning as well as the Environment Bill, which has just suffered a further delay to progression through Parliament, having fallen previously when the last General Election was called.  Whilst the intention behind the reforms are understandable, developers need to factor these potential changes into their designs and financial appraisals and keep in mind the potential for some reforms to be retrospective – and they need the right advisers behind them to help them navigate the changes.

Q. How does BDB Pitmans work with its development clients to support their ambitions?

We are lucky to have a well-established London presence as well as our offices in Cambridge, Reading and Southampton, which provide us with key specialisms well suited to serving our developer clients and the regional knowledge which enables us to understand the context behind their developments.  Having lived in the Greater Cambridge area for most of my life, I know that having an understanding of the area can make a real difference to how a deal is transacted and we work closely with contacts in our cross-disciplinary network to ensure we can provide the best possible service to our clients. 

Q. In your experience, what particular challenges do zero carbon schemes present?

Whilst many of the challenges applicable to zero carbon schemes are similar to other types of schemes, land cost and availability can sometimes be an issue, particularly in schemes I have worked on with a higher level of affordable housing.  The location of sites and the local amenities and travel options available to them need to be considered carefully as sustainable travel is an important aspect, particularly in more rural areas. In our experience, offering a zero carbon scheme is not a panacea to concerns from existing communities to development, but in community-led development there is a clear recognition from many that zero carbon schemes can offer a way to provide housing for local communities whilst mitigating the impact on the environment. 

Q. What do you hope to bring out of the discussion at the upcoming East of England Development Conference?

I very much look forward to discussing with the speakers how they see the East of England evolving to meet housing demand, support business and industry and provide economic growth in a post-Brexit, post-pandemic world – and how this evolution is viewed at through government, through businesses across the region and by the developers themselves.

Register for the East of England Future Development Plans Event here: https://www.built-environment-networking.com/event/east-england-development-plans/