Public sector bodies operate within an environment of rapid political, structural and legal change. They must continually innovate to deal with new challenges and opportunities against a background of acute financial pressures and increasingly stringent regulatory requirements.

Our dedicated public sector property team has a comprehensive understanding of the unique requirements of our public sector clients as landlords. We appreciate that public sector property must be managed and used efficiently in order to support enhanced service delivery and to maximize the returns from our client’s estate. We are able to offer expert landlord and tenant advice to assist our clients in managing their estate efficiently, maximizing income, securing full recovery where possible and minimizing risk.

Our multi-disciplinary team of dedicated public sector property, construction, planning, environmental and property litigation team provide a fully integrated service to assist our clients to manage on-going obligations and to realize their long-term estate goals. We have extensive experience of providing landlord and tenant advice and strategic solutions in respect of all operational property issues within this rapidly changing climate.

The specialist lawyers in our public sector property team have in-depth experience of advising clients across all parts of the public sector, including NHS bodies, GPs and dentists, local government, educational institutions, police and emergency services, transport bodies and third sector organizations. Our range of services includes advice on:

• Agreements for lease
• Audits of occupational interests (risks and opportunities)
• Estate management issues
• Heads of Terms
• Lease negotiations
• Lease renewals
• Lease surrenders and assignments
• Licenses and consents
• Licenses and Tenancies at will
• NHS Estate code
• Premises Directions and GP reimbursement
• Rent reviews, break clauses and service charge disputes
• Repairs, dilapidations and related disputes
• Strategic estate planning
• Training on topics such as how to procure vacant possession and pitfalls to avoid when terminating leases
• Under leases