Brexit: As of exit day (31 January 2020) the UK is no longer an EU Member State. This has an impact on this content. For further guidance, see: Demolition and site clearance below. The viability and success of a development site depends on obtaining satisfactory answers to a range of legal and practical questions. While attention tends to focus on the headline commercial terms of a deal, and on major issues such as planning permission, roads construction consent and environmental investigations, it is essential not to overlook issues that may cause significant delay, or even preclude successful development. Access Direct access to the nearest adopted road can be fundamental to a development's viability. A developer will rely on the information disclosed in a property enquiry certificate (PEC) in this regard, but it is also imperative to see a roads adoption plan, which will disclose the extent of the road which has been taken over by the local authority for maintenance and will

This Practice Note provides guidance for in-house lawyers on the use of competency models to development talent within their teams and includes a sample competency model for an experienced legal adviser. Competencies are the behaviours that individuals must have, or must acquire, to perform effectively at work. Your HR department will normally be the promoters of competencies if they have been adopted by the organisation. Sometimes HR will be promoting universal competencies which apply to everyone, this can be problematic for in-house lawyers if they have difficulty identifying with them and their relevance to their role. Competency models can be a useful tool to help you identify which members of your team have already got what it takes to progress and which members have areas for development or improvement. Competency models should not be used to berate shortcomings, but to provide a framework to close the gap between actual behaviour and the requirements of the competency in question. Competency models also act as a useful guide for individuals who want to progress,

This Practice Note provides practical guidance and tips for in-house lawyers on developing and improving their own commercial awareness/business acumen. What is commercial awareness/business acumen? Commercial awareness/business acumen skills are developed over time (rather than being simply learned as ‘a one-off’) and should be constantly evolving. In summary: • commercial awareness is having an understanding of the business environment you are in and the factors that can affect and/or influence success • business acumen (also known as ‘having business sense’ or ‘being business savvy) combines knowledge, skills, and experience, with the ability and confidence to apply that knowledge to make good decisions, strategically plan, drive successful outcomes and improve performance Being commercially aware and staying up to date with trends and matters that may impact your business/industry is important to ensure you are both supporting and advising your business in the best way possible. Gaining familiarity with your organisation Most businesses will expect their in-house lawyers to be familiar with the: • business • organisational structure (and its evolution) • industry they operate in Having

This Practice Note explores the skills needed to effectively influence and provides practical guidance on how to practice your influencing skills. For further guidance on the importance of influencing, and why and who we need to influence, see Practice Note: What do we mean by influencing? Influencing tactics Influencing is an ongoing process, not a one-off event, and a range of tactics are often needed. What follows are some influencing tactics you can use in your daily working life. It may be helpful for you to think about which of these you already use, and are comfortable using, and whether there are any of these tactics that you may feel uncomfortable using, and could further develop. Legitimising and logical persuasion This often comes naturally to lawyers. This is where you use your natural authority as lawyers and the professional credentials that go with this to demonstrate an authority that your colleagues can respect. You can build on this using logic or evidence to demonstrate your position. You will use evidence and facts overlaid by your professional

An agreement under which a developer agrees with another party to procure construction of works on behalf of that party. Typically, the agreement will include obligations as to cost, quality and time and will also provide for the transfer of an interest in the property.

A financial appraisal of a development to calculate either: • the residual land value; or • the residual profit return

Rental income divided by actual cost incurred in realising the development.

This is also known as growth capital investment and refers generally to an investment in a mature company looking to expand or restructure operations, or to finance a major acquisition. Such companies are not able to generate sufficient cashflows. Finance for such investments is usually provided by private equity funds or late-stage venture capital funds.

Development, or growth, capital investment refers generally to an investment in a mature company that is earning revenue and has operating profits, but is not able to generate sufficient cash to fund a restructure or growth. Background to development capital investment Why seek investment? A company may seek this type of private equity investment to: • expand its business • restructure its operations • finance a major acquisition, or • restructure its balance sheet, eg by reducing debt Such companies are usually unable to take on additional debt either due to existing debt levels or market conditions. Private equity investment is seen as a realistic alternative. An investment of this nature will not normally lead to a change in control of the business as investors take a minority stake in the company. In addition, unlike other forms of private equity investment, investors do not significantly intervene in management affairs. Existing shareholders are not looking to exit and existing management is settled. Types of investors and investment Investment in companies seeking development capital comes from a number of sources. Some

Planning analysis: In Barclay and CAGNE v SoST, the High Court dismissed judicial review challenges of the Secretary of State for Transport’s decision to grant development consent for Gatwick Airport’s Northern Runway Project. The court held that the Secretary of State had correctly interpreted the relevant planning policy framework in the Airports NPS (ANPS), lawfully applied the Planning Act 2008 (PA 2008) regime governing projects to which no national policy statement had direct effect, and reached rational conclusions on environmental impacts and planning balance issues.

Planning analysis: The decision of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to grant the application for development consent for the Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Farm has been quashed following an order issued by the High Court in judicial review proceedings brought by a local resident. The issue which the court had to consider was whether the Secretary of State could defer evaluation of the cumulative impacts of the onshore substation of Norfolk Vanguard and its ‘sister’ project Norfolk Boreas, until the second application was examined. Written by Helen Mitcheson, solicitor, at Trowers & Hamlins LLP.

Development consent has been granted for the Morgan and Morecambe Offshore Wind Farms Transmission Assets project. The project comprises transmission assets associated with the Morgan Offshore Wind Project and the Morecambe Offshore Windfarm, including offshore export cables, onshore landfall infrastructure, onshore export cables, onshore substations, onshore grid connection cables and circuit breaker compounds, as well as other related onshore infrastructure. The decision was made by Baroness Curran under the legal authority of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.