Residential Development

Strategic insight, practical solutions.

Development projects often span years and involve multiple moving parts.In an uncertain market, we help clients anticipate and adapt to changing conditions – from planning policy shifts to funding pressures and environmental requirements.This forward looking approach, combined with our technical excellence and commercial insight, consistently delivers results.  

Our genuine understanding of how the planning and construction worlds work sets us apart. We partner with owner-managed developers, regional housebuilders, strategic landowners and social housing providers who value direct senior engagement. Our work ranges from legacy estate planning to complex development schemes.

We’re deeply enthusiastic about what we do, and that energy matters on long projects: you should enjoy working with your lawyers and trust their integrity.    

Our approach is hands-on and collaborative.Seen as an extension of our clients’ inhouse teams, we invest time in understanding your pressures, ambitions and working style. 

This alignment lets us offer proactive, outcome focused advice – not just recommendations, but solutions.With strong relationships across planning authorities, consultants and funders, we help you anticipate challenges and seize opportunities, bringing clarity to complexity and momentum to projects.  

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Convert legacy land into secure, fairly priced opportunities 

We understand that development decisions are rarely just commercial - they’re personal, generational, and often emotionally complex. Many of our landowner clients are navigating their first development experience, often prompted by unsolicited approaches from promoters, agents or developers. 

We use our experience to cut through that noise. Before anything is signed, we explore whether what's being offered is truly workable, looking beneath the surface to see if the deal protects your legacy, delivers fair value, and supports your long-term aims. Our advice is strategic, grounded in decades of real-world transactions, and shaped by empathy and clarity.  

Joined up legal support that keeps sites progressing 

We work hand in glove with SME and owner-managed developers to deliver momentum, not just legal process. Clients rely on us to bring everything together - from site assembly and infrastructure agreements to funding structures, easements and final plot sales. Think of us as a legal one-stop-shop, but one that understands the nuance and volatility of the development cycle.

We help you keep moving forward, even when things get difficult. By becoming part of your team, we don’t just respond - we anticipate, simplify, and solve, enabling you to make confident commercial decisions throughout the lifecycle of your project.  

Our dedicated plot sales team understands the importance of cash flow and the need to get plots sold with the minimum of delay. Plots are your finished product and your reputation is in our hands in delivering an outstandingly proactive and helpful service to meet your deadlines.  

Practical insight on grant frameworks, governance and delivery 

We’ve worked with housing associations and registered providers across the South for decades. We understand the grant frameworks, the governance constraints, and the practical challenges of delivering affordable homes in a high-demand, resource-constrained sector. 

Whether you’re acquiring a Section 106 package, bidding on a new site, or navigating multi-agency funding requirements, we bring legal rigour and sector-specific insight. Our goal is always to help you move forward with clarity, securing the funding, land, and partnerships needed to deliver meaningful homes for those who need them most.  

Finance structures aligned to planning, build and exit risk 

Our funding work is shaped by what funders need most: security, clarity, and the ability to step in if things go wrong. We help you structure finance agreements that align with the real risks of development - planning permissions, construction phases, warranties, guarantees, and new build warranty schemes. 

We also look at the bigger picture: what will a funder need to know at day one, and what will they need in the worst-case scenario? That forward-thinking approach helps secure funding more quickly and ensures your project remains viable, even under pressure.  

A selection of case studies

Protecting Family Legacy

When national developers eyed a Hampshire estate for 3,500 homes, a local family faced parting with land held for generations. We embedded them into a live consortium, negotiating phased payments, orchard protections, and green-space guarantees. By attending site visits and listening beyond the legal brief, we preserved key emotional touchpoints while enabling a landmark development to proceed. The family retained strategic land holdings and a meaningful voice in the scheme - proving legacy protection and large-scale growth need not be at odds when guided by empathy and sharp commercial drafting.  

Large House

Environmental Innovation

Large Lake

Phosphate neutrality rules threatened to stall Pennyfarthing Homes’ New Forest scheme. The answer? Shut down a high-output fish farm. We structured the purchase and closure of Bickton Fish Farm to create regulatory phosphate credits – allowing the housing project to proceed and generating future trading value. From EA data to enforceable lease terms, we made the environmental case watertight. The result: measurable pollution reduction, new homes cleared for delivery, and a replicable model for unlocking development in protected zones. Sometimes, environmental compliance demands not compromise – but lateral thinking and precise legal execution.  

Urban Development

Urban Development

A narrow car park near Camden’s Underground seemed unviable – sandwiched between rail lines, rights of light, and tenant parking rights. Salboy saw potential. We guided them through a public land acquisition, tackling council rules, easement logistics, and crane positioning. By securing interim parking for neighbours and mapping out access routes, we kept the project on track. Planning followed swiftly. The site is now progressing toward delivery of high-quality homes in one of London’s densest zones – proof that even the trickiest triangle can support bold urban development when strategy and detail align.  

Collaborative Social Housing

Collaborative Social Housing

A derelict eyesore beside a key Plymouth artery, faced urgent demolition or lost grant funding. We helped our registered provider of social housing client navigate structural risks, utilities, and environmental concerns while securing withdrawal rights if major issues emerged. Working directly with the client’s legal team and visiting the site ourselves, we drafted precise, protective terms. The result: demolition will begin on time, unlocking safe, supported homes for those facing homelessness. Proof that timely legal coordination can transform even the most complex sites into meaningful community assets.  

Environmental Innovation

Large Lake

Phosphate neutrality rules threatened to stall Pennyfarthing Homes’ New Forest scheme. The answer? Shut down a high-output fish farm. We structured the purchase and closure of Bickton Fish Farm to create regulatory phosphate credits – allowing the housing project to proceed and generating future trading value. From EA data to enforceable lease terms, we made the environmental case watertight. The result: measurable pollution reduction, new homes cleared for delivery, and a replicable model for unlocking development in protected zones. Sometimes, environmental compliance demands not compromise – but lateral thinking and precise legal execution.  

Urban Development

Urban Development

A narrow car park near Camden’s Underground seemed unviable – sandwiched between rail lines, rights of light, and tenant parking rights. Salboy saw potential. We guided them through a public land acquisition, tackling council rules, easement logistics, and crane positioning. By securing interim parking for neighbours and mapping out access routes, we kept the project on track. Planning followed swiftly. The site is now progressing toward delivery of high-quality homes in one of London’s densest zones – proof that even the trickiest triangle can support bold urban development when strategy and detail align.  

Collaborative Social Housing

Collaborative Social Housing

A derelict eyesore beside a key Plymouth artery, faced urgent demolition or lost grant funding. We helped our registered provider of social housing client navigate structural risks, utilities, and environmental concerns while securing withdrawal rights if major issues emerged. Working directly with the client’s legal team and visiting the site ourselves, we drafted precise, protective terms. The result: demolition will begin on time, unlocking safe, supported homes for those facing homelessness. Proof that timely legal coordination can transform even the most complex sites into meaningful community assets.  

Experience & Expertise

Our Residential Development team brings together technical excellence with practical insight, shaped by decades of experience across landmark developments. What sets us apart is how we work - with passion, energy, and a clear sense of purpose. We get to know not just our clients, but their agents, planners, and consultants - creating a team dynamic that helps complex projects move forward with pace and precision.

Property Dispute Solicitors in an office
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Gavin Barratt, Salisbury Escape Rooms Limited