Legal

A land or building asset that is developed and improved or transferred from one owner to another can raise a large number of legal issues.

The most common are:

• Establishing whether there are any restrictions on the use or development of the asset which may have been imposed in the past but can restrict what all future owners of the asset can do with it. For example some land or buildings may have been gifted, for example, common good land, or created for the benefit of a charity or a certain use (e.g. a playground or recreation ground) or may have rights of way granted over it to other people.
• Choosing a legal structure for the establishment of a new organisation to undertake the development (where necessary) and final ownership of the asset.
• The sale or transfer of ownership (often described as an 'interest') of the asset.
• The form and content of contracts and partnership agreements with other stakeholders, professional advisors and contractors.
• Taxation issues - Value Added Tax, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

Whatever the issue to be dealt with it will be necessary to take legal advice - partly because what is proposed for use of the asset will affect the legal issues that arise and partly because the law does change.