Lisa Robinson

Lisa handles a wide range of all aspects of agricultural property, including: the sale and purchase of farms as a whole or in lots, auctions, farm business tenancies, property aspects of business transfers, sales and purchase of both freehold and leasehold properties and granting and taking business leases.

Notable Commercial Property cases

• Surrender of Tenant Holding
  

  Acting for the tenant farmer in dealing with a surrender of his holding under an Agricultural Holdings Act tenancy. Dealing with the legal aspects to put into place the terms agreed for the surrender which involved a transfer of the freehold of the farmhouse to tenant farmer, with a licence to occupy the front garden of the farmhouse for his lifetime, at a peppercorn rent. A new 10-year farm business tenancy for the farm buildings and part of the land, and also a 6-month grazing licence to occupy part of the land until the land was required for the housing development and the road improvements.

• Sale of Farm
  

  Acting for clients owning a large farm comprising a farmhouse, a separate cottage, and 5 holiday lets, agricultural barn, farmyard and agricultural land with a private communal shared access, and communal private water supply from a borehole and water storage tanks. Complex sale in eleven separate lots, dealing with the necessary provisions on the sales of parts with the future maintenance and repair of the communal access and shared water supply, and payment of financial contributions towards their upkeep by each property owner and ensuring future enforceability of these agreements between the various parties.

• Sale of Farm
  

  Acting in a complex sale of two farms including a farmhouse, outbuildings and land sold in three separate lots with three separate selling sellers. Dealing with release and re-finance with Lender and requirement of the selling pension company.

• Grant of Option Agreement
  

  Acting for the landowner in advising and agreeing a five year option to grant a lease of 30 years for a battery storage facility excluded from the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 secured over part of the farm including liaising with landowner’s agents, advising and obtaining the Bank’s consent to the option and lease.

• Purchase of Commercial Unit
  

  Acting for clients in purchasing a new, bespoke constructed unit to relocate their garage business. Negotiating a contract with the developer with an option to either lease or purchase a newly constructed unit once the developer had obtained planning permission and building regulation approval and structurally completed the construction of the unit. Unit was completed in February 2021 and clients proceeded to purchase the unit.

• Sale of Haulage Business and Associated Property
  

  Sale of a fleet of agricultural haulage lorries with the transfer of lorry drivers, grant of a commercial business lease of part of the haulage yard, with a services agreement for maintenance, repair and MOT.

  This was a complex sale which involved lawyers from Coodes’ Company Commercial, Employment and Agricultural Commercial Property Teams who acted for the Sellers. This included agreeing the acquisition agreement of the assets, negotiating warranties, a disclosure letter and commercial lease.

  There was a very short timescale for the deal to be completed because there was a high demand for animal feed to be delivered to farmers over the winter period and the purchasing company wanted to meet this demand.

  There was a subsequent commercial lease granted by our client of a diesel fuel tank to the same purchaser with detailed warranty provisions concerning the diesel tank.

• Finance Arrangements
  

  Acting for two limited companies in providing a certificate of title to a Lender’s solicitors to fund a building project to build 24 new houses including advising the Lender’s solicitors on the complex planning of the site and arranging four title indemnity policies to cover mines / minerals rights and unknown restrictive covenants and easements.

• Sale of Holiday and Fishery Complex
  

  Sale of a farm with Grade II listed farmhouse with two holiday cottages and fishery comprising three trout lakes and over 50 acres of land.

  It was a difficult sale because retrospective listed planning consent was obtained for one of the holiday lets within the curtilage of the farmhouse.

  Also successfully obtaining possessory title to scrubland areas abutting the river which flowed through the farmland.

• Sale of Development Site
  

  Sales of the remaining three farm buildings with full residential use on a small estate of 13 units (formerly farm buildings) with private facilities: estate road, private water borehole supply and biomass generator supplying heat to these units. Acting for the Seller in the sales including a management company set up with bespoke articles of association to maintain and repair the private facilities and each unit owner entering into a water and power agreement with the Management Company to provide water and heat to the units. Also acting for the Seller in subsequent sales of small strips of land to each unit to amend their boundaries and dealing with Deeds of Variation to substitute new Transfers plans on several properties on the estate due to adjustment of boundaries.

• Purchase of House and Stables
  

  Purchase of house with outbuildings and stables in a rural hamlet which was formerly part of a Manor and had been rebuilt extensively with two major extensions in 2014, a new private borehole water supply, and new septic treatment plant within its curtilage and a new entrance onto the public highway.

  It involved carefully investigating the planning and building regulation history to cover the extensive alterations and the necessary certificates in respect of new septic treatment plant and new borehole supply.

• Sale of Agricultural Land
  

  Sale of a large block of agricultural land, including a small area of land of which there was no title. Acting for the Seller including providing evidence of adverse possession and title indemnity policy to small area of land, imposing covenants to protect the Seller’s neighbouring wind turbine and retained land and dealing with transfer of Basic Payment Entitlements and negotiating a release of the Seller’s mortgage over the land.

• Sale of Development Site
  

  Sale of development site with outline planning consent for four residential open market dwellings. Acting for the Sellers who inherited the site.

  Sale was divided into two transactions which needed to be completed before the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday expired with ransom strip and adjoining house being retained by the Sellers and a mortgage back arrangement for part of the purchase monies outstanding on completion due to the Sellers.

• Sale of share capital of client Limited Company
  

  Our corporate and commercial team acted in the sale of the entire issued share capital in our client’s limited company, which sells truck, bus and van sales including servicing and parts for fleets to a Dorset based firm ETS Trucks. Our client’s business was founded nearly 37 years ago and ran its business from a depot just off the A30.

  As part of the acquisition, we acted for our client in the property elements of sale which included the rectification of a title problem. This involved transferring the industrial depot with adjoining land of which the business operated from into the correct personal names of our clients which was completed and registered prior to the sale. Acting in the negotiation and grant of a 10-year full repairing lease of the depot back to our client’s limited company with personal guarantees from the two new directors to provide an income to our clients in their retirement following the sale of their company. Serving notices on the new tenant and guarantors excluding sections 24-28 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.

  Dealing with simultaneous exchange and completion of the business sale with the surrender of an existing lease on the depot and completion of the new lease.

  This matter was particularly challenging because there was a deadline to complete the sale of the shares in the company and the property transactions before the Autumn Budget on 30th October 2024. The matter was successfully completed on 25th October 2024.

• Surrender and Transfer of Leases
  

  Our Company Commercial Team acted in the sale of the part of the assets of our client’s company, Horizon Home Improvements Limited, being the plastics arm of their business including transfer of employees, stock and vehicles to General All-Purpose Plastics Limited (“GAP”).

  Structure and timing of the transaction was critical which made it unachievable to deal simultaneously with completion of the surrender/ assignments of the leases of two of the business’s depots in Bodmin and Helston and the grant of the new lease of the Launceston depot.

  Acting for our client in agreeing the bespoke contract terms to deal with transfer of the leases and the grant of the new lease including obtaining indemnities from GAP. Acting for our client’s Bank in obtaining a release of the debenture over the company’s assets being sold.

  Dealing with the surrender of our client’s existing lease on the Bodmin depot and the grant of a new lease by the landlord to GAP. Also dealing with an assignment of our clients existing lease on Helston premises including obtaining the licence to assign from the landlord and negotiating with the landlord’s solicitors the removal of the requirement for our clients to enter into an authorised guarantee agreement and to replace this with a rent deposit from GAP. In addition, dealing with the grant of a five year lease to GAP in respect of the Launceston premises. The sale of the assets completed on 2nd July 2024.

  In conjunction with the sale our clients were also transferring the Launceston premises into the name of a property holding company and at the same time remortgaging the property with a lender before being able to grant the lease of the Launceston premises to GAP. This needed to be taken into account in the drafting of the asset purchase agreement.

• Purchase of Development land
  

  Acting on behalf of our clients in respect of the purchase of land at the rear of their residential property which was essential land to access and maintain the rear of their property. Part of the land was potential development land which our clients wanted to protect the value of their property and to control the type and design of development on this land.

  The sale was agreed without agents which complicated conditions of sale in that the seller required:

  1. Our clients to apply for planning permission to develop the part of land within six weeks of their purchase of the land and to pursue a planning appeal if there was more than a 50% chance of success. In addition, the seller was also able to make a planning appeal if required.
  2. An option to purchase back the development land within 12 months of either no planning permission being obtained by a certain date or no planning appeal being made pursuant to the sale agreement and
  3. An overage agreement over the potential development land whereby an overage payment was made to the seller if planning permission was obtained for residential development within the overage period.

  We were involved in negotiating and approving detailed legal documentation to put into place the terms of the structure of the sale and a simultaneous exchange and completion of the contract of the purchase, option agreement and overage deed.

  The option agreement and overage deed also needed to permit the seller to assign the benefit of both these agreements to his heirs and successors as well as both agreements also needed to bind our clients’ successors in title. Our work involved advising our clients of the complex terms of the transaction, timing of both party’s obligations and negotiating with the seller’s solicitors.

  The sale was completed on 22nd November 2023.

  Our clients were not successful in obtaining planning permission and they were not obligated to apply for a planning appeal at their joint cost with the seller because the Counsel’s opinion stated that there was less than a 50% chance of success. The seller unfortunately became ill and died suddenly, and we are awaiting to hear whether the seller’s executors will exercise the option to re-purchase the development land.

• Option Agreement
  

  Acting on behalf of our client in connection with the grant of an option agreement to TI Project Co 1 Ltd for a period of two years with an option to extend for a further three years on payment of additional option payments. A final long stop date was agreed of 30th October 2029 whereby on exercise of the option our client would grant an easement for an initial term of 25 years over a farm track to access a National Grid facility with an option to renew that easement for a further 25 year period.

  There were time pressures involved to exchange the option agreement within a certain period to enable our client to have the benefit of a bonus, option payment of £5,000.00 on top of the option payment of £15,000.00 of which would inject cash into our client’s farming business.

  We were involved in agreeing the initial heads of terms (HOTs) with the developer, their agent and our client’s agent and then ensuring that the legal documentation, the option agreement and deed of easement reflected the HOTs, obtaining a release of the land concerned from our client’s bank and registering this at the Land Registry prior to exchange of the Option.

• Finance of a Farm
  

  Acting on behalf of our client in connection with the mortgage with Barclays Bank Plc to raise finance to enable our client’s son to purchase a house which adjoins the family farm.

  The matter was time sensitive because our client’s son had already contracted to purchase the property at auction and we had a deadline to complete and pay the balance of the purchase monies within 28 days’ time.

  We were able to achieve completion of the remortgage in time to complete our client’s son purchase on the due completion date which involved carrying out all the searches required by the bank, advising our client on the legal charge and dealing with a restriction on the title of the farm whereby we needed to obtain a deed of covenant from Barclays Bank Plc in respect of a Westcountry Rivers Trust grant and advised the Bank on the nature and effect of this and to obtain the formal consent of South West Water Plc and Westcountry Rivers Trust to enable the mortgage to be registered at the Land Registry to satisfy the restriction.