Real Estate Law
Real estate law is a vast and multifaceted area of law involving many interests and aspects. Our Real Estate Team covers the full spectrum of real estate matters and assists developers, contractors, investors, local authorities, housing corporations, property managers, tenants, and financiers, in areas such as:
- project and area development
- redevelopment, transformation and sustainability of existing real estate
- real estate transactions (buying and selling)
- contracts (including partnership forms) and general terms and conditions
- ground leases and other rights in rem (including building rights and easements)
- apartment rights
- land exploitation, cost recovery and municipal cost recovery
- construction law and construction arbitration cases
- letting and renting commercial and residential property
Our Real Estate Team specialises in all aspects of commercial real estate and can assist you from start to finish, from the very first through to the very last step in your projects, which may involve buying or selling, letting or renting, as well as developing or redeveloping real estate. Our Real Estate Team has vast experience in drafting the necessary real estate contracts and we can also assist our clients in disputes. Together with our clients, we can determine the best approach, based on our legal expertise and in-depth knowledge of the real estate market, and help our clients move forward.
We proactively focus on our client’s perspective, provide pragmatic solutions and are alert to pitfalls and blind spots. Our involvement often goes unnoticed in the background but, when necessary in construction disputes, we step into the foreground, including before a civil court or the Dutch Council of Arbitration.
Recent cases
- Assisted a municipality in legal proceedings before a civil court in a case against an operator of a CHP plant to which some 140 homes are connected. The proceedings covered the operation of the plant and the supply of heat and cooling to the households connected.
- Advised and assisted a real estate investor in respect of the sale of a leased 7000 sqm shopping centre, including an underground car park, to a foreign pension fund.
- Assisted and advised a municipality in the context of a dispute with a major property developer regarding the fulfilment of a building claim entitling the developer to the development and completion of some 180 homes. The dispute particularly concerned the interpretation of the purchase and settlement agreement(s) entered into between the parties.
- Advised and assisted a property developer in respect of establishing an anterior agreement with a municipality for the development and completion of a residential development plan consisting of 100 homes, with associated parking facilities and the construction of the public area.
- Advised and assisted a property developer in respect of the sale of several business plots intended for the development and completion of large-scale logistics facilities.
- Advised and assisted a real estate investor in respect of the purchase of a plot of land containing a large-scale commercial building with approximately 200 parking spaces. Our team assisted the buyer in drafting the purchase agreement and carried out due diligence.
- Advised and assisted a housing corporation in respect of the development and completion of some 90 flexible homes (consisting of temporary rental homes).
- Assisted and advised a landowner in respect of the sale of a plot of land for the purpose of constructing a solar park.
- Assisted and advised a housing corporation in respect of drafting various agreements regarding the development and completion of 257 residential units, 2 commercial units and an indoor car park.
- Advised a municipality on the admissibility (Didam judgment) of land sales to a pension fund for the purpose of completing housing and retail space.
Attorney at law
What we can do for you
Our Real Estate Team can assist property developers, local authorities, investors, and housing corporations, in the development or redevelopment of real estate. As such, we are frequently involved in drafting and reviewing letters of intent, partnership agreements, and development and operating agreements for our clients. Our team has the necessary knowledge and experience in the areas of contract law, construction law, spatial planning, cost recovery, and regulations in respect of losses due to government planning decisions, so that we are able to help our clients effectively move forward.
Our Real Estate Team assists real estate entrepreneurs in buying and selling properties, from drafting or reviewing purchase agreements, formulating conditions (including the necessary resolutive and suspensive conditions) and clauses (including preferential rights and purchase options), carrying out due diligence to resolving disputes on pre-contractual liability, non-conformity, soil contamination, dissolution and damages, and more.
Our Real Estate Team has extensive experience in the field of limited rights in rem, including ground leases, building rights and easements or the establishment thereof. We advise our clients on the possibilities offered by limited rights in rem, on the admissibility of conditions relating to the limited rights in rem and also advise on the creation or establishment of the relevant rights.
Tenancy law is a dynamic area of law characterised by the application of mandatory rules on the one hand, and freedom of contract on the other. It is a separate discipline within real estate law, which is why we have a specialist Tenancy Law Team. They know the rules of the game like no other and can provide you with sound, specialist advice on letting options, drafting and reviewing tenancy agreements, rights and obligations in the event of rent changes and area development, and expropriation.
Construction is a multifaceted industry that is subject to complex legal regulations. Our Construction Law Team is here for you at every stage of a construction project, advising on contracts and negotiations, as well as in conflict situations.
You will come across apartment rights when a building is split up into apartments. The way the building is divided into apartment rights must be described in a division deed, in which the rights and responsibilities of individual apartment owners must be described. You will also come across an Owners’ Association.
We can assist you in correctly specifying the apartment rights and guide you through the rights, responsibilities and options of an Owners’ Association