Shoosmiths

Real Estate, Partner

Barry is Head of Glasgow office and a partner specialising in Real Estate.

Barry is an experienced real estate lawyer who drives deals acting as project manager for multi-disciplinary teams of lawyers and other professionals delivering layered legal advice on transactions, acting as conduit for the client relationship regardless of the nature of the underlying core deal (ie corporate, funds, financing, tax etc).

He has a broad spectrum of expertise in all areas of real estate work across the UK with particular focus on the commercial development and investment markets, residential development and housebuilding (including market leading work in the PRS and BTR sectors) and also renewable energy. He has acted for developers, landowners (both in the private and public sector), funders and investors with a key emphasis on complex development arrangements, including conditional contracts, option arrangements, joint ventures, leasing, property finance arrangements and lending, as well as tax efficient property structures and vehicles.

In the PRS/BTR sectors he was the client partner working on the structuring and delivery of three core PRS funds including the launch of a PRS REIT which have delivered several thousand PRS units across the UK and each of which continue to roll out.

His exposure to the energy sectors is across many of the core technology areas including onshore wind (both single turbine and large scale 100MW plus projects), solar PV, hydro, Energy from Waste and AD as well as biomass and biogas projects. Whilst out of the law for a period as a board director of a house builder, Barry was also responsible for that business' diversification into renewables and green energy projects including specifically AD and district heating systems relating to their housing projects. He has advised both project developers and landowners on the property aspects of projects as well as financing and exit from completed projects.

He also has a particular specialism in Islamic financing and Sharia'h compliant structuring of real estate transactions across the UK acting for major Middle East based real estate developers, investors, UHNW individuals and family offices investing in UK property.

Barry is head of Shoosmiths’ Glasgow office and responsible for the firm’s contribution to, and profile within, the city’s business community.