Gowling WLG

Public Sector; Real Estate; Public Procurement; Development & Regeneration; Private Rented Sector; Residential Development; Social Housing

Partner, Head of Regeneration

"an excellent service - we valued his straightforward advice, commercial acuity, sector knowledge, and a flexible response to challenging situations"

Gareth Crawford, Home Group, 2013/14

Richard Beckingsale enables his public and private sector clients to successfully deliver major residential and mixed use regeneration projects. Richard assists public sector clients to formulate an efficient and effective procurement strategy and to appraise the various options and contractual/corporate structures for project delivery. As the public sector is charged with delivering more from its assets, this includes assessing the options for delivery by the public sector 'in its own right' through to partnerships with developers and/or registered providers as well as the potential for corporate joint ventures and wholly owned local authority companies.

In addition to real estate and development expertise, Richard and his team understand the risks to local authorities in terms of vires, state aid and procurement – his advice is robust and, based on substantial experience elsewhere, Richard is able to help clients find solutions to these challenges.

Richard is head of the firm's regeneration team and is vital to its success, and to the provision of a commercially based service to clients of both the public and private sectors. This allows the team to provide up-to-date market based advice to public sector clients such that they can understand the risk appetite of different elements of the private sector and can best exploit the opportunities for partnership.

Richard also takes on the 'poacher turned gamekeeper role' by assisting private sector clients and registered providers in bidding for these joint venture opportunities.

In the residential investment market (or private rental sector (PRS)), Richard is able to pull together an experienced team (covering all aspects of real estate, development and construction, tax and finance), that can assist clients in successfully delivering projects. Our track record assists clients in saving time and money as we are aware of the needs of institutional funders and we understand the challenges of such projects for developers and property managers.

As a growing real estate asset class, Richard has viewed PRS as an important area in which to invest our resources in terms of the development of documentation, our know-how and related intellectual property. Most recently, Richard was a member of the Urban Land Institute's independent review panel and contributor to the 'Build to Rent' Best Practice Guide. His expertise and track record allows our clients to benefit from legal advice which is at the forefront of market thinking, benefiting and learning from practices in the US and Western Europe.

Clients Local Authority

London Boroughs of Barnet, Ealing, Southwark, Hounslow and Croydon, Coventry City Council, Birmingham City Council, Telford & Wrekin Borough Council, Chelmsford Borough Council

Public sector (other)

Defence Infrastructure Organisation; Environment Agency; Central Government; Stafford Police and Crime Commissioner

Private Sector developers

be:here Limited (part of the Willmott Dixon Group), Queensberry, Wates, Grainger plc, St Modwen, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Endurances Estates Limited

Registered providers

Home Group Limited, Sanctuary Housing Association, Orbit Housing, Metropolitan Housing Trust, Catalyst Housing Association

Experience

Richard has advised:

The London Borough of Barnet on the regeneration of Brent Cross which provides an opportunity for the Council to transform 373 acres of brownfield land in and around Brent Cross. It will create a vibrant new London destination by improving existing transport connec...

English