Richard Honey KC KC > Francis Taylor Building > London, England > Barrister Profile
Francis Taylor Building Offices
FRANCIS TAYLOR BUILDING, INNER TEMPLE
LONDON
EC4Y 7BY
England
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Richard Honey KC KC
Work Department
- Administrative and public law
- Environmental
- Compulsory purchase and land valuation
- Planning
- Local government
- Agriculture and Rural Affairs
- Arbitration
Position
Richard Honey KC practises as a barrister in the broad fields of public law and environmental law, with particular specialisms in judicial review and similar statutory challenges, infrastructure projects, compulsory purchase and compensation, and climate change and ESG litigation. He is called to the Bars of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. Richard appears most frequently in the Administrative / Planning Court and in the Upper Tribunal Lands Chamber. He is also an experienced appellate advocate, having appeared in the Court of Appeal 21 times, including 16 appearances as lead/sole counsel, and in the Supreme Court four times. Until he took Silk, he was a member of the Attorney General’s A Panel of junior counsel to the Crown, having spent some 12 years on the AG’s panels in total.
Richard is ranked as a leading barrister in four separate fields in the Chambers UK Bar Guide: environment; local government; planning; and, agriculture and rural affairs. He is also ranked as a leading barrister by Legal 500 in four fields: administrative law and human rights; environment; local government; and, planning.
Richard was the environment/planning junior barrister of the year at the Chambers UK Bar Awards in 2018 (nominated in 2016 also) and was nominated for planning and land use Silk of 2023 in the Legal 500 Bar awards. He has been ranked as a leading barrister in environmental law by both Chambers and Legal 500 since 2010.
In planning law, Richard has been ranked as a leading barrister by both Chambers (since 2012) and Legal 500 (since 2008). Prior to taking Silk, he was regularly ranked in the top 10 highest rated planning junior barristers in the Planning magazine survey and was ranked top of Band 1 in Chambers 2020 and the 2021 Legal 500. As a Silk, Richard is now ranked in the top 30 highest rated planning Silks by Planning magazine. He was also ranked by Planning magazine in 2023 as a leading barrister for infrastructure planning.
Career
- Called to the Bar of England and Wales (2003; Silk 2021)
- Called to the Bar of Northern Ireland (2013)
- Barrister Governing Bencher of the Inner Temple (2021)
- Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (2001)
- Member of the Government Legal Service for Northern Ireland Senior Counsel Panel (2023)
- Former member of the Attorney General’s Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown (A Panel 2016-2021; B Panel 2014-2016; C Panel 2008-2013)
- Vice Chair of the Administrative Law Bar Association
- Former Chairman of the Compulsory Purchase Association (2012-2013)
- Member of the Bar Council
- Member of the Committee of the Planning and Environment Bar Association
- Member of the Planning Court Users’ Group
- Member of the Upper Tribunal Lands Chamber Users’ Group
- Inner Temple advocacy trainer (teacher trainer level)
- Member of the International Committee of the Inns of Court College of Advocacy
- Chairman of the steering group of the UK Sierra Leone Pro Bono Network
Memberships
Although he is clerked exclusively through FTB, Richard holds an associate tenancy at KBW Chambers in Leeds, to assist his work for clients in the north and north-east of England. Richard is a member of the Northern Ireland Bar Library in Belfast.
Richard is a member of the Administrative Law Bar Association, the Planning and Environment Bar Association, the Parliamentary Bar Mess, the Northern Ireland Public Law Bar Association, the Northern Ireland Planning Bar Association, the Environmental and Planning Law Association of Northern Ireland, the Compulsory Purchase Association and the National Infrastructure Planning Association.
Richard is the General Editor of the Compulsory Purchase & Compensation Service (Bloomsbury Professional online) and The Law of Compulsory Purchase (Bloomsbury Professional, 4th edition 2022). He is co-editor of Gadsden & Cousins on Commons and Greens (Sweet & Maxwell, 2nd edition 2012 and 3rd edition 2020). He is also a contributor to the National Infrastructure Planning Handbook (Bloomsbury Professional, 1st to 4th editions 2015-2022), Burnett-Hall on Environmental Law (Sweet & Maxwell, 3rd edition 2012) and The Law of Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions (OUP, 1st edition 2011).
Richard was the planning decisions editor of the Journal of Planning & Environmental Law from 2009 to 2016 and an editor of the Planning Appeal Decisions from 2004 to 2012, both published by Sweet & Maxwell.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Valuation and Rating
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Richard Honey KC – Francis Taylor Building ‘Thorough in depth knowledge of CPO compensation law; he had a good grasp of the client’s commercial position.’
Francis Taylor Building consists of ‘not just top KCs, but excellent juniors too’, with members active for ratepayers, local authorities, and government departments. Richard Glover KC is a prominent thought leader in the area with experience in a broad range of complex and high-value matters, including acting for the Secretary of State for Transport in Cemex Operations Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport, a valuation case assessing a compensation claim for £100m, relating to a site acquisition for the HS2 project. Richard Honey KC represented HS2 in Accor v HS2, defending a claim relating to the valuation of the Ibis hotel at Euston, in which £20m is in dispute. Cain Ormondroyd is active on behalf of both public and private sector clients, with experience appearing unled.
London Bar > Agriculture
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Francis Taylor Building fields barristers well-versed in inquiries, court appearances and advisory work on village greens, rights of way, highways and rural planning matters. In one of the most publicly significant cases of the year, Richard Honey KC and Ned Westaway appeared for the successful interveners in Darwall v Dartmoor National Park Authority, the Court of Appeal case concerning the existence of the public right to wild camp on Dartmoor. Emyr Jones is experienced in boundaries disputes and agricultural planning matters, including those concerning solar farms and Best and Most Versatile agricultural land. Annabel Graham Paul is well-practised in all aspects of town and village green work, often acting for either side in inquiries and applications to have land registered as such.
London Bar > Administrative law and human rights
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 4London Bar > Planning
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Richard Honey KC – Francis Taylor Building ‘He has an outstanding ability to quickly understand very complex historical and technical issues, take the lead in guiding the team in preparation for the public inquiry and the different angles different witnesses could cover. His grasp of every detail and every drawing is outstanding as is his commanding cross examination of the other side’s witnesses.’
Described as a ‘chambers of choice’ for planning, Francis Taylor Building prides itself on providing ‘expertise in a myriad of planning matters’. Their team of ‘exceptionally knowledgeable’ silks and juniors providing services that encompass planning applications, development proposals and complex environmental work. Morag Ellis KC led Charles Merrett, in R (BDW Trading and others) v Wrexham Council representing a multitude of clients in a key case considering whether local authorities have a discretion not to adopt a development plan after it is found acceptable at examination. Richard Honey KC has led various counsel from multiple sets in a multitude of cases this year, with a notable highlight being R (Parkes) v Dorset Council, Home Secretary & Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities concerning the geographical extent of Dorset Council’s development control powers in the interface between the land and the sea. Hereward Phillpot KC led Hugh Flanagan in representing East Anglia One North Ltd and East Anglia Two Ltd on in judicial reviews of development consent orders for windfarms off the Suffolk coast.