Richard is a Partner in the Landed Estate team.
Working with rural businesses and landowners on property matters concerning partnership agreements, inheritance tax and succession planning, as well as helping farmers with the rules and regulations concerning entitlements and issues with the Rural Payments Agency, Natural England and the Environment Agency.
Brought up on his family’s farm and being qualified in both agriculture and law, Richard has close links with rural landowners and professionals throughout England. His clients range from start-ups and small farmers to equestrian estates and commercial farms owned by national brands or international investors. Richard is also acts as a trustee for several estates.
He likes to go and see his clients and the property with which he is instructed. Most of his transactional work involves the sale or purchase of farms, woodlands, country houses or development land but he also deals with tenancy agreements, grazing licenses, registration of boundaries, easements, rights of access and other third-party rights and health and safety regulations for public events and countryside sports.
Recent examples of how Richard has supported include:
- expeditious purchase of a mixed farm in the Midlands and subsequent letting of it with contracting agreements to a farming company;
- surrenders and regrants of AHA and ATA tenancies for potential development land with associated rights to uplifts and overages;
- selling a farm in Herefordshire on behalf of lawyers acting for a Russian Bank when the exiled owner was declared bankrupt;
- acquiring specialised property and equestrian business interests on behalf of a leading race horse trainers;
- establishing new and bespoke arrangements for ‘horsiculture’ businesses including DIY liveries, cross country courses and joint venture schemes for polo and eventing yards;
- optimising the payments received under the DEFRA Basic Farm Payments Scheme for new and young farmers in Dorset; and
- tax-efficient succession planning for a farmer who wished to safeguard the farm as it passes to the next generation.