Trowers & Hamlins advises Breckland DC on innovative property JV

Trowers & Hamlins has acted as lead adviser to Breckland District Council on a new form of property joint venture that could see the development of more than 140 sites across the local authority area.

The joint venture – Breckland Bridge Limited – has been entered into with Land Group and is initially expected to revitalise Thetford town centre, bringing a new cinema, hotel, restaurant and retail units and improved public realm on the Riverside site.

It will also involve the development of new residential sites in Attleborough and Mileham. The JV could be used to develop a further 142 sites once these are delivered.

Trowers & Hamlins advised Breckland on all the stages prior to and during the procurement of the private sector investment partner the Land Group LLP.

The law firm advised on all aspects of local government and public procurement law, as well as corporate structures, funding documents and drafting and negotiating documentation with bidders and their lawyers.

Helen Randall, Public Sector Commercial partner at Trowers who led on the deal, said: "This project is particularly innovative because the joint venture has been uniquely structured as an evolved and more sophisticated variant from the standard local authority asset backed vehicle (LABV) to give the council more flexibility, greater certainty of delivery and the ability to apply a funding model which provides better value for money than traditional LABVs.

“This structure is particularly suitable for areas with lower property values and is more scalable to smaller and rural districts than a traditional LABV model."

The Trowers & Hamlins team advising Breckland Council also included partner Lucy Doran, partner Ian Dobinson, partner Paul McDermott and senior associate Patrick Morris.