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Estates and Land

Expert advice from our team of experienced lawyers.

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Our Estates and Land group provides comprehensive support to clients in the sector.

We advise a broad range of estate and landowners, from longstanding estate owners to new buyers of farms and estates, to institutional and international investors in rural property, farmers and entrepreneurs in the sector.

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025

Residential property letting is a key activity for many estates, and estate owners need practical advice tailored to their own unique positions and objectives. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 brings major changes to the residential sector.  We have fully updated our guide, The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 – what you need to know, which can be viewed here.

Read now

Services

Property

Advising on land sales, purchases, mortgages and tenancies.

Strategic land advice

Advising landowners in development scenarios including options, promotion agreements, hybrid agreements and value equalisation arrangements.

Dispute resolution

Resolving tenancy and land occupation issues, partnership and trust disputes, and contractual disputes.

Tax, estates, and wealth structuring

Succession planning for landowning families/trustees; transactional tax advice including CGT/SDLT/IHT; wills and probate.

Heritage property advice

Heritage reliefs; claims for conditional exemption; acceptance in lieu; and creation and management of heritage maintenance funds.

Sporting businesses

Supporting field sport businesses including large shoots, sporting clubs; and advising on VAT exemption.

Family law advice

Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements; occupation agreements; relationship breakdown; wealth structuring and protection; and family law matters.

Environmental and regulatory compliance

Guidance on environmental issues; contamination and regulatory compliance for land management.

Planning and compulsory purchase advice

Obtaining and contesting planning consents, development opportunities and compulsory requisition.

Renewable energy projects

Advising on the development and financing of projects including wind, solar, biomass, biofuels and AD.

Business and corporate advice

Consultation on business structures, governance, and corporate partnerships.

Finance, restructuring and insolvency

Navigating financial security and advising distressed businesses.

Employment

Managing employment issues, from restructuring and redundancies to service occupation agreements and contracts.

Examples of our work

Estate purchase and management structuring

Structuring the purchase of a country estate (including farming, equestrian and shoot) via an offshore trust, enabling trading through a UK company for tax purposes.

Achieving “Balfour” balance for an estate

Advising on achieving a “Balfour” balance in trading and investment activities to maximise inheritance tax relief.

Partition of a dairy business

Providing tax, partnership, and succession advice on partitioning a large dairy business with assets in the UK and New Zealand.

Land pooling for development potential

Advising farmers on land pooling to maximise development potential, while preserving capital gains tax rollover and entrepreneurs’ relief.

Surrenders of agricultural tenancy

Advising on a series of tenancy surrenders to permit gravel extraction while continuing agricultural and equestrian business activities.

Sale of Farmcare by Co-operative Group

Managing the £247 million sale of Farmcare and over 17,000 acres of land, including wind farms and overage provisions.

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What others say

“The team at Burges Salmon is excellent at understanding complex situations and delivering good, practical advice.”

Chambers & Partners 2025

“They are all experts in their field – they understand agriculture and landed estates.”

Legal 500 2025

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Our team

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Insights

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