Rafe Courage

Rafe’s work includes conditional development/sale agreements involving complex planning, site assembly, vacant possession, infrastructure and work obligations. Rafe is experienced in negotiating sales, planning and/or revenue overage agreements, commercial lettings, complex infrastructure/energy (CHP) arrangements, Joint Venture documents and share purchase agreements for corporate real estate acquisitions. He also leads on real estate development procurement and partnership schemes.

Rafe is admitted to practise in England and Wales.

• Acting on large scale public/private sector development schemes such as acting for a housebuilder on its procurement bid to be a 50/50 JV partner with a local authority to redevelop a 32-acre estate in London as part of a £1.4bn scheme for 2,200 new homes alongside a new community centre, library and reconfigured open space.
• Acting on large scale private development schemes such as the development of a 300 acre site for 3,500 homes in Norfolk. The contract included unique bespoke legacy return consideration and upfront infrastructure works, security and reimbursement mechanisms.
• Acting on various Homes England led developments such as the scheme at Northstowe, which utilises the DPP3 structure.
• Acting for many of the top 20 housebuilders in acquiring major sites across London and the south for development with GDVs in excess of £100m. Many of the acquisitions being conditional development agreements or agreements for lease/sale involving pre or post planning obligations, site assembly and investigations, satisfying planning pre-construction requirements and other site specific conditions such as infrastructure logistics. These acquisitions often involve complex staged payments over the build programme, promissory notes, sales, planning and/or revenue overages, PCG’s, bonds and legal charges.
• Acting on high value corporate property acquisitions including oversea companies such as a circa £100m conditional acquisition of a Cayman Island SPV land holding company.