Iain Davis
Partner
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"For land development promotion agreements, Iain Davis is excellent. He is well experienced and has very good knowledge, acting in a professional capacity."
(The Legal 500, 2024)
Iain specialises in agricultural and rural work, acting for farmers, landowners and landed estates.
He is the head of the Real Estate department in Oxford as well as heading up the Agricultural team generally. The agricultural property team has 4 partners and 7 other specialist lawyers. The team is ranked in the top tier of both the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners directories.
Iain’s work ranges from the acquisition, development and disposal of landed estates, farms and bare agricultural land, to advice on Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies and farm business tenancies. He specialises in the drafting and negotiation of strategic land option and promotion agreements, as well as collaboration agreements between landowners.
Iain qualified in 1997 and was made a partner in 2001. He is a member of the Agricultural Law Association and Country Landowners Association.
Iain is ranked as a leading individual in Chambers & Partners (2024 edition). He is recognised as a Recommended Lawyer and Leading Individual in The Legal 500 (2024 edition) for Agriculture and Estates.
Legal Services
Real Estate
Iain acts for landowners and landed estates on development agreements such as Promotion Agreements, Option Agreements, Hybrid Agreements, as well as Collaboration and Consortium Agreements. He is regularly invited to give lectures and seminars on the topic (to the RICS amongst others).
Recent Work
- Promotion Agreement covering over 450 acres, together with a complex Collaboration Agreement between neighbouring landowners.
- Promotion Agreement covering 160 acres in Oxfordshire for a farmer client, involving difficult title and tenancy issues.
- Promotion Agreement over 313 acres of farm land in Sussex.
- A hybrid Option/Promotion Agreement over 45 acres for an Oxford College incorporating provisions allowing part of the site to be sold on the open market and part to be acquired by the developer.
Sectors
Farms & Estates
Iain is a leading agricultural property practitioner, acting for some of the largest landed estates in the area. His work covers the acquisition and disposal of farms and landed estates as well as Agricultural Holdings Act and farm business tenancy advice. His team covers the whole gamut of property advice for the agricultural sector.
Cases
- Acquisition of a complex and diverse 480 acre unregistered landed estate in Wales with 10.5 miles of fishing, 5 properties and over 3,200 acres of sporting rights. This was acquired for £4.9 million, with complex tenancy, vat and employment elements. Contracts were exchanged within one month of instructions being received.
- Sale of land in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park for development of a Centre Parcs style holiday village.
- The acquisition of the Kiddington Estate for a sum in excess of £23 million. Including 1,500 acres of agricultural land, some 35 estate houses and cottages (including the majority of the village of Kiddington), commercial business premises totalling over 6,000 square feet, as well as an in hand farming enterprise, tenanted farm and woodland.
- Option Agreement for over 195 acres of farmland to a national house builder, including the usual minimum price, planning obligations, equalisation provisions and strong participation provisions for the landowner.
To contact Iain or for more information…
Call: 0186 578 1144
Mobile: 0796 661 7913
Or email: Send an email
- Agricultural Law Association
- Country Landowners Association
“I can’t begin to thank you for your tenacity with this whole process! You have been just amazing and a joy to deal with.”
(Client)
“He is a very strong all-round lawyer with good humour and the ability to adapt to a range of different clients.”
(Chambers & Partners, 2024)
“Iain Davis has excellent knowledge and acts in a professional capacity throughout.”
(Chambers & Partners, 2024)
“‘Iain Davis is exceptional in many ways, he has superb expert knowledge in his field and is extremely efficient.”
(The Legal 500, 2024)
‘Iain Davis – Exceptional expertise for the drafting and negotiation of complex strategic promotion and collaboration agreements. Operates in a very calm fashion, enabling him to placate excitable opposition. I do not hesitate in recommending him to act on behalf of landowners.’
(The Legal 500, 2023)
“He’s very, very good at development and landed estate work.”
(Chambers & Partners, 2023)
“Iain is able to assimilate complex matters very quickly, is clear and effective in communication, and is able to handle complex and contentious negotiations.”
(Chambers & Partners, 2023)
“He has huge technical expertise which shone through throughout the process, and in addition he is incredibly easy to work with – he has a very calm and collected manner.”
(Chambers & Partners, 2022)
“Iain Davis has worked with our family for many years on matters of farming and property. Over the years he has provided advice on many occasions and has been instrumental in the estate’s structure. The estate has recently been sold and Iain handled all matters throughout the process. He was completely unflappable throughout and every enquiry and problem that came along was handled with great efficiency and sensitivity to our family. He would always ensure that we understood everything fully along the way and he really was an incredibly large part of a successful sale. His advice has been invaluable – his is an opinion that you really want to listen to.”
(The Legal 500, 2022)
“Iain Davis is assisted most brilliantly by Laura Czapski I can happily make mention of their fantastic individual contributions to my transaction. Their professional expertise combined with good manners and common sense is an unbeatable recipe for success!”
(The Legal 500, 2020)
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