John Downing

John advises on residential property transactions, including high-value sales, acquisitions, and funding. He also specialises in option agreements, easements, restrictive covenants, and landlord and tenant matters, often handling multi-party arrangements and complex funding.

• Acted in the purchase of a residential development site and dealing with separate solicitors acting for both primary and secondary lenders with regard to its related funding.
• Acted in the de-enveloping of high-value leasehold property held in a Panamanian corporate vehicle.
• Acted in the purchase of a substantial property incorporating an equestrian centre.
• Acted in the search for and eventual location of lost title deeds to a substantial freehold property in West Sussex and its application for first registration at the Land Registry.
• Acted in the refinancing of two separate substantial estates incorporating a farmhouse with multiple acreage.
• Acted in the sale of five freehold properties incorporating a development site including the incorporation of a management company to own and maintain the communal access ways which was transferred to the owners following the sale of the last property.
• Acted in the sale and purchase of multiple high-value properties in both central London and in the country.

John acts for high-net-worth individuals and family offices on high-end residential property, leasehold and freehold interests, de-enveloping properties held in corporate vehicles, complex trust structures, and Stamp Duty Land Tax matters.

• Acted in the purchase of a £m leasehold property in central London for an overseas client by way of a UK company as nominee for the offshore trust company trustee of a complex trust structure and its related funding with separate lender’s solicitors.
• Acted in the purchase of high-end investment properties in central London for an entertainment industry client.
• Acted in the purchase of a £20m central London leasehold property for an established client.
• Acted in several other high-value sale and purchases of both leasehold and freehold properties both in central London and in the country and often using tax structures.

John advises on sales and purchases of country houses, estates, and farmland, often with listed buildings or multi-title holdings, and provides expertise on funding, easements, restrictive covenants, and SDLT.

• Acted in the purchase of a large country estate in Somerset with a Grade I Listed Building comprised within four separate titles and its related funding.
• Acted in the sale of a substantial estate in Wiltshire comprising several titles and incorporating mixed-use land.
• Acted in the purchase of a large country estate in Gloucestershire with a Grade II Listed Building with numerous other separate dwellings.
• Acted in the purchase of a working farm in Devon.
• Acted in the sale of a substantial estate in Wiltshire.

Top Recommended Lawyer in The Spear’s 500 Property Law Index 2020–2021, 2023