Nick Dell is a Partner and Head of the Property Departments with Pardoes solicitors in Bridgwater, Somerset. A highly experienced commercial property lawyer, Nick has an excellent understanding of commercial, mixed use and residential land development projects gained in private practice and in-house roles. He has also worked with local government and public sector bodies in connection with urban regeneration and renewal projects. In-house experience with Redrow Homes at directorship level provided a clear understanding of the commercial drivers affecting construction projects and property development schemes. Expertise has also been gained in strategic land option and collaboration agreements between landowners, planning authorities and developers and in concluding planning and infrastructure agreements. He also has wide experience of dealing with the sale of social housing units to affordable housing providers. Although he trained and qualified as a solicitor in London, Nick was brought up in the West Country and has lived in Somerset for over 15 years.
What do you enjoy most about your current job?
Taking a complicated and sometimes confused legal situation and managing to bring some reasonable order to the chaos - hopefully without achieving the opposite result.
What or who inspired you to specialise in commercial property law?
I have always enjoyed the world of property and am fascinated how property, being an immoveable asset, can be controlled and transferred by us mere mortals. Commercial property, with its leases, licences, options and all the other legal rights, covenants and obligations, was an additional layer of interest for me.
Who has been the greatest influence on your life and why?
Firstly, of course, my parents who have always supported me in life without making judgements, despite on a few occasions my making some fairly unwise (but not too disastrous) decisions. Secondly, my land tutor, Roger Sexton, who while I was an undergraduate at Nottingham Trent University made sure I received a good grounding in land law.
What is the best career advice you have ever been given?
Have a plan, work hard and focus on the immediate goal ahead of you. Don’t get distracted by the other irrelevant stuff.
What is the best career decision you have ever made?
Deciding to leave a well-paid and comfortable job and work for a national house-builder, Redrow Homes, for seven years. The house-building industry provided me with a fantastic learning experience and although it was slightly scary at times, it taught me about the commercial world and the need for legal work to be delivered on time.
If you hadn't become a lawyer, what else would you have liked to become?
Definitely a geologist as I am interested in land formations and how they have changed through the ages. I drive through the Cheddar Gorge on my way to work each day and am still amazed at how the gorge was formed millions of years ago.
What effect do you think the Government's proposed postponement of the revaluation of business rates from 2015 to 2017 will have on the commercial property market?
The announcement by the Government delays the hope of rateable values being realigned with lower rents, rather than current rateable values, based on rents in 2008, when the market was at an all time high. Commercial property will as a consequence continue to be in the ‘doldrums’ and market recovery will no doubt be slower than would have been the case if the revaluation had gone ahead in 2015.
What advice would you give to someone contemplating investing in commercial property in the current market?
Go ahead, but focus on good quality commercial premises in prime sites. Forget the rest.
What, currently, is the biggest threat to affordable housing? Lack of Government funding and land supply to address the housing shortage. We must build more homes now and release publicly-owned land to assist with the provision of new homes for the benefit of both the public and private sectors.
What is your view on the government's £4billion investment in housing - will it make a noticeable difference to affordable housing?
The investment commitment in housing by the Government is good news and demonstrates that it is listening to all those involved in the housing industry. It just needs to ensure it delivers on this funding commitment.
What are the main challenges that commercial property solicitors currently have to face?
Recovery from the economic downturn affected everyone involved with commercial property and that included property lawyers. The principal challenge for lawyers is to continue to provide an excellent legal service to clients despite the fact that many clients have cash-flow issues and sometimes are not taking any legal advice with potentially disastrous consequences.
What do you feel is the best way forward for commercial property and development in the UK?
Improving the planning system to allow development to take place without the current delays would be a huge positive step for commercial property sector. Hopefully, the slowly improving economic conditions and uncertainty in Europe will help confidence in all markets being regained over the next five years. Access to funding by developers will help the situation.
How different is the commercial property market now to when you started and what changes do you regret/welcome?
Having started my career in the late eighties and early nineties, I have witnessed a property downturn before but not quite with the severity experienced at the end of the noughties. I regret the rather crazy times before the end of the end of the housing boom where credit was out of control and just about anyone could borrow huge sums of money without any problem. The champagnes fountains at property launches were fun though! Although the downturn has meant hard times for all, I do welcome the realisation that houses are homes and not just investment vehicles for property speculators. We just need a lot more affordable homes to be built so everyone has somewhere that they can actually call their home.
Have you had any life changing opportunities that you wish you had grasped?
On qualification, I was close to being offered a job as a shipping lawyer working in Athens and Istanbul. I was tempted by the opportunity and the chance to work abroad, albeit being paid in drachmas as we are talking well before the advent of the Euro. I decided not to pursue this road and left London and moved to Bristol (another port!) instead. I have lived and worked in and around Bristol and Somerset ever since but am completely sure I made the right decision.
Is there such a thing as a typical day at work for you? If so, can you describe it?
The typical day starts quite early as I try to be in the Bridgwater office as near to 8am as possible, sometimes I stop for a bacon roll and a coffee on the way to the office. I then undertake the usual tasks such as checking emails and so on. Diary commitments and scheduled tasks are then reviewed. From 9am I try to keep to schedule dealing with phone calls, helping out my colleagues and dealing with the general demands of a busy office. I sometimes have a lunch-break but they have sadly become less common unless I rebel and arrange to go out for lunch with a colleague against all the odds. The afternoon is spent on a variety of tasks but if I am not travelling between our offices I usually make sure I call my property colleagues to check all is well in Taunton, Yeovil and now Dorchester. By 6pm, I am usually trying to plan an exit from the office by 7pm if possible. Being best friends with the cleaning staff is nice but I do have a home to go to!
What do you do to unwind after a hard week at work?
Just not being in the office and at home is usually enough to unwind. A glass of wine also does not go amiss as I tend to be teetotal during the week!
What do you like most about living and working in the West Country?
The West Country has so much to offer and living close to the Mendip Hills there is lovely countryside to enjoy. The rush hour usually only lasts for one hour. Working in such a large and diverse region as the South West and especially Somerset it has given me an opportunity to meet and work with all types of businesses and local communities. There is the added benefit of being within easy reach of the West Country’s beaches in the summer.
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