Sara Hampson

Sara is a Partner in the National Commercial Property and Land Development groups, based out of the Guildford office.  Sara has extensive experience particularly in residential and mixed use land development. 

Sara specialises in advising developers, investors and landowners in the acquisition and sale of development land, strategic site assembly, joint ventures, options, associated planning and adoption matters, development agreements, provision of affordable housing, and advising on legal project management issues from site inception to completion of the end product for sale.

Sara first joined Laytons as a newly qualified solicitor in 1997.  She spent three years working in the Laytons property and plot sales team, before moving to the Land and Regeneration Team at Campbell Hooper in London.  Five years later, in 2006, Sara returned to Laytons as associate partner and was promoted to partner in April 2008.   

Recent work includes:

• advising a national housebuilder on an agreement to promote a large area of land through the Local Development Plan and planning systems, with associated option to purchase, for a mixed use development including residential commercial and sporting facilities and advising on third party issues;

• advising a national housebuilder on strategic site assembly of land for residential development, interlinking options to purchase and associated s106 planning agreement and legal issues;

• advising two regions of a national housebuilder on various acquisitions of land, both brownfield and greenfield, largely conditional on planning, and associated planning and legal issues, and contractual issues arising out of the market downturn;

• advising private developers on the acquisition of a number of sites conditional on planning, with and without overage arrangements, for high value luxury homes and associated legal and planning issues;

• advising a consortium of housebuilders who are developing out a new town settlement, on all issues of joint concern to them including: 
  • the negotiation of commercial deals for the development of commercial and high street facilities and commercially run sports facilities;
  • adoption of a new highway bridge over a dual carriageway by the Highways Authority,
  • adoption of spine road and other shared infrastructure by the relevant authorities,
  • transfer of community facilities to the Parish Council,
  • transfer of affordable housing pursuant to planning requirements
  • advice on non contentious consortium issues and legal and strategic issues for the wider site development.  

• negotiating affordable housing development agreements and associated transfer and lease documents.

Personal

I live and work in Guildford.  My interests include travel, reading and gardening. To keep fit I regularly go salsa and tango dancing, and enjoy cycling in the local countryside.

I lived in France for 8 months after university, so can speak conversational French.