Sonali Shah

Leading private wealth and real estate law firm, Boodle Hatfield, is delighted to announce the promotion of Sophie Henwood and Fred Clark to Partner, effective from 1 April 2025. Both Sophie and Fred trained and qualified at the firm through our graduate recruitment programme and have since built strong relationships and reputations in their respective Real Estate and Corporate & Arts markets.

The Building Safety Act gained Royal Assent in April 2022 and has subsequently been brought into force through a raft of secondary legislation. Head of Construction, Sarah Rock explores the secondary legislation of The Building Safety Act that is coming in 2025 – including the much-anticipated Building Safety Levy, due to be enacted by Autumn 2025 and the effect of Building Assessment Certificates on conveyancing.

In December 2024, the Government clarified HMRC’s VAT policy on cladding remediation works for residential buildings. Head of Construction, Sarah Rock and Tax Partner, Andrew Loan outline when remediation qualifies for reduced or zero-rated VAT as ‘snagging’ and when the standard 20% rate applies, as well as examining challenges in reclaiming VAT, particularly for older buildings, and the impact of the Government’s Remediation Action Plan on expediting safety improvements.

With the clock ticking towards the anticipated EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) changes, Senior Associate, Sophie Henwood details why the UK’s commercial property landscape could face a seismic shift.