Biography
Chris is a Senior Associate Solicitor in the Churches and Charities team. He specialises in advising charities on all aspects of property law, including buying and selling property, landlord and tenant matters, license agreements, trusts and unregistered land, development work, restrictive covenants, easements and holding property as an investment. He has extensive experience of dealing with property issues in relation to places of worship, including listed buildings.
Chris also advises schools, small businesses and individuals in property matters such as residential conveyancing, commercial leases, assured shorthold tenancies and probate sales.
Chris was ranked as a rising star of the charities and not-for-profit practice area in the 2020 edition of the Legal 500, with clients describing him as “efficient, approachable and knowledgeable.
Recent Experience
- Advising the trustees of an independent school in Wales on the sale of former boarding houses
- Advising a well-known national charity on the acquisition of a development site, with issues surrounding riparian ownership and historic contamination, from a listed company
- Advising a large regional charity on a lease renewal of a portfolio of care homes to a related charity tenant, together with advice on disposals to connected parties under section 118 of the Charities Act 2011
- Advising a religious order on various property issues related to a Grade I listed church in the north of England
- Advising the trustees of a religious charity on the disposal of a former place of worship to a charity specialising in the preservation of historic buildings
- Advising the trustees of a large international charity on a lease of offices in the City of London
- Assisting the Church and Charities team with the property aspects of various CIO conversions for unincorporated charitable trusts
Employment History
- Pothecary Witham Weld inc. Haslam & Payne Solicitors 2016 – present
- Dentons 2013 – 2016
- Slaughter and May 2012 – 2013
- Pinsent Masons 2011 – 2012
Education
- BPP Law School, LPC 2011
- Manchester Metropolitan University, GDL 2010
- University of Manchester, MA (Hons) Politics & Modern History 2008
Memberships
- Charity Law Association
- Property Section of The Law Society
- City of Westminster and Holborn Law Society
Personal
Chris enjoys music, reading and travelling, and supports Manchester United. He is the secretary of the St George’s Square Residents’ Association.