Leanne Hill
Leanne is a partner in the Commercial Real Estate team at Blackadders LLP based in the Aberdeen office but servicing clients throughout Scotland. She advises a broad range of clients on all their property requirements with a particular focus on investment transactions including acquisitions, disposals and asset management, primarily on office, retail and industrial assets. She has a strong background in acting for both lenders and borrowers on high value real estate finance transactions and property development work. Leanne also has significant expertise in dealing with the property aspects of corporate, restructuring and complex cross-border property deals.
Practice Area
Panel
- Scottish Panel
Qualified Year
- 2006
Experience
- Pinsent Masons LLP (2013 - 2024)
- Anderson Strathern LLP (2006 - 2013)
- Brechin Tindal Oatts (2004 - 2006)
Membership
- Law Society of Scotland
Qualifications
- LLB Hons (First Class) (2003)
- Diploma in Legal Practice (2004)
Education
- University of Aberdeen (1999-2004)
5 Contributions by Leanne Hill
PRACTICE NOTES
Investigating access for Scottish land transactions and developments: adopted roads, ransom strips, servitudes (deed, prescription, implied), public rights of way, right to roam, site assembly and tenement access
Ownership, leasing or any other lawful use of land typically depends on being able to get to it, so that the land can be enjoyed. The public may use roads and footpaths adopted by local authorities and, where a plot abuts an adopted road, gaining access is usually uncomplicated. Where access must cross another person’s land, recourse to common law or statute might be available, but buyers will ordinarily prefer a formal arrangement—such as a contractual right or servitude—where none already exists. If land is held in common or jointly, each owner may reach and traverse it without needing separate access rights. This Practice Note outlines the typical access questions that can arise in Scottish property deals and the matters a seller’s and a buyer’s solicitor may need to consider. The same themes can arise in lease transactions between landlord and tenant solicitors; for simplicity in this Practice Note, the parties are described as ‘seller’ and ‘buyer’ and the deal as a sale or purchase.
Access from a publicly adopted road
Local authorities maintain lists of publicly adopted roads; those lists, however,...
Property
PRACTICE NOTES
Practical guide to option agreements for land purchase in Scotland: types, drafting issues, pricing, planning obligations, community right to buy, LBTT, standard security and comparison with promotion agreements
Types of option agreement
People frequently refer to 'put' and 'call' option arrangements. A call option gives the buyer the right to require the seller to dispose of a property (or a defined part) to the buyer. A put option allows the landowner to require the buyer to acquire the property. Under a pure call option, the buyer may at any point within the agreed option window compel the landowner to transfer the property to it. A put option is the reverse position and is encountered far less often. A hybrid can be created, often described as a 'put and call' or cross option, so either party may oblige the other to buy or sell on the terms specified in the option agreement. Many option arrangements carry numerous conditions (for example, planning or other consents to be secured) so that, rather than being truly 'pure' options, they operate in practice much more like conditional contracts. Once an option agreement has been concluded between the parties, the option is typically brought into effect by serving an option notice. This is the mechanism under such arrangements in property transactions...
Property
PRACTICE NOTES
Suspensive conditions in Scottish property missives: drafting, negotiation, longstop dates, purification/waiver, risk allocation, and distinctions from resolutive conditions and options
In Scottish conveyancing, suspensive conditions within missives are indispensable, allowing parties to conclude a binding contract while postponing particular obligations until specified requirements are fulfilled. When precisely drafted, they offer certainty, curb risk, and protect both purchasers and sellers by ensuring crucial matters—such as planning permissions, finance, or due diligence—are resolved before completion. This Practice Note summarises the legal framework, practical considerations, and proven techniques for drafting and negotiating suspensive conditions in missives.
Transactional context
Historically, Scottish property lawyers prided themselves on the rapid conclusion of missives for the sale and purchase of heritable property. Owing to the increased length and detailed terms in offers for both domestic and commercial assets, the time needed to reach conclusion has grown in step. Additional time required to secure loan offers from lenders has also affected the residential market and significantly slowed the conclusion of missives. Missives for buying and selling heritable property commonly address issues beyond pure property points, for example:
compliance with the relevant tax authorities’ requirements
availability of appropriate consents for current use, previous use or the proposed development of the property
transfer of employees...
Property
PRACTICE NOTES
Suspensive conditions in Scottish property missives: practical drafting guidance on benefit, purification, long-stop dates, waiver, remedies, and specific issues on surveys, finance, planning, title, community rights, works and licensing
What is a suspensive condition?
A suspensive condition places the parties’ duties to perform a contract on hold until that condition has been purified (or, where the terms allow, waived), see Practice Note: Suspensive conditions in missives transferring Scottish property. Precision is essential; poor wording can trigger unforeseen and unwelcome outcomes. For further information, see: Suspensive conditions in missives: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia [27]. Aside from dealing with title matters, most suspensive conditions concern non-conveyancing issues, for example:
compliance with the relevant tax regime
planning issues
transfer of employees
site investigations
compliance with environmental law
This Practice Note outlines universal considerations for drafting any suspensive condition and then addresses particular points relevant to commonly used suspensive conditions.
Universal drafting considerations
Who is to benefit from the suspensive condition? The condition must make clear which party is intended to benefit, otherwise it may operate to the disadvantage of the party who introduced the condition into...
Property
CHECKLISTS
Scottish dispositions: drafting checklist for real burdens and title conditions—creation, affirmative/negative and reciprocal burdens, use/building restrictions, personal burdens, and registration
This Checklist outlines the matters to weigh up and assess when preparing real burdens and title conditions in dispositions in Scotland. It looks in particular at real burdens concerning restrictions on use, alterations and works, as well as personal real burdens. For detail on the nature of real burdens and how they are created and construed, see Practice Note: Real burdens in Scotland—creation and interpretation. For real burdens addressing maintenance duties, see Practice Note: Real burdens dealing with maintenance obligations in Scotland. In this Checklist, the land affected by the burden is called the ‘burdened property’ and the land that enjoys the burden is the ‘benefitted property’.
Drafting considerations
When preparing a disposition, first ask whether imposing real burdens is required. It might be adequate simply to depend on:
common law, e.g. the common laws regarding boundaries
planning law (which will have a significant effect on proposed land uses)
the Tenement Management Scheme (brought in by section 4 and Schedule 1 to the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 (T(S)A 2004)) (see Practice Note: Real burdens dealing with maintenance obligations in Scotland—Tenement Management Scheme)
...
Property
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