TOWN & COUNTRY PLANNING SOLICITORS
Fortune Green Legal Practice is your partner for expert planning law advice.
Why choose Fortune Green Legal Practice?
Town and Country Planning law is a niche and complex area of property law. Since 2011 Fortune Green Legal Practice has given bespoke advice to clients in London and all of England.
As your partner working with you to resolve planning law problems, I can offer almost 20 years of planning law experience because for almost a decade before setting up my independent law firm I worked in-house at a number of local authorities in London and the South East of England. So when you instruct this law firm you can be assured that you get impartial and balanced advice on all your planning law questions. On top of the decades of experience in this area of law. the added benefit you get is my inside knowledge of how councils work, giving a valuable added perspective when you instruct Fortune Green Legal Practice.
Who are our clients?
Fortune Green Legal Practice’s clients include homeowners and property developers. As planning solicitors we often work with teams of professionals, such as planning barristers, or with planning consultants, architects, surveyors and other property professionals.
Fortune Green Legal Practice has particular experience in acting for community campaign groups.
Read the testimonials from real clients to explain what our clients appreciate about the service they have received.
If you have a planning law problem and want to find out if a solicitor with expert planning law knowledge can help, please call this number: 0203 983 0595.
SERVICES
Does FGLP deal with contentious planning matters? Absolutely.
Contentious planning matters – FGLP deals with them all the time. This includes disputes with local planning authorities and challenges to Planning Inspectors’ decisions, including in the High Court. This is absolutely central to the work FGLP carries out for clients.
Non-contentious planning matters – FGLP deals with those, too. Section 106 agreement negotiations, Certificate of Lawful Use applications, and advice on planning legislation and policy – these are also questions I regularly advise my clients on.
I also work with other experienced solicitors on any planning questions arising out of contentious property issues and also with planning consultants, surveyors, and architects. Where specialist advice from barristers is needed, I can draft instructions to lay out all the relevant information for them as efficiently and comprehensively as possible. This saves clients time and money.
If you have a planning law problem and want to find out if a solicitor with expert planning law knowledge can help, please call this number: 0203 983 0595.
For more information about the services offered, please see below:
SECTION 106 OBLIGATIONS
Read MoreOBJECTING TO PLANNING APPLICATIONS
Read MoreJUDICIAL REVIEWS
Read MorePLANNING APPEALS
Read MorePLANNING ENFORCEMENT
Read MoreTESTIMONIALS
Fortune Green is dedicated to providing excellent client service. Here are some recent testimonials.
“Linda knows her stuff!
She is very approachable and extremely knowledgeable.
If you need advice on planning law don’t go anywhere else!”
Diane Massey
Founder DSM Legal
August 2023
“Dear Linda,
I write to express my sincere and heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for your highly professional and competent services, provided in both a friendly and accessible manner.
Warm regards,”
Mr Sandhu
April 2023
“Linda came highly recommended and did not disappoint. Throughout our contact, Linda has displayed an exceptional level of both professionalism and personability. Linda was very responsive and approachable, helping us to understand and navigate what felt like a complex and overwhelming process. Linda clearly has a lot of valuable experience; her expert knowledge shines through, and she demonstrates a great passion for her work. Her advice has been both sound and timely. I have no hesitation in recommending Linda. Thank you, Linda, you have been a tremendous help.”
Robin and Rachel Colman
February 2023
“Thanks very much, Linda for your time and effort, much appreciated”
Mr Franklin
January 2023
“Thanks for your email. it clarifies everything and all my concerns. …
Thanks for all your help with this. It’s been an experience and you have been awesome, to say the least. I will keep you in the loop of any progress or if we have any issues.”
A Marmot
September, 2022
“Thank you so much for your help and guidance in this matter. We will update our response to the council with the additional information you have now provided.
You have enabled us to have the confidence to change our approach to the whole process. We are now more assured that we have a reasonable argument to go forward with and hopefully reduce the impact of the development or possible have it rejected.”
Michael Duffy
September, 2022
“I was introduced to Linda some years ago by a senior member of the Bar with whom I had worked over many years. He gave her the highest recommendation for a difficult case on which I had recently been instructed. Over subsequent years I have worked closely with Linda on a number of cases, but in particular two extraordinarily difficult planning and enforcement cases, both of which had been appealed unsuccessfully, one twice and the other to the High Court. On the papers they seemed hopeless cases, but with her extraordinary knowledge of public law as well as planning law, both eventually were brought to a successful conclusion. Without her expertise, persistence and a healthy degree of scepticism to ensure a well-researched and robust case, these results would not have been achieved.
“I also observed Linda working with senior and junior counsel, whose respect she patently and quickly earned. Those liaisons were essential especially when the cases came before the Courts.
“As a planning and economic consultant of many years, I have worked with a number of planning law solicitors. I say unreservedly that the most productive of these associations has been with Linda. She is approachable both in and out of normal working hours, ready to both inform, advise and to challenge when the occasion demanded. She will not accept what might seem an obvious point without subjecting it to intense scrutiny and an intellectual approach that examines propositions from all perspectives. In short, she has an open mind, and can be relied upon to see and warn of hidden dangers in a case that others may well have missed as well as having the ability to lead a way through what appear to be intractable difficulties.
“It has been a privilege to work with her, and she has served my clients with unparalleled ability, diligence, integrity and intellectual honesty, but above all, with outstandingly successful outcomes.”
Roger H Tym. BEM MA
Former senior partner, Roger Tym & Partners and latterly Quilichan.
Stockbridge Hampshire
March 2021
FAQ’s
Fortune Green Legal Practice solicitors offer bespoke, expert advice in Town and Country Planning law and can help you deal with a wide range of planning issues.
Who might need a planning solicitor?If you are a property developer and planning permission has been refused, a planning solicitor could work with you and your team to help you overcome objections, and guide you through the appeal process.
Also, if you are a property owner, and your application has been refused, or you would like to object to somebody else’s application, a planning solicitor can give you advice. If the council has taken enforcement action it is recommended to take advice from specialist planning solicitor.
What does a planning solicitor do?A planning solicitor can advise when you have a disagreement with the Council about a planning application. It may be your own planning application, which the Council wants to refuse. Sometimes, it may be an application for works nearby that you would like to object to (because you think the development will have a bad effect on you and on the wider neighbourhood).
Also, if the Council has taken enforcement action (for example, they have sent you a planning contravention notice, or an enforcement notice) a planning solicitor can advise you on the next steps.
What doesn’t a planning solicitor do?At Fortune Green Legal Practice we do not usually file planning applications.
This is because a planning consultant will have more experience in filing planning applications and may be able to visit your site and make recommendations on how you can maximise your development. An architect may also assist, and help with creative ideas and drawings of your proposed development.
We have a network of trusted planning consultants and architects we can refer you to. Please do not hesitate to call us on 0203 983 0595 to make the introductions.
What will a planning solicitor charge me?The first 15 minutes are free and this provides both parties with an opportunity to understand each other’s requirements. From this initial consultation, we are able to assess your case and circumstances. The final costs will depend upon the firm you choose to work with.
At Fortune Green Legal Practice we are always transparent when it comes to our pricing structure. Nobody likes a surprise when the bill comes in!
We may be able to offer a fixed fee for a procedure, or we may charge an hourly rate. For a process which is likely to take longer to come to a conclusion a retainer fee is usually agreed.Click here to find out about our fees.
How long will it take to resolve a dispute with the CouncilDepending on your circumstances, it can take weeks, months, or in some cases even years. The Council may respond quickly to our enquiry, but this is not always the case. This is why we keep on top of your matter and make sure that it doesn’t slip down Council’s agenda.
Sometimes just one letter, or phone call, from an experienced practitioner can resolve or significantly speed up a dispute.
What should I do if the Council is taking me to court?If you have received a summons, you should take legal advice immediately. Do not hesitate to and to let us know, if possible, when you will have to go to court. We can give you initial advice on what your best options are. If appropriate, we can recommend other expert advisors, who can help with your matter.
You are located in central London, but my property is not. Can you help me?Yes we can. Although FGLP is based in central London about 50% of cases we deal with are to do with properties outside of London. We deal with clients from all over England. There is a different legal system in Scotland, and Welsh planning laws are different (as a result of devolution of government). If your property is located there, we will recommend lawyers who can help.
ABOUT
You can find Fortune Green Legal Practice at our office premises in central London.
Fortune Green Legal Practice has served clients in all London boroughs, as well as across the Home Counties and from Hampshire in the South up to the Midlands and the north of England. The expertise we provide as town and country planning solicitors can cover any part of the country.
Clients looking for a town and country planning solicitor choose Fortune Green Legal Practice because of our experience and our dedication to building strong relationships based on shared values and trust.
Client services are at the heart of everything that Fortune Green Legal Practice does. The legal advice Fortune Green Legal Practice gives is pragmatic and focused on each client’s goals.
I can personally guarantee 100% dedication to each client’s case, from start to finish.
Town and country planning law can be complex, so if you want to find out if an initial consultation with a solicitor with expert knowledge can help call this number 0203 983 0595.
Giving Back
Giving BackEvery year since Fortune Green Legal Practice was established, I sign up for the mentoring programme at City, University of London, which was where I studied to be a solicitor. The act of supporting people who are still learning their skills and developing career aspirations can be more significant than it seems at first.
For a person who is still preparing for their career, the insight that I might take for granted from my working life can prove valuable, so taking the time to reflect on this together can be very important – often for both of us. The experience is also rewarding, and I am pleased to say that I have met many amazing people who have become very successful in their own professional lives. Mentoring students is a small way of giving up some time to “give back” to the university that helped me set out on my career, but it is actually a great pleasure, too. The introduction to the latest student is something I look forward to every year
FEES
Transparency & Value
While many retailers seem to have constant price drop sales, and Black Friday and the Xmas sales come around every year, clients could be forgiven for wondering why solicitors don’t cut their prices to attract clients through the door.
I can vouch for the fact that law firms also notice the cost of living crisis and its effects on clients and on, businesses and livelihoods. In particular, as a London-based solicitor practising in the market-sensitive area of town and country planning law, Fortune Green Legal Practice has to remain alert to all the factors that can impact homeowners, property developers and other clients.
Professional Fees
When clients instruct Fortune Green Legal Practice, they receive full and transparent information about fees. This includes an honest conversation about whether the outcome justifies the expense.
Clients get upfront information, not just at the outset but for as long as the matter continues. This includes:
- The likely total costs, as far as foreseeable;
- The risk involved, including any risk of having to pay another party’s legal fees if a case is unsuccessful;
- Whether the fees are likely to change and what could trigger any change:
- Warnings about any other payments the client may be responsible for, e.g. to a barrister or a consultant.
Please note that Fortune Green Legal Practice is registered for VAT.
If you want to know how Fortune Green Legal Practice can help you, and give you legal advice about your planning law issues that represent value for money, contact me for a “free and no obligation” consultation. We can explore key questions such as what you would like to achieve as a result of seeking advice and, essentially, what the value of the advice is to you.
