Consultant
Anita has specialised in agricultural and rural business law for over 25 years. She joined Lee & Pembertons as a partner in 1999 having previously been Chief Legal Adviser to the Country Landowners Association and prior to that a partner at Lovells. She has been named as a leader in her field in Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession for many years and sits on a number of high profile industry committees.
Anita Symington is considered to have "outstanding technical knowledge."
Anita advises on sales, purchases and secured lending of farms and rural estates, estate management, diversification, farm structures, tenancies under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986, the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 and business tenancies under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, filming contracts and telecom and wind farm agreements.
Examples of Anita’s recent work include:
- Undertaking a number of complex surrender and regrant schemes of 1986 Act tenancies to maximise IHT relief for Landlord and secure succession for Tenant including stamp duty land tax implications.
- Carrying out a major tenancy audit of a major landed estate comprising tenancy reorganisations, surrender and regrants and successions.
- Advising and acting in connection with a large 19 turbine wind farm option and lease involving an exchange scheme for common land and a community wind farm scheme.
- Carrying out large voluntary registrations of several landed estates.
- Acting for landed clients and Banks on a number of refinancing exercises.
- Advising a Landlord on the insolvency of a Tenant under a farm business tenancy agreement and on rights of forfeiture.
- Advising Landlords seeking to gain vacant possession of agricultural holdings on grounds of greater hardship, following the grant of planning for development and on the death of tenant, including contesting succession applications by Tenants.
- Advising a Tenant on succession planning for principal source of livelihood test.
- Film location agreement for Harry Potter film.
