Russell Cooke Putney London 2

About Catherine

I enjoy helping charities and social businesses to resolve complex property law issues and ensure that their land and property is working in a way which supports their wider plans and objectives.

Catherine specialises in property matters, including areas where charity law and property law intersect.

Catherine acts for all types of charities and not-for-profit organisations, including medical research charities, almshouses and social care providers, heritage charities, religious organisations, universities and community centres. She regularly deals with issues arising from complex charity structures and legal restrictions.

She advises clients on all aspects of transactional property law, including:

  • freehold sales and purchases

  • taking a new lease or renewing an existing one

  • granting leases and other property-sharing arrangements

  • ending a lease early, including assignments and surrenders

  • landlord and tenant issues and avoiding/managing disputes

  • developing property or selling it for development

  • using property as security for mortgage or grant funding

  • resolving title issues, including ownership of unregistered land

Catherine also deals with property issues as they arise in the context of charity incorporations, mergers or restructuring.

Professional, knowledgeable, extremely efficient, friendly and helpful at all times. Catherine provided a first class service in every way and ensured the transaction was completed quickly and efficiently.
The Transformation Trust

Experience

  • Acted for a number of community centre charities in taking freehold asset transfers of their buildings from the local authority

  • Advised a heritage charity taking a lease of an historic fort in conjunction with converting from an unincorporated trust into a CIO

  • Acted for an environmental charity on its acquisition of a site for mixed-use redevelopment, including the development and sale of residential flats by its trading subsidiary

  • Advised a homelessness charity on its acquisition of almshouse property subject to permanent endowment trusts, including obtaining a Charity Commission Scheme to facilitate this

  • Dealt with title issues where charity property is registered in the name of unincorporated trustees and those individuals cannot be found

  • Advised social care and homelessness charities on drafting appropriate occupational agreements for their beneficiaries

  • Dealt with the property-related issues arising from the insolvency of a children's services charity, including the transfer of its leasehold properties to new service providers

  • Advised a charity on the disposal of part of its permanent endowment land pursuant to a compulsory purchase order

Catherine, your advice and assistance in the sale of the Charity's two properties was very much appreciated. There were many challenges within the process of both sales and you managed them to completion with expertise and patience.
British Polio Fellowship

Education

  • Studied history at the University of Cambridge

  • Studied GDL and LPC at Kaplan Law School

  • Qualified as a solicitor in 2015

Catherine was very pleasant to deal with. She always puts the client first and is very good at explaining complex issues.
Grove Neighbourhood Centre

Catherine's highlights

Videos

22.03.2022

Charities disposing of land - what is going to change?

The Charities Bill currently going through Parliament will implement significant changes to the procedures charities must follow when selling or...
Andrew Small, Partner in the Russell-Cooke Solicitors, charity law non profit team. Clare Garbett, Senior associate in the Russell-Cooke Solicitors, charity law and not for profit team. Catherine Flexer, Senior associate in the Russell-Cooke Solicitors, charity law and not for profit team.
Multiple Authors
34 min Runtime
Andrew Small, Clare Garbett, Catherine Flexer
Videos

15.09.2021

Approaching property management post Covid

Andrew Small, Partner in the Russell-Cooke Solicitors, charity law non profit team. Catherine Flexer, Senior associate in the Russell-Cooke Solicitors, charity law and not for profit team.
Multiple Authors
1 min Read
Andrew Small, Catherine Flexer
News

20.04.2021

Ten questions to ask yourself before the grant of a lease as a charity landlord

Russell-Cooke associate Clare Garbett runs through ten key questions charity landlords should ask themselves before the grant of a lease...
Clare Garbett, Senior associate in the Russell-Cooke Solicitors, charity law and not for profit team. Catherine Flexer, Senior associate in the Russell-Cooke Solicitors, charity law and not for profit team.
Multiple Authors
4 min Read
Clare Garbett, Catherine Flexer
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