PropTech

The ubiquitous term ‘smart cities’, a catch-all concept covering anything from darkness-sensing streetlamps to targeted advertising based on a person’s gender, height, weight or ethnicity, does not go nearly far enough to address the myriad factors involved in PropTech. Lewis Silkin has the expertise and market-leading knowledge needed to advise businesses how best to future-proof and react to - or pre-empt the demands made by - this rapidly changing world, and has worked with numerous tech start-ups to help their nascent business grow as market demands new and more sophisticated technologies to support and streamline operations.

Below are just some of the ways in which PropTech has already changed the way businesses and individuals interact with their surroundings. We will only see more innovation and progress in the coming years as technologies that cannot yet be contemplated become the norm. We can work with you to ensure that not only are you not left behind, but that you light the path for others to follow.

Blockchain

Within our technology sector are specialists in the field of cryptocurrencies whose expertise includes:

• the implementation of blockchain in creating increasingly secure property transactions
• bringing property transactions online through the use of smart contracts
• digitisation of property ownership, exchange and data
• the secure movement of assets through the blockchain

Through our shared wealth of resources and knowledge, our real estate lawyers are well-equipped to adapt to the latest PropTech and technological developments, including the use of ‘smart contracts’, which automate payments of service charges and other sums, as well as government-backed initiatives such as the creation of a blockchain Land Register by 2022.

Smart Cities and renewable energies

As a law firm dedicated to advising innovative and creative businesses, we are at the forefront of the smart cities revolution. We have the multi-disciplinary expertise to help you navigate the, often novel, legal challenges you will face in this emerging field. We can assist at every stage of the process: from safeguarding intellectual property; through raising financing; drafting and negotiating commercial contracts; building-out infrastructure; and regulating operation.

Autonomous and connected vehicles

Given the rate of technological advance in this arena, planners and scheme designers are already giving serious thought to incorporating autonomous vehicle parking into the design of their schemes that will not be completed for another five to ten years. Our development lawyers’ expertise in current planning policies and market trends enables us to advise how best to procure and subsequently implement schemes in such a way that they can be readily adapted to provide additional residential or retail use, or to convert buildings with built-in parking space into further accommodation, loading areas, storage or other building amenities depending on the prevailing conditions. Our planning specialists can explore with you, at the planning permission stage, options to engage on with the planning authority so as to ensure that the consenting process for any such evolution as frictionless as possible. In addition, our experts in corporate occupier transactions can assist landowners, from local authorities to supermarkets, with the disposal of car parks or other surplus land within their portfolios for development purposes.

Internet of Things

Connectivity is driving the creation of new products and features. Many developers and landlords are increasingly looking at ways in which they can incorporate ‘smart’ features into their property. We have been engaged on projects that include features allowing for more sensitive and personalised control of lighting and temperature, collecting data for monitoring passage of individuals through a building and connecting people more readily with physical devices and everyday objects. We can advise with all aspects of projects involving these technologies, from planning through to vendor contracts and data protection aspects.