Isabella Dierden-Hunt
Senior Associate, Co-Head of Real Estate Policy
Isabella advises clients on a broad range of commercial property matters, with deep sector expertise spanning mixed use development, offices, residential, private rented sector (PRS), student accommodation, retail and life sciences. She has particular experience advising on development projects and acting for lenders on complex development finance transactions, and regularly advises investors on high-value acquisitions and disposals.
Isabella advises across the full real estate life-cycle, regularly acting for property developers and house-builders from site acquisition through to development, practical completion and stabilisation. Her work for clients on major residential schemes and mixed-use redevelopments demonstrates the breadth of her sector experience and her ability to manage complex, multi-phase projects.
Isabella has a strong real estate finance practice, working with both lenders and borrowers and with particular focus on complex development finance transactions. She brings a clear understanding of risk allocation to help clients close deals efficiently and with confidence.
Her experience also extends to advising investors on high-value acquisitions and disposals, as well as landlord and tenant matters for investors, developers and corporate occupiers.
Isabella has spent time on secondment with one of the firm's clients, which has provided her with valuable insights into the challenges faced by clients and a more holistic understanding of clients' needs from their external legal advisers.
Alongside her client work, Isabella is a member of the firm's Public Policy team, where she monitors and advises on emerging legislative and regulatory developments affecting the real estate market. This work directly informs her transactional practice and enables her to help clients and colleagues anticipate risks and identify opportunities arising from regulatory and market change. Clients benefit from advice that is not only technically sound on the deal at hand but also informed by a broader understanding of the policy landscape in which they operate.
Isabella is also a member of the firm's ESG working group and the firm's Balance network, which aims to support and share information to help colleagues achieve balance in managing their careers and home lives.
Experience
- Advising Berkeley Homes on the development of various residential developments.
- Advising the Stanhope, Mitsui and AIMCo consortium on the mixed use redevelopment of BBC Television Centre including pre-lets of part of its office and retail facilities.
- Advising an asset management firm in connection with the mezzanine financing of a new garden village development.
- Advising Stanhope on the redevelopment and sale of a residential-led mixed-use scheme at Station Hill, Reading.
- Advising Supermarket Income REIT plc on the acquisition and financing of an addition to its supermarket portfolio.
- Advising Derwent London on letting and asset management work.