Buying or selling a property can be a stressful experience. For many people, buying a house also represents one of the biggest financial investments they will ever make.
Whether we are advising first-time buyers, purchasers buying property at auction, people moving up the property ladder or downsizing, investors managing a portfolio of properties or developers who are both buying and selling, our experience, access to the most up-to-date resources and technology and focus on customer care means we are ideally placed to guide you every step of the way.
Meet the team
Becky joined CLC in December 2017 as a Team Assistant in the firm’s Property department, supporting the team with both residential and commercial property matters. In October 2018, Becky became a paralegal at the firm, specialising in residential property and secured lending transactions.
Becky has gained experience in varied areas of residential conveyancing and secured lending and is able to run residential sales, purchases, transfers of equity, financing, and refinancing. Becky has also worked on the property side of corporate transactions (acquisitions and disposals of SPV companies) as well as de-enveloping of properties on behalf of overseas corporate clients and assists in commercial property transactions. She has travelled to Asia a number of times to see clients and contacts face to face and is highly regarded by clients from SE Asia and the Arabian Gulf.
Having completed her Graduate Diploma in Law in 2016, she is currently studying towards her Solicitors Qualifying Examination, with the aim of becoming a qualified solicitor with a passion for property work and property related advice and projects.
In her free time, Becky enjoys going to the gym and reading.
Ian West is a partner in the Private Client team. He deals with a wide range of matters including commercial and residential conveyancing, will drafting, trusts and probate and powers of attorney.
Private Client Matters
As well as obtaining grants of probate for UK estates, Ian has assisted personal representatives of foreign estates in resealing foreign grants to administer UK assets held by a deceased domiciled outside the UK. He has dealt with resealing foreign grants in jurisdictions as diverse as Holland and Iran. He has also advised on domicile in respect of deceased’s estates and regularly deals with the UK estates of persons who have died domiciled outside the United Kingdom.
Property Transactions
Recent property transactions include:-
- Acting for clients on a lifetime mortgage as part of an inheritance tax strategy.
- Acting on behalf of a landowner in connection with the grant of an option for a lease for use of the land for battery storage.
- Acting on behalf of a landowner in connection with the sale of land for use as an electricity sub-station in connection with a wind farm project and grant of options for related easements.
- Acting for both landlords and tenants in respect of statutory claims for extension leases of flats.
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Ian was educated at Brentwood School Essex, Manchester University and the College of Law London. He qualified as a solicitor in 1981 and joined Metson Cross in 1982 becoming a partner in 1990.
Ian is married with two children.
As former Honorary Secretary of the Society of Old Brentwoods, Ian takes a keen interest in the affairs of the School and in various events and functions organised by the Society. He is also a keen follower of football and has an interest in classic cars. Ian is a member of the Mini Cooper Register. Ian has also been learning to play the guitar (for over 45 years!).
Leesa joined our Property Department as an Associate in March 2019. Her interest in the Law and in particular conveyancing began over 20 years ago while working at a southeast London firm. She then moved onto a firm in Lincoln’s Inn where she qualified as a Licensed Conveyancer in 2009 before joining a firm in Westminster acting for UK and overseas high net worth individuals and developers.
Leesa has gained a wealth of experience in all areas of residential conveyancing and secured lending with a particular emphasis on UK and non-UK based individuals and new build/redevelopment sites both within central London and across the Country.
Leesa has worked with large and small scale developers both from the UK and overseas providing a top and tail service from the acquisition of sites through to the plot sales on sites from 1-120 units.
Outside of work Leesa enjoys spending time with her family, gardening and cooking.
Lucie did her LLB Law undergraduate degree at the University of Reading and is currently doing the LPC part time at the University of Law.
She is a Team Assistant in the Property department where she assists solicitors and partners with commercial property transactions as well as drafting.
Before joining CLC Lucie gained experience in a client facing role which dealt with investment banking and private equity roles.
She previously acquired work experience at a law firm specialising in criminal law which she found interesting, but found herself drawn more towards family and employment.
She joined CLC in October 2023
Outside of work Lucie really enjoy running and has taken part in a number of races including the London Marathon in support of charity. She also loves singing and discovering new cafes and restaurants.
Mohammed Imran has a wealth of experience dealing with freehold and leasehold sales and purchases. As such, he supports our residential property team and conveyancing clients to ensure a hassle-free house move.
His qualifications include a master’s degree in law and he is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx). As an advanced paralegal, he is currently working towards qualifying as a chartered legal executive.
In his spare time, Mohammed enjoys staying active and going to the gym.
Prod is a partner in the firm’s property department specialising in commercial and residential property transactions.
Prod qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive in 1999. He joined the firm in 2008, bringing with him a substantial client base from the North London area, where he had previously worked for over 15 years.
Property Work:
Prod has considerable experience in residential and commercial conveyancing and landlord and tenant matters. His property work includes buying and selling of freehold, leasehold and new-build properties; granting and taking commercial and residential leases and tenancies; handling collective enfranchisement and lease extensions; property gifts and transfers; advising on defective titles, co-ownership arrangements and personal guarantees.
Secured Lending:
Prod has vast experience in dealing with regular mortgages and re-mortgages for homeowners as well as secured lending against high-value Central London and West End residential properties for private banks. He also acts for UK based private lenders providing short-term loans and development finance on properties and development sites across the country.
Church Work:
Prod is retained as legal counsel to a number of Christian charity organisations advising them and their associated churches on charity law and the duties and responsibilities of charitable trustees. His church work includes handling all types of property transactions on behalf of churches located in and around the Greater London area, including the purchase and sale of chapels and manses, granting and taking leases and licenses and dealing with re-developments of church land and properties.
Prod represents a wide spectrum of clients including domestic and overseas investors; developers; landlords; managing & lettings agents; surveyors; charity associations and church trustees; domestic and overseas lenders; management companies and residents’ associations; as well as a loyal following of individuals and families going back many years.
Prod is known and trusted by clients for his warm, friendly and approachable manner; for the speed and efficiency of his handling of their instructions; and for his exceptional understanding of property related matters. He is a firm believer in a non-nonsense approach to his work and the importance of using plain English when dealing with clients, professionals and others.
- Representing church trustees on a multi-million pound church relocation and redevelopment project to create a new place of worship and Christian faith school;
- Representing 30 leaseholders on a collective enfranchisement of a freehold residential block;
- Acting for a number of leaseholders in the same block on individual lease extensions to their respective flats under the 1993 Act;
- Acting on the purchase of a multi-million pound property by acquiring ownership of shares in the selling company;
- Achieving first registration of agricultural land affected by a number of rights, settlements and trusts created over a number of years;
- Completing a high-value purchase transaction within 10 days of receipt of papers;
- Successfully bringing a claim to preserve and uphold a right of way thought to have extinguished many years earlier;
- Acting for one of the largest private property investment groups in the UK in connection with the grant, renewal and surrender of commercial leases;
Prod enjoys close links to the local and overseas Greek and Greek Cypriot community and speaks the Greek language reasonably well.
Outside the office, Prod is a devoted husband and father of two, with particular specialism in home learning; chauffeuring; toy repair; football cheerleading; and sibling dispute resolution. He is a member of the governing committee of his local Greek language school, with responsibility for over 200 pupils aged between 4 and 17 years. He is also active in his local Orthodox Christian Church.
Prod enjoys DIY and believes he is really good at it, having helped renovate six properties over the years. He is also a keen gardener and boasts to have a garden worthy of entry in a well-known flower show.
In contrast to his exceptionally smart appearance (dressed always in a three-piece suit) Prod is an avid sports-bike enthusiast and enjoys a daily commute to and from work on his cherished motorbike, dressed in full leathers.
Rebecca has a wealth of experience in all aspects of Post Completion formalities in Conveyancing transactions and can provide a high level of support. Rebecca has completed the CILEX Level 3 Diploma for Legal Secretaries and has also achieved the CILEX Level 3 Professional Diploma in Law and Practice as she was keen to develop her legal knowledge. This has enabled Rebecca to provide a higher level of support within the legal environment and carry out paralegal tasks.
In her spare time, Rebecca enjoys travelling, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her family.
Property
- Commercial property transactions
- Purchase and sales of commercial properties
- Grants of commercial leases
- Property aspects of M&A transactions
Immigration
- Over 40 years working in all areas of immigration and nationality
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Robert studied Business Management before converting to Law and attending the College of Law in London. Robert qualified as a Solicitor in 1983.
Before qualifying as a Solicitor in March 1983, Robert worked as a property agent and played football at a semi-professional level.
Robert has earned himself the reputation of being both commercial and caring in his approach to clients.
He is a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association and The Lawyers Christian Fellowship.
Robert speaks Armenian and Farsi.
Rufus Ballaster is Senior Partner and specialises in secured lending for both lenders and borrowers, within Carter Lemon Camerons LLP’s commercial property team.
Rufus’ team is able to assist lenders with putting in place effective protection for their loans, including advising on the form of security that is needed, arranging reporting systems between lawyer and lender, preparing documents, raising enquiries, examining title and making the appropriate searches.
Rufus is also experienced in assisting borrowers, advising on the risks involved in the transaction and negotiating the best possible terms.
Where appropriate, having carefully looked at professional rules governing conflict of interest, Rufus can act for both the lender and the borrower in a single transaction.
His detailed technical legal knowledge and ability to crunch numbers are great assets both transactionally and as Carter Lemon Camerons LLP’s spreadsheet obsessive.
Transactions
Recent transactions include:
- Secured Lending Portfolio Refinance for a group of clients shifting lending from one international Private Bank to another international Private Bank with full Certification of Title across 7 Central London Properties both commercial residential (or mixed) use – aggregate value £30M approx.
- Phased purchase with development finance of site for over 40 new homes in SW London for a group of clients which has also bought and sold many other units in the region with Rufus and his team acting.
- Short term (2 to 18 month) lending by a Wealth Management company into a variety of development projects taking first or second charge security over those sites or collateral security elsewhere.
Career highlights include:
- Stepping into the panel of speakers at a course for which he was understudy – at only 3 years qualified
- Representing most of the sets of barristers’ chambers at one of the Inns of Court in lease renewals with that Inn
- Drawing down finance to purchase a SW1 development opportunity (offices to flats) by an off shore company at a price exceeding £120M (for a group of clients for whom previous deals were at values ranging from £7M to £220M)
- Drawing down finance to purchase a group of off-shore vehicles which owned of a City office block let to a blue chip investment bank – loan exceeding £300 million, split into senior and junior debt.
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Rufus combines client focused views of legal issues with more holistic ones. This is clearly visible from his writing (having contributed to many journals and been a co-author of the Landlord and Tenant Factbook and more recently of a Practical Guide to Drone Law) and from his lectures and seminars on banking, commercial property, artificial intelligence and other topics.
Asked what he likes most in his work, Rufus will talk of his role as a “trouble-shooter”. He enjoys being asked by clients and colleagues what he thinks about something and trying, with them, to work up structures or strategies achieving a desired result at the lowest sensible cost/ tax-hit/ risk. He travels within Europe and beyond (Arabian Gulf, South East Asia, Southern Africa) to see clients and contacts face to face and says working with people he has met is always preferable to hiding behind email and telephone for client contact!
Rufus was educated at Reading School, Wadham College Oxford and Chester College of Law, qualifying as a solicitor in 1988.
Outside the office Rufus has a full and active life with commitments to two Christian Churches, family (wife and three now adult children), RBS Rugby Football Club (for whom he plays as a second row forward) and RBS Lawn Bowls Club which is more suited to his age.
Guide to conveyancing