Trailblazers in housing in Scotland.


With unparalleled knowledge and expertise, Burness Paull's housebuilding team are well-placed to support the delivery of housing in Scotland, having nationwide scale and depth of resources across all aspects of this sector.

Our real estate lawyers, supported by experts in planning, construction, funding, tax and more, provide a wide range of services to housebuilders, social housing providers, landowners and funders on housebuilding projects, from initial conception to on-site delivery bringing housing developments to fruition.

Our Housebuilding Expertise

We have the largest and most respected team of housebuilding lawyers in Scotland.

We are focused on all elements of providing new build housing across sectors and tenures to ensure the delivery of new homes including:

  • Mainstream Housebuilding
  • Social and Affordable Housing
  • Purpose Built Student Accommodation or PBSA
  • Build to Rent (BTR)
  • Retirement & Later Life Living

Find out more about our Living sector expertise here.

Working hand-in-hand with our planning, construction and finance teams, we advise clients from project inception to site assembly, site promotion, on infrastructure, funding, joint ventures and development set up, through to land and home sales.

New structures and solutions are constantly required to overcome difficulties and to facilitate development. We are at the forefront of emerging contractual structures and funding arrangements such as the funding of infrastructure. This can include bespoke joint venture arrangements, consortium agreements, infrastructure agreements, overage and clawback agreements and other cost and profit-sharing arrangements necessary to provide funding, share risk and unlock development.

We work closely with the key industry body Homes for Scotland with representation on various committees and we are the headline sponsor of its annual awards ceremony - seen as 'the' housebuilding industry event in Scotland.

Mainstream Housebuilding

We act for major housebuilders across Scotland in addition to many smaller and niche developers including new entrants and established players. We also act for a wide range of landowners and are currently advising on some of the largest new settlements planned in Scotland.

Our clients include:

  • Avant
  • Barratt
  • CALA
  • Taylor Wimpey
  • Cruden
  • Scotia
  • Miller
  • Springfield
  • Dandara
  • CHAP
  • Malcolm Allan
  • Persimmon

The firm's dedicated plot sales team delivers more than 2,000 home sales per year, selling a range of house types across the country from volume housing to executive homes at the very top end of the market.

Plot Sales

Our specialist plot sales team is one of the largest in Scotland.

Selling a range of house types across the country from volume housing to executive homes at the very top end of the market, they run an exemplary home sales service.

Client success and satisfaction are at the heart of what we do. We are not just a legal partner - we are trusted advisors.

"Burness Paull think ahead to consider the issues that will arise in the future so that they can be considered and controlled now."

Real Estate: £10 million and above client UK, Chambers & Partners, 2023

‘Burness Paull are true market leaders in terms of their knowledge and experience. They have a strength in depth that covers all markets, and their advice adds real value to our transactions.’

Commercial Property client, Legal 500, 2023


The Living Sector: Social and Affordable Housing, PBSA, BTR and Retirement & Later Life Living

Find out about our living sector expertise here.