"There is now a demand for legal support for Russians within the property and business sectors"
Andrew McHale
A partner from Altrincham law firm McHale & Co has been advising potential property investors from Russia.
Maria Udalova-Surkova, a contract and property law specialist, was a principal speaker at a conference at the London offices of commercial and residential property advisors Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL).
The event covered all aspects of property buying, including contracts, tax planning and market reports.
Maria, 33, said: “I shared my expertise about the legal process of buying off-plan apartments.
“When you buy off-plan, usually the apartment tower is at early stage of development, so the purchase contract needs to be checked thoroughly."
“I talked about the buying process and what the buyer needs to do – the Russian system is quite different to the English system.
“I also went through the main points in the contract that the buyers have to be aware of.”
Maria (pictured above left) joined McHale & Co, who also have offices in London, Stretford and Heywood, in 2013 to capitalise on the growing Russian population in the UK, and especially London.
Maria, who is from Moscow and qualified as a lawyer in England, added: “There was a diverse range of people in the room – some had flown over just for this presentation.
“They were mainly potential property investors from Russia or Russians already living and renting in London, as well as property agents and their clients.
“About 90 per cent of my clients are Russian who require support and advice with English contracts, both of commercial and private nature.”
McHale and Co provides services to individuals, businesses and sportspeople - primarily footballers and their clubs and agents - as well as employing specialists in Spanish, Russian and Polish personal and business matters.
Fellow partner Marta Grzelak looks after the long-established Polish department that she helped set-up with McHale & Co founder Andrew McHale 10 years ago.
Andrew said: “We identified the growing need for Polish language services 10 years ago and we believe that there is now a demand for legal support for Russians within the property and business sectors."
McHale & Co are based at 19-21 High Street, Altrincham – for more details, call 0161 928 3848 or go to www.mchaleandco.co.uk.
