Emma Sear

Emma advises on all aspects of residential real estate, acting for private individuals, family offices, investors, developers, lenders, landlords and tenants. She has particular expertise in advising high-net-worth UK and international clients on the acquisition, disposal and management of residential property, including prime central London homes, country estates and investment portfolios.

Her work spans freehold and leasehold transactions, portfolio acquisitions and disposals, secured lending, first registrations, lease extensions and complex title issues. Emma regularly works alongside private client and tax advisers to assist clients with ownership structures, succession planning and wider wealth preservation objectives.

Emma also works closely with our construction and building safety teams, advising landlords, developers and resident management bodies on resident engagement and communication strategies arising from building safety matters and remediation projects.

Known for her responsive and pragmatic approach, Emma helps clients navigate complex transactions with clarity and confidence, delivering practical solutions to demanding timescales.

• Advised on the acquisition of a prestigious apartment in prime central London from receivers, achieving exchange of contracts within an extremely tight deadline and picking up and resolving a significant registration error that had not previously come to light;

• Advised a large residential developer on resident engagement obligations and communications strategy in connection with a significant building safety remediation programme.

• Advised on the purchase of a leasehold apartment sold with the benefit of planning permission and an un-demised garden;

• Advised on the purchase of a large country house in Surrey for an international family working alongside tax and private wealth advisers to implement an ownership structure aligned with the family succession planning objectives;

• Advised on the purchase of a former farm and land within Dartmoor National Park including representations to the national park authority and advice regarding a public footpath within the boundaries;

• Advised on the purchase of a large coastal property with unregistered land down to the Crown’s foreshore for which the deeds had been lost, renewal of a jetty lease from the Crown Estate and advice regarding adverse possession.

Emma is included in Spears Property Lawyers Index 2026 as a Recommended Property Lawyer.