Rachael Spalton

Rachael heads up our Commercial Property team, specialising in all development related work. She acts for a wide range of clients, including commercial landlords, land and property developers, and portfolio investors.

With 20 years of experience, Rachael is able to slot effortlessly into your team, getting to know your business inside-out and coordinating the key players responsible for achieving your goals, such as surveyors, property agents and valuers.

Career

With one or two lawyers in the family, a career in law was always on the cards for Rachael. As a teenager, she wanted an interesting career where she could help people. She therefore decided to study Law at the University of Exeter and graduated in 1994. She then studied her Legal Practice Course (LPC) at Nottingham Trent University, graduating in 1996.

Rachael trained as a solicitor in Nottingham, qualifying into the Commercial Property team. While not helping people in their personal lives as she imagined as a teenager, Rachael enjoyed addressing clients’ business needs by delivering a perfectly tailored commercial property service.

She enjoys the challenge of applying the technical aspects of the law within a commercial context, helping people pursue their business endeavours and achieve the outcome they need as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

After qualifying as a solicitor, Rachael spent nearly 15 years working at global and other large law firms in London. During her time in the City she gained valuable experience handling high value and complex commercial property transactions, becoming adept at working in high pressure environments and meeting tight deadlines. Despite the skills she gained, Rachael knew that she wanted to develop closer relationships with her clients, becoming a true part of their businesses and providing a deeper, more personal service.

She therefore joined Longmores as a Partner in 2015 where she continues to provide the highest quality of commercial property advice to businesses and professional individuals across Hertfordshire and the surrounding counties.

Expertise

Rachael provides commercially-focused advice on all aspects of commercial property transactions, with a particular interest advising land owners and developers looking to acquire or dispose of potential development land or to diversify the use of their land.

Rachael regularly deals with land promotion agreements, options, pre-emption agreements and the acquisition and sale of development sites.

Rachael’s experience includes the following types of matters:

• Advising landowning clients in relation to promotion agreements where the landowner appoints a promoter to obtain planning permission for the development of agricultural land, the promoter incurring and bearing the risk of the planning costs but then sharing in the proceeds of sale of the land once planning permission has been granted
• Advising landowning clients in connection with the grant to a national house-builder of an option to purchase the land, the option being exercisable on the grant of planning permission and where the client’s land formed part of a wider scheme.
• Advising on the acquisition of a residential development site for a developer client.
• Advising on the sales of various parcels of land subject to overage with overage being payable if planning permission is implemented on the land sold or if the land is subsequently sold with the benefit of planning permission

Recognition

Rachael heads up our Commercial Property team which has been ranked by leading client guide, the Legal 500.

She has been independently recognised by the Legal 500 as a leading lawyer in the area of commercial property and agriculture and estates

Rachael is also a member of the CLA (Country Land and Business Association), a membership organisation that safeguards the interests of land owners, property owners and business owners in rural England and Wales.

Professional feedback

“For me, the standout at Longmores has to be Rachael Spalton. She’s simply excellent and has been my go-to solicitor for many years now. Rachael’s approach is unparalleled – nothing is ever a problem for her, and she navigates challenges with ease, always finding a solution. This, in my opinion, is the primary reason I’ve stuck with her for so long. I have complete confidence that Rachael will provide sound guidance and protect my business interests without fail.” The Legal 500 2025

“Rachael Spalton has also been involved mutually with clients and contacts, and has been a pleasure to deal with – knowledgeable, efficient diligent.” The Legal 500 2025

“Rachael Spalton has deep knowledge and an excellent understanding of commercial matters including leases, planning and development.” The Legal 500 2024

“Rachael was very professional, swift and efficient. I was very impressed with the service that she and her team provided.”  Surveyor

“A heartfelt thank you for making the covenant document a success. I very much appreciate the skills you bring.”  Partner of a farming business

Personal interests

In her free time, Rachael lives an active lifestyle; she enjoys skiing, mountain biking and motorbike trials riding. She also loves to travel and aims to go on three holidays a year, one of which should always involve a motorbike.