1 Chapel Street, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1BU 01243 271490 Mon to Fri 09:00 to 17:30 SRA 618095
Bate & Albon Chichester office · 1 Chapel Street Speak to the desk
★ Chichester · 1 Chapel Street · since 2015 · SRA 618095

A two-discipline Chichester desk. Commercial property and private client. Nothing else.

The office at 1 Chapel Street is run as a small specialist bench, by design. Annabelle Langmead handles commercial property: option agreements, listed acquisitions, Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 renewals, commercial warehouse investments. Serena Elliott handles private client: wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, estate administration, trusts, Court of Protection and Deputyship work. Both qualified solicitors, both named, both on direct dials. Part of a five-office Sussex firm founded by Carl Bate in 2015.

Speak to the Chichester desk See what we do
Since 201511 years, five Sussex offices
SRA 618095Solicitors Regulation Authority
Two specialistsCommercial property and private client, named
1 Chapel StreetA minute from the Market Cross
Pallant House, Chichester, a Grade I listed 1712 Queen Anne red-brick townhouse three minutes from the Bate & Albon Chichester office
PALLANT HOUSE · 1712 · THREE MINUTES FROM THE DESK The Queen Anne townhouse, the Cathedral spire, the Market Cross. The office sits among them.
Two named solicitors

One for commercial property. One for private client.

Five Sussex offices

Brighton HQ, Chichester, Eastbourne, Worthing, Lewes.

11 years trading

Founded 2015 by Carl Bate. Companies House 09201548.

SRA 618095

Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

WHAT THE CHICHESTER DESK DOES · FOUR LINES

The two-discipline craft, plus the residential and landlord-tenant work that sits beside it.

A high-street firm in Chichester typically lists ten practice areas. We list four, because four is what the Chichester desk actually handles week in, week out. The named lead on each line is the named lead, not a drop-down on a contact form.

01

Commercial property

Led by Annabelle Langmead

Sales and purchases of commercial premises across West Sussex. New leases and statutory Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 renewals. Freehold and leasehold acquisitions and disposals. Rent reviews and dilapidations. Tenant covenant enforcement. TUPE transfers. Developer-side legal representation. Annabelle has acted on option agreement negotiations with major housebuilders including Thakeham, on listed property acquisitions for residential use, and on commercial warehouse investment purchases. Carl Bate oversees the firmwide commercial property department from Brighton.

02

Private client

Led by Serena Elliott

Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, registration of Enduring Powers of Attorney, estate administration, estate planning before and after death, trusts, Inheritance Tax advice, Court of Protection and Deputyship work, and elderly and vulnerable client advice. Serena is a member of Solicitors for the Elderly, a certified Dementia Friend, and a guest speaker on retirement planning for NHS Western Sussex Hospitals. Nearly eighteen years of south-coast practice including reaching Partnership at a prior firm.

03

Residential conveyancing

Led by Chichester desk, firmwide team

Fixed-fee handling of sales, purchases and remortgages for buyers across the Chichester catchment: the city itself, Bognor Regis, Pagham, Bosham, Fontwell, Westhampnett, Oving, Merston, Dell Quay, West Ashling, Hunston, Tangmere and Westerton. Run as part of the firmwide residential team under Chris Albon in Worthing and Paula Williams as Head of Residential Property, with the local Chichester intake handled at 1 Chapel Street.

04

Landlord and tenant

Led by Alina de Heer leads firmwide

Commercial and residential landlord-tenant matters including leasehold enfranchisement, lease extensions, section 21 and section 8 notices, and the day-to-day disputes that an active Chichester commercial portfolio generates. Property Dispute Resolution is run firmwide by Alina de Heer with input from the Chichester commercial property desk where the underlying lease is one Annabelle has drafted.

THE CHICHESTER DESK · TWO NAMED SOLICITORS

Annabelle on the commercial side. Serena on the private client side.

Direct dials, individual email addresses, individual professional backgrounds. The Chichester intake is small by design, so the named solicitor on your file is the solicitor on the file.

Annabelle Langmead, Commercial property at Bate & Albon Solicitors, Chichester office
Commercial property

Annabelle Langmead

Qualified 2014. Worked in Chichester for the whole of her career. Consultant solicitor for Bate & Albon since 2017. Acts for landowners, developers, property companies, investors and private individuals. Recent work includes option agreement negotiations with Thakeham, listed property acquisitions for residential use, and commercial warehouse investment purchases. The client testimonial line: "puts complex legal jargon into plain English".

Serena Elliott, Private client at Bate & Albon Solicitors, Chichester office
Private client

Serena Elliott

Qualified 2006. Nearly eighteen years of south-coast practice, including training and reaching Partnership at a prior firm before joining Bate & Albon. Member of Solicitors for the Elderly. Certified Dementia Friend. Guest speaker for NHS Western Sussex Hospitals retirement-planning courses. Wills, LPAs, trusts, Inheritance Tax, estate administration, Court of Protection and Deputyship work.

SPECIALISM · OPTION AGREEMENTS AND DEPUTYSHIPS

Two specialisms a Chichester high-street firm usually does not staff by name.

On the commercial property side, Annabelle has a working file of option agreement negotiations with major housebuilders (Thakeham among them), site promotion agreements for residential development, listed property acquisitions for residential use, and commercial warehouse investment purchases. This is the work that needs a solicitor who knows the Stamp Duty Land Tax sub-rules, the HM Land Registry overage entries, and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 contracted-out renewal procedure, not a generalist who handles a deed of variation every three weeks.

On the private client side, Serena is a member of Solicitors for the Elderly and a certified Dementia Friend. Court of Protection deputyship applications (form COP1, form COP3, the notification rules, the supervision arrangements once the deputyship is granted) are part of her standing work. Inheritance Tax advice on estates with agricultural relief, business property relief, and the new residence nil-rate band tapering at the £2 million estate threshold are part of the bench. Almost no other Chichester high-street firm staffs both crafts by name from the same office.

  • Thakeham option agreement negotiations, site promotion work.
  • Listed property acquisitions for residential conversion use.
  • COP1 Court of Protection deputyship applications.
  • SfE Solicitors for the Elderly membership.
ELEVEN YEARS · 2015 TO TODAY

2015, Carl Bate starts Bate & Co in Brighton. 11 years on the firm is five Sussex offices and Chichester is a two-discipline desk.

Carl Bate qualified in a City of London firm in 1995, relocated to Brighton in 1999, and partnered at several larger Sussex practices before going independent. In 2015 he incorporated Bate & Co as a sole practitioner and built the firm on the bet that a deliberately specialised real-estate and private-client practice could outwork the full-service high-street firms whose conveyancing-and-everything-else generalism was getting slower year on year.

Chris Albon joined as director in December 2016 and the rename to Bate & Albon was recorded at Companies House in February 2017. Annabelle Langmead joined the same year as the named Chichester commercial property consultant, having qualified in 2014 and worked in Chichester for the whole of her career. Serena Elliott joined as the named Chichester private client consultant, bringing nearly eighteen years of south-coast practice including a Partnership at a prior firm. Hamish Smith joined as the third partner in April 2024.

“We have a common-sense approach underpinned by sound technical ability and experience.” Carl Bate, founder, on the firm’s positioning
2014 Carl Bate incorporates Bate & Co Limited at Companies House (09201548).
2015 Carl establishes Bate & Co in Brighton as a sole practitioner, after twenty years of partnership at larger Sussex firms and a 1995 City of London qualification.
2016 Chris Albon joins as director. Sussex University law graduate, ten years of equity partnership behind him, Worthing-based.
2017 Companies House records the rename from Bate & Co Limited to Bate & Albon Limited. Annabelle Langmead joins as Chichester consultant solicitor for commercial property.
2019 Sussex coverage expands. Eastbourne, Worthing, Chichester and Lewes offices follow the Brighton HQ.
2024 Hamish Smith joins as the firm’s third director in April, broadening the partnership beyond the two name partners.
2026 Five Sussex offices, six partners, a consultant bench across commercial property, private client, residential conveyancing and landlord and tenant. The Chichester office at 1 Chapel Street is a two-discipline desk: Annabelle on commercial property, Serena on private client.
FIRMWIDE PARTNERS · BEHIND THE CHICHESTER DESK

The partnership the Chichester desk reports into.

Carl Bate, Founder and managing partner at Bate & Albon Solicitors
Founder and managing partner

Carl Bate

Founded Bate & Co (as it was then) in 2015 as a sole practitioner in Brighton. First Class Honours in the Law Society Finals at the College of Law, Guildford. Qualified as a solicitor in 1995 in a City of London firm; relocated to Brighton in 1999 and partnered at several larger Sussex firms before going independent. Acted on the sale of Bewl Water, the largest reservoir in South East England.

Chris Albon, Partner, Worthing at Bate & Albon Solicitors
Partner, Worthing

Chris Albon

Joined as director December 2016; firm rename to Bate & Albon followed in February 2017. Sussex University law graduate, postgraduate diploma at the College of Law. Ten years of equity partnership at prior firms before joining. Manages the Worthing residential conveyancing operation and works alongside Annabelle on the Chichester residential intake.

CATCHMENT · THE HARBOUR, THE MANHOOD PENINSULA, THE COASTAL PLAIN

The Chichester office serves the whole western West Sussex coast.

Chichester itself, the cathedral quadrant, the Pallants, Chapel Street. North into Westhampnett and Oving. South toward Dell Quay and the Witterings. East toward Tangmere and Westerton. The Harbour villages: Bosham, West Ashling, Hunston. The coastal plain: Pagham, Bognor Regis, Fontwell, Merston. The office is run as a small specialist desk, not a high-volume branch, so the Annabelle / Serena pair can take option agreements, listed acquisitions, complex private client work and deputyships across the whole patch without the file being passed on.

The Chichester Market Cross, the Perpendicular Grade I listed octagon at the centre of Chichester, a minute from 1 Chapel Street
The Market Cross. Bishop Edward Story, c. 1501. A minute from 1 Chapel Street.
SPEAK TO THE CHICHESTER DESK · ANNABELLE OR SERENA

Tell us what the matter is. We’ll route it to the named solicitor and come back.

Commercial property goes to Annabelle Langmead, private client goes to Serena Elliott, residential conveyancing goes to the firmwide residential team with the Chichester intake at 1 Chapel Street. The form below is the fastest way; the direct dials are on the team cards above if you would rather start by phone.

Get in touch with the Chichester desk

We come back inside one working day. Routing goes to the named solicitor for the discipline above, or to info@batealbonsolicitors.co.uk for the general queue.

VISIT · CHAPEL STREET

The Chichester office

1 Chapel Street
Chichester
West Sussex PO19 1BU

Phone · 01243 271490

Email · info@batealbonsolicitors.co.uk

Annabelle (commercial) · 01243 969244

Serena (private client) · 01243 969246

Walk from · one minute from the Market Cross, three minutes from Pallant House Gallery, two minutes from West Street and the Cathedral

OPENING HOURS · CHICHESTER

When the desk is staffed

  • Monday09:00 to 17:30
  • Tuesday09:00 to 17:30
  • Wednesday09:00 to 17:30
  • Thursday09:00 to 17:30
  • Friday09:00 to 17:30
  • SaturdayClosed
  • SundayClosed

Out of hours, the form above is the fastest way to start a matter. We route it to the named solicitor for the discipline the next working morning. Wills and LPA signings are by appointment and can be scheduled within or just after the office day so the witnesses are easier to gather.

1 Chapel Street, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1BU. One minute from the Market Cross, two minutes from the Cathedral, three minutes from Pallant House Gallery. Open in Google Maps ↗
FAQ · FIVE QUESTIONS WE GET MOST IN CHICHESTER

Short answers. Bring the rest to the call.

If I want to make a will and also sell a piece of commercial land, do I have to deal with two different firms?

No. The Chichester office at 1 Chapel Street pairs Annabelle Langmead on commercial property with Serena Elliott on private client, deliberately, so the same office handles both sides. Annabelle takes the commercial sale; Serena takes the will and the estate planning around the proceeds. Both work at the same address, share the same client account, and route correspondence under one engagement letter where it makes sense to combine.

Annabelle and Serena are the named Chichester solicitors. Who handles my file if both are on holiday?

The Chichester intake is small by design; cover for either solicitor routes to a named consultant on the same discipline rather than to a duty solicitor. Commercial property cover comes from Carl Bate in Brighton and Genevieve Norman on the firmwide commercial property bench. Private client cover comes from the firmwide private client consultants. You will always know in advance who is on cover and you will not be passed to a number with no one on it.

Are fees fixed for commercial property and private client work, or charged by the hour?

Residential conveyancing is fixed-fee firmwide and the price is on the engagement letter. Commercial property quotes are returned in writing after a brief by Annabelle, either as a fixed fee for transactions with predictable steps (a straightforward leasehold purchase, a Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 renewal) or as a transparent hourly estimate with a cap for more variable work (an option agreement negotiation, a multi-plot site promotion). Private client wills and LPAs are fixed fee. Estate administration is quoted in writing after the size and complexity of the estate is established.

I am in Bognor Regis (or Pagham, Bosham, Fontwell, Tangmere). Do I need to come into Chapel Street?

No. The Chichester office serves the whole catchment from Bognor Regis to Bosham via document upload, video call, and post. The Chapel Street office is a five-minute walk from the Market Cross and is open for in-person attendance by appointment for clients who prefer it, particularly for wills and LPA signings where two witnesses help to keep the visit short, but no part of the process requires it.

How does the firm handle a deputyship application for an elderly relative who has lost capacity?

Serena handles deputyship applications in the Chichester office personally. The process: a Court of Protection deputyship application (form COP1 with supporting forms), an assessment of capacity by a doctor or social worker (form COP3), a notification of the application to the family members the rules require, then the Court appointment and the supervision arrangements once the deputyship is granted. Serena is a member of Solicitors for the Elderly and a certified Dementia Friend, and is a regular speaker for the NHS Western Sussex Hospitals retirement planning courses.