Bevan Brittan LLP, Social Housing

About

Provided by Bevan Brittan LLP

Housing sector participants, in particular registered providers and local authorities, are experiencing significant upheaval and disruption. The structural change across the housing sector is resulting in dynamic and innovative responses from registered providers and local authorities who are rising to the challenge of saving costs and generating flows of capital and revenue to deliver the housing the nation needs.

Some of the biggest challenges are:

UK Government's call for registered providers to contribute towards the building of the 200,000+ homes needed to meet demand.
Registered providers and local authorities needing to compete with private sector developers and housebuilders for key development sites.
The impact of new policies, including universal credit, the 1% annual rent reductions until 2019, the capping of Housing Benefit (and its payment direct to tenants), and changes to Right to Buy (RTB), which all impact significantly on funding and delivery strategies in business plans.
The Social Housing Regulator's increasing focus on registered providers delivering tangible value for money in their core activities.

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Social Housing - South West

Band 1

What the Team is Known For

Bevan Brittan has a robust social housing practice that advises clients including housing associations and local authorities. The firm provides a multidimensional offering that covers litigation, employment law matters, housing management, development and regeneration. The firm is also noted for its strength in the social housing finance space, which includes providing counsel on loan agreements. It has additional expertise in handling joint ventures between housing associations and shared ownership schemes.

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Work Highlights

Bevan Brittan advised Grand Union Housing Group in connection with a security valuation uplift project with Santander.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

They have sector knowledge, understand our organisation and provide clear and articulate advice with very responsive timescales.

Social Housing respondent
UK

The guidance provided by the team at Bevan Brittan is clear and put in a format that is easy to follow. They also provide options to resolve matters.

Social Housing respondent
UK

The team are approachable, accessible, and always on hand to provide advice.

Social Housing respondent
UK

They have sector knowledge, understand our organisation and provide clear and articulate advice with very responsive timescales.

Social Housing respondent
UK

The guidance provided by the team at Bevan Brittan is clear and put in a format that is easy to follow. They also provide options to resolve matters.

Social Housing respondent
UK

The team are approachable, accessible, and always on hand to provide advice.

Social Housing respondent
UK

Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers

Alison Buckingham

Band 2

Alison Buckingham maintains an excellent reputation for her work advising social housing providers on complex, high-value development schemes. She leads the social housing team for the South West region.

Alison has the ability to cut through the smoke and mirrors of negotiations to identify the key issues and risks, alongside options and solutions.

Efficient, flexible and adaptable, Alison will always find a way to meet even the tightest of timescales.

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Jessica Church

Band 3

Jessica Church regularly advises registered providers and their lenders on a range of financing transactions, including securitisations and bond issuances.

Jessica provides a professional and efficient service.

She has a very strong and reputable presence in social housing.

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Jonathan Turner

Band 3

Jonathan Turner leads the firm's commercial and infrastructure department and is recognised for his experience representing clients in joint venture agreement, development and regeneration matters.

Jonathan is professional, approachable and knowledgeable.

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