Ashfords Social & Affordable Housing Team provide sound practical advice to local authorities, housing associations, ALMOs and social landlords, from acquisition and disposal of housing developments through to complex litigation and tenancy management issues.
For more than 20 years we’ve acted for some of the largest social & affordable housing landlords in the country including the Guinness Partnership, Sovereign Housing Association, LiveWest, Cornerstone Housing, Evolve and the Aster Group. We also act for various London Boroughs in connection with their non-routine litigation work including the London Boroughs Legal Alliance consisting of 16 London based Authorities.
We appreciate the political issues, financial constraints and regulatory controls that affect the day to day work of our clients and are committed to providing a service and that is both tailored to and accommodates these concerns, and above all, provides value for money.
The Team are able to assist with a wide range of housing litigation and tenancy management issues including complex ASB cases, disrepair claims and counterclaims, subletting, non-occupation and social housing fraud cases, injunctions and homelessness reviews.
We can also help with everything from employment law including high level TUPE and union advice, drafting policy, planning and construction issues through to site purchase and shared ownership, acquisition and disposal of social housing developments, as well as car club and electric vehicle charging schemes.
Specialisms
- Complex ASB cases
- Disrepair claims & counter claims
- Injunctions to enforce tenancy obligations
- Homelessness reviews
- Drafting & advising in relation to policy
- Issues arising from leasehold properties
- Complex site acquisitions
- Office to residential conversion schemes
- Commercial lease transactions following a site acquisition
- Scheme site set-up on following initial land acquisitions
- Drafting & negotiating options, pre-emptions, partnership agreements & leaseback arrangements
- Plot sales
- Building contracts for fast track design & construction
- Asset management contracts, including refurbishment, repairs & maintenance of housing stock
- HR advice
- Employment contracts
- Service agreements & handbooks
- Restructures & redundancy
- TUPE
- Union issues
- Complex employee relations issues
- Car Sharing and Electric Vehicle Charging Project
We advise on all aspects of tenant management and wider property related disputes as well as social housing property and development issues relating to planning, construction, acquisition and disposal of social developments.
Find out moreAshfords act for more than 130 public authorities. Our public sector lawyers advise local and national government organisations and other public sector bodies on all relevant legal issues.
Find out moreUrban Regeneration
We help facilitate the successful delivery of major regeneration projects including city and town centre renaissance projects, coastal and harbour regeneration and community and mixed use projects.
We advise private investors, housing associations, local authorities and registered providers on how best to utilise PRS & Build to Rent as a catalyst for regeneration, to deliver housing and much needed income to help subsidise positive local and non-profit initiatives.
Find out moreWe have been a significant supplier to the public sector for more than 25 years handling hundreds of instructions each year, as such, we were successfully appointed to the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Framework in 2018. In this prospectus you will find further details of the services we can deliver as suppliers on the Lot 2a of the RM3788 Wider Public Sector Legal Services framework.
Find out more
Frequently Asked Questions
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What Public Sector panels are Ashfords on?
Ashfords act for more than 130 public authorities. If you would like to instruct us under a framework or you have any framework related questions, please email our Bid Team bids@ashfords.co.uk or call 01392 333613.
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Who should I contact if I have a social housing query?
Please contact Sian Gibbon at s.gibbon@ashfords.co.uk / 01392 334101 or Paul Butterworth at p.butterworth@ashfords.co.uk / 0117 321 8052
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Do you offer training to property professionals?
Yes, we provide training on a wide range of legal topics which may interest as well as soft skills workshops. Please fill out the contact form with your training requirements.
