Housebuilding & Development

The UK housebuilding sector is a broad ecosystem of housebuilders, developers, landowners, land agents, planners, and plot sales specialists, all of whom contribute to the delivery of either private, affordable or social housing. Together, they face a range of challenges, including planning delays and reform uncertainty, high costs of build, market volatility, and potential labour shortages. In addition, the range of requirements and regulations relating to net zero and building safety, means an increase in compliance costs and complexity.

Yet, in spite of these significant challenges, there is space for optimism in the housebuilder sector, with improved financing conditions, planning reform, growing affordable housing demand, and public sector investment all signalling renewed growth and impetus for the coming years.

Legal support for every stage of the housebuilding lifecycle

Ashfords’ Housebuilding and Development team is UK-based, consisting of lawyers with a wide range of expertise to support clients to navigate every one of these challenges successfully. We work with private housebuilders, land promoters, developers and landowners, as well as social and affordable housing providers of all shapes and sizes. The Ashfords team supports on every aspect of the housebuilding journey, including acquisition and disposal of housing developments, through to complex litigation and tenancy management issues.

Whilst our team of experts offers full service legal advice and support, we tap into the deep expertise within each department to ensure that the advice we deliver is truly exceptional. This breadth of practice and in-depth experience enables us to anticipate client need and support them to deliver every part of a project successfully, no matter what challenge they face or where they are in their journey.

Our team works across a variety of disciplines to deliver comprehensive advice, including:

• Acquisition and disposal of land

• Planning

• Infrastructure consenting

• Construction

• Site set up and plot sales (for both private housebuilders and registered providers)

• Regeneration

• Sustainability

• Dispute resolution

• Property litigation

• Commercial advice