The Affordable Housing market has seen huge changes, becoming ever more sophisticated, complex and challenging. For over 40 years, we have advised and supported our clients as the sector has navigated the many economic, regulatory and political challenges and impediments to building encountered during that time.
We are passionate about helping our clients to provide much needed new homes; having a secure and affordable place to live is a fundamental need. The reclassification of housing as vital infrastructure is essential in resolving the deepening housing crisis as it will help in the delivery of homes in the quantity and quality that is required, provide long term funding certainty and unlock other significant benefits recognising housing’s critical role in both social and economic development.
Development and Regeneration are at the heart of what we do. Our specialist Affordable Housing team advise a wide range of clients who own, develop or invest in real estate within the sector. Our clients include Registered Providers both for profits and not for profits, private developers, local authorities and investors, and we have an extensive track record of advising these clients particularly on residential led acquisitions, developments and disposals.
We share with our clients an ambition to build safe, high-quality affordable homes and communities, and this cannot be achieved without us creating and maintaining deep-rooted working relationships, at multiple levels, between our respective organisations. As a result, we have long and established relationships with many of our Registered Provider clients. Our clients describe us as their trusted advisers, very commercially aware and solution driven, focused on them and their customers.
Our expertise is expansive, ranging from package acquisitions, such as section 106 affordable homes and land led opportunities with site assembly and development constraints, to strategic partnerships, including joint venture structures and collaboration agreements. Such development partnerships will usually involve private sector developers and/or public sector bodies such as the Greater London Authority, the Homes and Communities Agency, the London Legacy Development Corporation, Transport for London, and may require funding agreements (including public grant agreements).
Drawing upon legal expertise, we work seamlessly with our specialist teams including Planning, Tax, Construction (both contentious (such as building safety and fire remediation) and non-contentious), Corporate, Finance, Plot Sales and Disputes, together providing a breadth and depth of experience across the entire development lifecycle.
If you would like to hear how we can help you, please get in touch with our specialist Affordable Housing team.
The team at Forsters are excellent at both supporting you as a client in relation to complex legal issues, as well as providing timely and complete advice to ensure that deadlines are kept to and your best interests are always covered.
The team at Forsters are incredibly approachable. They make themselves available and deal with matters in a professional but easy to understand way. They are very good at recognising risk and advising clients on how best to mitigate.
Key experience
Large-scale West London development
We act for a long-standing client on the acquisition and development, through a joint venture, of two sites in West London which were owned by the local authority. One of the sites is being developed over three phases providing circa 940 new homes, of which 35% are affordable homes. We are involved through the whole lifecycle of the development.
Section 106 affordable homes in Canning Town
We advised Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Association on the acquisition from English Cities Fund (a joint venture between the HCA, Legal and General, and Muse Developments) of 177 new affordable homes required under the section 106 agreement to be secured for affordable housing. The homes are in three Tower Blocks on Phase One of this multi-phase regeneration scheme in Canning Town.
Regeneration of three sites next to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London
We advised our client Notting Hill Genesis, one of the largest not for profit housing associations in London, on the acquisition from the London Legacy Development Corporation of three strategic sites close to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The sites are to be developed as part of the LLDC’s and Hackney Councils Hackney Wick Central masterplan. We advised Notting Hill both at the bid stage and following its selection by the LLDC under a procurement process utilising the GLA’s London Development Panel Framework (LDP2). We continue to advise on the development of the sites to deliver 190 new homes including the planning agreements, the Building Contracts and related construction documents, and all infrastructure agreements.
Meet our team

Sara Branch
Partner, Head of Affordable Housing

Jonathan Preece
Counsel, Commercial Real Estate

Charlotte Youngs
Senior Associate, Commercial Real Estate

Tom Quayle
Associate, Commercial Real Estate

Mairead Hannon
Solicitor, Commercial Real Estate

Ella Nealon
Paralegal, Commercial Real Estate

Andrea Deslandes
Conveyancer, Commercial Real Estate

Ella Jones
Associate, Planning

Victoria Du Croz
Partner, Head of Planning

Matthew Evans
Counsel, Planning

Emily Holdstock
Partner, Construction

Richard Spring
Counsel, Construction

Dan Easom
Senior Associate, Construction

Emma Spence
Senior Associate, Construction

Andrew Parker
Partner, Head of Construction Disputes

Thérèse Marie Rodgers
Counsel, Construction Disputes

Dan Cudlipp
Senior Associate, Construction Disputes

Emma Swan
Associate, Construction Disputes

Naomi Trinh
Partner, Corporate and Commercial

Christine Dubignon
Partner, Corporate

Elizabeth Small
Partner, Tax

Nichola Padget
Counsel, Real Estate Disputes

Sarah Heatley
Senior Associate, Real Estate Disputes