The Legal 500 > United Kingdom - Solicitors > London > Social housing: finance

‘Proactive, friendly and experienced team. Always willing to help. Always willing to think about future challenges/opportunities. Great team.

Very open to discussion. Think outside the box. More than happy to offer training and support. Very focused on relationships. Strong focus on ESG & D&I agenda – is welcomed.‘

‘As well as being highly professional, knowledgeable and experienced, the team at Addleshaws are very friendly, great to work with and provide a very personal service. There is no shortage of partner engagement and support.

Lee Shankland – sector leader on the funders side of social housing. Jenni Chilton – sector leader on the funders security side. Geoff McGinley – extremely competent and great to work with. Natalie Montezuma – extremely diligent and a joy to work with.’

‘Steve Mackie, Lee Shankland and the whole team at Addleshaw Goddard are the forefront lenders legal adviser in the social housing finance market. There is no one in the sector with the experience, depth, knowledge and availability.

Steve Mackie is a hands-on partner who gets involved and in the mix, he is the person to turn to for advice in the sector. Tom McHugh is tireless and very experienced as a managing associate.’

‘Leading team in the sector for social housing acting for lender so very knowledgable and experienced.

Steve Mackie was really accommodating and invested many hours helping us understand the sector better. We value the assistance he provided us.’

‘Exceptionally experienced and knowledgeable, deliver value for money, can provide insight.

Julian Barker and Sharon Kirkham, in particular, should be praised for their commitment, work ethic and ongoing advice.’

‘Lawyers dealing with financing and security act as one and deliver a complete solution. Individuals have great experience and are up to date with market practices.

Always got time for you and know when it is appropriate to bill for their time. They will always deliver per the timetable and are really nice people to work with.’

‘Devonshires have a wide skill base and are able to deploy quickly to meet client need. Their rapport with other firms, regulators and other clients makes them a worthwhile addition to any tender list in this field.

Key contacts were Julian Barker and Sharon Kirkham, both of whom were outstanding in getting our deal over the line. Our needs were anticipated and both worked to ensure availability at key times so that deadlines could be met.’

‘Sector knowledge of housing is second to none.

Very personable approach, impressive technical knowledge but always explained and applied practically and promptly!‘

‘Team is knowledgeable, accessible and personable

The individuals we dealt with were excellent at getting to the nub of matters and helping us to focus on what was important, i.e. making complex and involved matter understandable. Some of the individuals that we dealt with were Neil Waller, Jane Kirkham, Melanie Comer and Nicola Almond.’

‘The social housing finance team provide expert advice in a clear and concise manner. The attention to detail and delivery within agreed timescales is excellent.

Sarah Gooden – expert in understanding complex funding and treasury structures and devising clear workable solutions.’

‘In-depth expertise across the whole spectrum of social housing law, with clear communication and fast turnaround times.

No-nonsense approach to issues. If something is not going to work, we are told swiftly and with minimal expense. Otherwise, a pragmatic solution is found.’

‘Speed, accuracy, efficiency, knowledge and advice.

Geoff Fuller and James Avison are a superb team that always deliver within set timeframe and fees. Their knowledge is second to none.’

‘A&O real estate can be trusted to get the job done particularly on social housing bonds, which often have tight timescales and thousands of units. The team are highly experienced and are fully engaged at all times.

Kathryn Witton is my go-to lawyer – knowledgeable, experienced and always delivers. Brilliant person to have on a deal team‘

‘Willing to pull out all the stops to get the job done.

Simply very nice people to deal with.’

‘From Jon Coane as partner and throughout the whole team, they adopt a professional, engaged and efficient approach to supporting clients. They have risen to the high challenges I have set them at times as a client and have always delivered no matter the situation. They are also easy to talk to and have practical and pragmatic conversations, alongside their focussed expertise advice.

Jon Coane in particular. Engaging, sense of humour, up for big challenges even with near impossible client requirements. Underpinned by evident strong experience and technical knowledge, conveyed in clear and easy to understand ways. Also proactive and structured – traits often lost in some other big firms operating in the sector; this is evident in all I have dealt with at the organisation.‘

‘Sector knowledge, experience and presence in the social housing practice is strong Good resourcing and availability

Natalie Singh – Finance & funding – excellent commercial knowledge, excellent at finding practical solutions, delivery to schedule and budget.’

‘Natalie Singh knows her onions and is very responsive, pushing transactions forward. She always has a good grip on all transactions, unlike AGs, Trowers and Devonshires that often leave juniors exposed and without partner input. Jon Coane supports Natalie and leads on more vanilla transactions and is always affable to deal with.’

‘The funding team led by Natalie Singh are a pleasure to work with. They are professional, skilled, knowledgeable people that you can rely on when dealing with complex legal matters. They go the extra mile to ensure that work is completed to deadline and find solutions when things are not going quite to plan. I have used other firms for funding legal work in the past but none have been so reliable and knowledgeable as ACS and as easy to work with.’

‘Very detail focused and supportive with a strong view on communicating risks and opportunities to us as a client. Advice given considers the materiality of risks and their outcomes which is especially useful for making judgement calls. Overall breadth of experience of supporting similar transactions is very strong. ‘

‘Wendy Wilks is very considered and gives clear advice on findings – including risks and opportunities. She is very efficient and has shown significant understanding and support for us as a client – regularly monitoring and supporting us by highlighting actions and next steps. Her level of detail focus has given us significant confidence on a very high profile and complex transaction.’

‘Knowledge and experience within the sector along with local presence.

Good communication through the process – Fraser Macrae and Vicky Kells.’

‘The practice is very astute in its appointments of new staff to the team, ensuring it adds people with expertise and more importantly who are good at building relationships. This gives a good level of comfort in appointing the right firm to act on your behalf.

The individuals in the team are very knowledgeable about the subject matter and proactive in seeking solutions to any issues that arise. Also very approachable and keen on building good working relationships.’

‘Very helpful – do their best to get best outcome for us.

Always quick to respond and to try and help with issues.’

‘Problem-solving – they work to get the highest achievable security value and also to make the properties as securable as possible in the future not just for the current deal. For example, we will only use indemnity insurance as a last resort.’

‘The social housing team at Clifford Chance LLP are very knowledgeable and experienced in the sector having been instructed on many transactions and security charging exercises. When we have instructed the firm they have been reliable, thorough and have always met reasonable timescales.

Angela Shepherd, an associate, is our contact at firm. She is very knowledgeable and thorough with her work for us. She has excellent attention to detail.’

‘The social housing team at Clifford Chance are well known and respected in the sector for all aspects of security charging work. When instructed, Clifford Chance have always been professional, reliable, and completed transactions to a high standard.

We deal with Angela Shepherd at Clifford Chance for all security-related transactions. Angela is particularly knowledgable, thorough and always happy to provide assistance when requested.’

‘Angela Shepherd has immense knowledge and puts this into practice for the benefit of her clients and uses this to ensure best outcomes.’

‘The team has developed a strong and deep presence in the social housing finance sphere, with partners that are well respected and knowledgeable. They are ready and able to tackle the most complex arrangements and demonstrated their ability deliver the necessary and concise documentation in numerous projects.

Angela Shepherd is a senior associate with over 20 years of experience at Clifford Chance. Dealing with all aspects of commercial property and affordable housing, she has a calm ‘can do’ approach to delivery which is well appreciated by all those that work with her.’

‘The social housing team are thorough in their review and analysis of important documents and provide clear opinions and advice.’