sitemap | accessibility

Social Housing

Acquisition work for RSL's, e.g.:
- Acquisition of brownfield site, linked to associated acquisition by private developer and requirement to enter into a design and build contract with that developer.
- Multi-million pound acquisition of a development site linked to previous acquisition of “off the shelf” new build flats.
- Acquisition of commercial premises for land banking purposes with subsequent requirement to put commercial lease in place.
Acting for a pathfinder Urban Regeneration Company involved in the regeneration of a substantial area in Scotland. A major regeneration project involveing a number of public sector major players as well as voluntary organisations and private sector developers.
Acting for major Scottish LSVT RSLs in relation to their ongoing business.
Acting for a Local Authority in disposing of development sites.
Advisng lenders involved in Social Housing. Our activites cover standard security work to advice on more complex arrangements, such as trustees and syndications.
Regularly called upon to advise on all manner of matters relevant to housing associations and other landlords ranging from advice on EU Procurement Regulations, incorporation and group structures, contract law, finance arrangements, regulatory regimes (including OSCR), as well as business advice on law changes, new regulations, guidance or other relevant schemes.
Regularly called upon to advise and secure Anti-Social Behaviour Orders together with a range of interim orders affecting problem tenants.
Retained by a number of RSL's in the recovery of Factoring arrears.
Advising and representing RSLs on a variety of disputes arising out of design and build contracts, development issues and tenancy matters.
Representing a large RSL in complex Arbitration proceedings following upon LSVT of housing stock.
In December 2007, the team completed a significant Scottish LSVT. The deal was worth millions of pounds by way of investment over 30 years. On the back of the successful transfer, bto’s Social Housing team was retained for all ongoing work to service the needs of the RSL. One crucial aspect of this LSVT is that the acquiring RSL is required to fulfil a significant ongoing development role, including the acquisition of development sites, for the erection of new build properties for affordable housing. A similar LSVT was completed in November 2006 and, again, bto was retained for all ongoing work of the acquiring RSL. Also in December 2007, bto acted for lenders in relation to a smaller stock transfer (around 200 houses).
TUPE & the employment aspects of Large Scale Voluntary Transfers: Acting for the emerging Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), we were instrumental in securing the successful completion of several Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) in Scotland which involved the transfer of the housing stock and related assets and staff from the local authorities to the emerging landlords. We advised on the employment aspects of these multi-million pound projects which recently concluded successfully with the transfer to our clients of over 200 staff.
Advice re LSVT contracts in particular indemnities and their continuing value (or otherwise), claims under indemnities and disputes and dispute resolution.
Advice regarding how charity law affects charitable RSLs, or RSLs considering adoption of charitable status. This includes advice regarding the relationship between the charity regulator (OSCR) and the Scottish Housing Regulator, the impact of charity law on RSL governing body members and on RSL development proposals. For more information on our charity work, see the Charity section of our website.

45/51 Hanover Street Edinburgh EH2 2PJ
T: 0131 220 2777 F: 0131 220 0010 E: lawyers@bto.co.uk

48 St. Vincent Street Glasgow G2 5HS
T: 0141 221 8012 F: 0141 221 7803 E: lawyers@bto.co.uk

Social Housing

Experience