Why choose Stephensons?

We are used to working with our clients’ in-house legal teams and pride ourselves on being pragmatic and approachable.

Stephensons has delivered  legal services for housing associations for over 30 years. We were one of the pioneers in the 1980’s developing mortgage rescue schemes between housing associations and building societies. We have continued our sector experience throughout, delivering services in an adaptive manner as required by our housing association clients. More recently, we have been the sole appointed panel firm for South Liverpool Homes since 2016. We remain appointed to the Great Places, Torus and NEPO panel framework agreements. We have also sat on the West Yorkshire, Greenfield, and Leeds Housing Federation framework panels for conveyancing.

Our Head of Real Estate, David Baybut sits as Chair and Non-Executive Director on the boards of three housing providers. David also regularly attends a network group, comprising the chairs of regulated social supported housing providers, to share knowledge, process, approach, and solutions to issues facing that housing association group.

Recent cases

1. We have conducted over 100 right to buy and right to acquire transactions for one medium sized registered provider, utilising a bank of precedent documents, proceeding quickly and cost effectively. A number of these transactions have been complicated by the placement of solar panels on the properties. We have achieved a positive outcome by working with the client to develop a standard form solar panel lease which allows them to retain the solar panels on the property and the benefit of the feed in tariff payments for a period of 25 years following the sale of the property.

2. For one large housing association, we undertake a considerable amount of site assembly and plot sales work. Typical site assembly falls within a larger housing estate and comprises 30 to 100 units split between affordable rent and shared ownership. As such we have extensive experience of managing site acquisitions with a view to the development for plot sales on shared ownership basis or affordable rent.

3. Most of our recent larger scale developments have been acquisitions under section 106 Agreements. We have in our fulfilment of our duties, maintained that the section 106 conditions have been adhered to and satisfied by the developer, and that no burden, onerous or otherwise has personally passed on to our registered provider client. 
   
   On one development, the developer did not yet own the land therefore a section111 agreement was also entered into alongside the s.106, our ensuring that the developer would be solely liable for the costs and obligations in both agreements. To ensure the liability for the contributions was clear the agreements were amended by us to include a robust indemnity to clearly set out the intentions of the parties and the agreement for the developer to bear the costs/contributions under the agreement. Once the s.111 agreement was completed, the planning permission was granted and once the site was acquired by the developer, we assisted our client in respect of completion of the s.106 agreement. We delivered the required outcome to the client.

4. In a recent trespassing case, our team pursued, an interim injunction in the County Court on behalf of a large housing association. This was to prevent trespass and access to its property by a neighbouring landowner, who sought to create a right of way over our client’s land. The case involved complex property arguments and we were able to settle with the neighbouring landowner on favourable terms, to protect the housing association’s property with an order that the neighbour cannot build any structure on the boundary between the properties or replace the fencing without the prior permission of the housing association.

5. Rent arrears are a prevalent problem for housing associations. We advised a housing association in respect of a commercial tenant who had persistently fell into arrears of rent. The grounds for forfeiture had been met within the lease, however the client had waived the right to forfeit. We provided practical advice on maximising recovery, based upon the stock in the premises and worked with local bailiffs to regain possession of the premises.

6. Stephensons successfully assisted a housing provider with evicting tenants. The tenants all benefitted from assured tenancies, providing greater security of tenure, and we were able to validly serve notices seeking possession, followed by providing detailed advice on the eviction process at the County Court. This allowed the housing provider and its Housing department to successfully instigate possession proceedings and ultimately, obtain possession orders against its tenant on the grounds of rent arrears.