Addleshaw Goddard is sought after by major lenders, lead arrangers, and investors to offer advice on the gamut of social housing finance mandates. This offering encompasses debt financing, refinancing, and restructuring matters, and notably, the group has also been active in some of the sector’s first green loan facilities, as well as key mergers. Taking an active role in a large volume of the team’s key transactions, housing finance head Lee Shankland-Gort also leads the firm’s social, sustainable, and green finance group, which assists clients with sustainability-linked lending; Nick Barlow chairs this group in Leeds with expertise in complex social housing transactions. Jennie Chilton heads up the firm’s social housing finance property security practice, and frequently assists clients with securing large portfolios of social housing stock, bond issues, and private placements. Head of the debt capital markets group Beth Collett is another key name, as well as Helen Hunter, who boasts strong relationships with key brokers and housing associations, and managing partner Steve Mackie, who leads the firm-wide finance and projects group with significant experience in large debt transactions.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Knowledge of both the sector and the legal side, speed of response, accessibility, depth of the team, and amazing collaboration.’
‘The standout individuals are Lee Shankland-Gort and Geoff McGinley. They are excellent, proactive, and pragmatic with collaborative relationships. These individuals always go above and beyond to provide an outstanding, first-class service.’
‘Addleshaw Goddard is the pre-eminent lender law firm in the social housing sector. Their expertise and knowledge is second-to-none.’
‘Lee Shankland-Gort and Geoff McGinley are the main contacts. As well as being excellent lawyers, they are always available, always go the extra mile and always add value to the relationship.'
Key clients
- Barclays Bank PLC
- The Royal Bank of Scotland plc
- National Westminster Bank Plc
- Santander UK plc
- Lloyds Bank plc
- Clydesdale Bank PLC
- HSBC UK Bank plc
- MUFG Bank, Ltd
- National Australia Bank Limited
- Nationwide Building Society
- ARA Venn
Work highlights
- Acted for each of the 14 funders on the final 'stage 2' of the £11bn merger of Peabody Trust and Catalyst Housing, and the necessary refinances and consents under existing facility agreements.
- Acted for ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Barclays Bank, HSBC UK Bank, LGIM, Lloyds Bank, and new private placement investors in connection with approximately £455m of new sustainability-linked facilities and private placements to Bromford Housing Group.
- Advised a UK life insurance fund and a European investment bank as purchasers, NatWest Markets Plc as Placement Agent, and M&G Trustee Company Limited as Bond Trustee on £338.5m of capital markets funding by Southern Housing in 2023.
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Practice head
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Lee Shankland-Gort