Social Housing

• Built Environment
• Financial Services
• Charity and Not-for-Profit

Social housing investment requires bespoke legal advice. Our lawyers have sector-specific knowledge and give clear and strategic legal advice on all aspects of social housing development including:

• Establishment of property investment vehicles
• Property acquisition
• Financing structures including local authority funding structures such as CALF
• Private lending from financial institutions
• Onward leasing, disposal and other occupational arrangements

• We represent Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. in advancing funds to iCare, a not-for-profit AHB. This included the proposed acquisition of multiple hundreds of residential properties under the Mortgage to Rent Scheme and availing of public funding from the DHPLG through the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) and associated payment and availability arrangement designed exclusively for AHBs.

• We also represent Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. in advancing funds to a vehicle backed by a commercial, real estate fund in respect of its proposed acquisition of multiple thousands of residential properties under the Mortgage to Rent Scheme and availing of public funding from the DHPLG through the Enhanced Long Term Social Housing Leasing Scheme (Enhanced Leasing) targeted at investors.

• We are acting for multiple domestic and international pension, wealth funds and institutional investors in acquiring large portfolios of both one-off and multi-unit residential properties and simultaneously availing of public funding from the DHPLG through the CALF and Enhanced Leasing Scheme.

• We are representing developers, investors and private equity firms regarding joint venture arrangements conducive to delivering social housing projects and transacting units opposite local authorities, the HFA and the HA for social housing supply.

• We act for a significant number of large developers of residential property schemes (new, unfinished and completed) in devising the legal schemes for developments including estate management structures and disposing of bulk properties to local authorities, the HA and AHBs as part of statutory planning obligations and otherwise.

• We represent many of the larger AHBs in Ireland building, buying and leasing property for social housing purposes and availing of DHPLG CALF funding.

• We have experience in acting for entities leasing units from the National Asset Management Agency’s special purpose National Asset Residential Property Services (NARPS) vehicle.