DWF appointed to Homes England legal panel

Melanie Williams

International legal business DWF has been reappointed to the legal panel for Homes England following a tendering process by the non-departmental public body.

The appointment was secured by DWF’s public sector and real estate teams and the reappointment will allow the business to continue providing a range of legal services including housing, planning, development and construction and litigation.

The DWF team appointed to the panel combines specialist knowledge of the public sector and experience working with public bodies with a wide range of real estate expertise.

To complement Homes England’s regional project delivery model, DWF will continue to utilise its core real estate and public sector teams based in its London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle offices.

DWF has worked as part of the Homes England legal panel for the past four years.

The expanded agency will play a far bigger role in investing in supply and intervening in the market to help deliver 300,000 homes a year by the middle of the next decade.

Homes England will bring together money, land, expertise and planning and compulsory purchase powers to accelerate the supply of new homes and address affordability issues in areas of highest demand.

DWF’s real estate team comprises more than 300 lawyers spanning regional offices in the UK as well as international offices in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Australia.

The team seamlessly interacts with complementary disciplines across the business and is a core part of the public sector team which exists to maximise DWF’s value and effectiveness dealing with clients which form part of or are dealing with the public sector generally.

The public sector team comprises lawyers across the disciplines, including real estate, with particular interest, skill and experience in dealing with the legal and commercial issues arising in this area.

The combined DWF Homes England team will work from various regional sites utilising DWF’s remote and agile working facilities and a centralised legal support centre to enable cross-office teams to work as one.

Lead partner for DWF’s Homes England Team, Melanie Williams, said: “We see this as not just a strategically important client for the firm but also as our own firm’s contribution to the investment in our communities across England and Wales.”

Jonathan Branton, DWF partner and head of public sector, added: “This reappointment is a great endorsement of the work we have been doing to go further for our clients in bringing a genuine sector-driven focus and value addition to our service.

“We have been able to combine the experience and expertise we have across many areas to provide a rounded service to a very important public sector body in Homes England.”

The housing team at DWF acts for a number of national registered providers of social housing.

Earlier this year the firm was appointed to Places for People Group’s inaugural legal services panel, reappointed to The Riverside Group’s legal panel and won a place on Home Group’s development legal services panel.

The team also acts for regional registered providers such as Together Housing Group, Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, Karbon Homes and the Bernicia Group.

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