Blake Morgan to provide legal services for Platform Housing Group
Leading law firm Blake Morgan has been appointed to a four-year framework to provide legal services for major social housing provider Platform Housing Group (Platform).
Blake Morgan will provide legal advisory services relating to development and property, supporting Platform on a wide variety of services. This will range from planning and development, to acquisitions and disposals, including advice on environmental and construction matters.
Blake Morgan’s team will be led by partner Joanna Rees, supported by real estate partners Louise Howells and Dawn Smith, and senior associate Victoria Morley-Jones together with an enthusiastic team experienced in working in the housing sector. This appointment builds on the team’s strong reputation in the social housing sector, which was recently recognised with its inclusion within the top tier in the latest Legal 500 rankings.
A strategic partner for Homes England, Platform is the largest housing association in the Midlands, and one of the largest in the country. It owns 46,000 homes in total and completed 1448 homes in 2019/20 (1,598 in 2018/19) at an investment of £258m (£228m in 2018/19). The Group also built more social rented homes – at a figure of 981 – during the past two years in England than any other provider, almost 33% of the total homes built. Platform Housing Group’s operating area is from Herefordshire in the West to the Lincolnshire coast in the East, and from the Derbyshire Dales in the North to the Cotswolds in the South.
Platform, which was formed following the merger of Fortis Living and Waterloo Housing, has a combined pipeline of more than 18,000 new homes over the next 10 years and is embarking on a corporate strategy to build a truly modern housing association, putting the customer at the heart of its activities.
Joanna Rees, Partner at Blake Morgan, said:
We are really pleased to have been appointed to Platform's legal framework, and look forward to supporting the team in their ambitious plans to shape the future of social housing and create economic opportunities in their local communities. This appointment showcases the continued strength of our construction and property teams – building on our success in the most recent Legal 500 rankings.
Nathan Barson, Procurement Director at Platform Housing Group, said: “It is great to see our new Category Management function using the tools and techniques to deliver such high quality work; not only have we successfully mapped our complex requirements but we have managed to secure commercially robust agreements with some of the country’s leading law firms. We have added value, successfully matched our ambitions to the leading players in the market and ensured we have the partnerships in place for a truly modern housing association.”
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