Bio
James is a Housing & Regeneration Senior Associate.
James advises registered providers and developers across a range of development, affordable housing and regeneration matters.
He has experience supporting clients throughout the lifecycle of residential development projects, from initial site acquisition through to delivery and disposal.
His work includes advising on site acquisitions and disposals for residential development by way of conditional turnkey contracts, golden brick agreements, option agreements and building leases.
He regularly acts for registered providers in connection with the acquisition of Section 106 affordable housing units from developers, providing advice on the negotiation of development agreements and the suitability of affordable housing provisions contained within Section 106 Agreements.
James also advises on large-scale housing-led regeneration projects, including complex town centre regeneration schemes involving multiple stakeholders and phased delivery programmes.
Alongside his development practice, James advises registered providers on charging and refinancing transactions involving housing stock portfolios, undertaking property due diligence and assisting clients in meeting lender and funder requirements. He also acts for developers on short-term development finance transactions, including the negotiation of finance and security documentation, the review of title issues and the resolution of property due diligence enquiries to facilitate funding drawdown and project delivery.
In addition, James has experience advising on a range of infrastructure and development-related agreements, including Section 38, Section 278 and Section 104 Agreements.
Examples of James’ work include:
- Acting on the acquisition of a site in four phases by way of a Golden Brick Agreement for the construction of 106 affordable housing units with a GDV of £17.5 million.
- Acting on the acquisition of a site in a back-to-back deal for a registered provider by way of a conditional contract and land and build package for the construction of 76 affordable housing units with a GDV of £17 million.