Affordable Housing

We advise landowners, developers, housebuilders, investors and local authorities on the optimisation of their planning proposals from a financial viability perspective. This in turn informs a developer’s affordable housing strategy and subsequent negotiations with the local planning authority, to gain a viable planning consent. We also provide advice on viability review mechanisms; affordable housing value drivers; and the commercial terms within S.106 agreements.

We engage with RPs, leading the selection process on behalf of developers to find suitable partners to satisfy their S.106 obligations and deliver new affordable homes. Our role is both to maximise the value of the affordable housing for the developer whilst, at the same time, finding the right partner who shares similar core values, management capability and long-term investment in a project.

Succeeding in property is about knowledge and market insight. Our analysis is rigorous and independent, which helps our clients find competitive advantage. Through thoughtful debate and commentary we set the direction for our industry.

Our Research team actively develop insight from across every area of our business. Because JLL advises across the entire Living spectrum – residential, coliving, affordable housing, student housing and healthcare – we can provide a holistic perspective on the property market – in London, across the UK, and throughout Europe.

Authored by our industry-leading Research team alongside in-house expertise, our thought leadership combines policy insight, industry trends and the market shifts that matter to you.

The Portfolio Transactions (often known as ‘Stock Rationalisation’) team advise on the sale, purchase or swap of tenanted social housing assets. We also provide asset consultancy advice to help our clients better understand their existing portfolios to make informed asset management decisions.

We advise our clients on all aspects of tenanted transfers including pricing advice, stock condition surveys and tenant involvement in the process. Combining valuation experience with market intelligence, the team are well placed to obtain best value for vendors and to give purchasers a critical competitive advantage.

The team has advised on transactions with a value in excess of £750m in the last five years.

The team provides building surveying and project services to all residential sectors and providers including institutional and private investors. We have national reach and local expertise providing our services to clients across the UK through our office network.

Our services include: acquisition advice and technical contract negotiation; building surveys and technical due diligence; contract administration; defects analysis and rectification; dilapidations; feasibility studies and advice; employer’s agent; planned maintenance surveys and expenditure profiles; project, development and fund monitoring; project management; reinstatement cost assessments; and stock condition or validation surveys.

Our specialist Development Valuation team understands what all tenures of affordable housing are really worth to RPs – on the balance sheet; when charged as security on completion; and in the S.106 market. That understanding comes from years of valuation experience, working with RPs and their financial stakeholders, on their development programmes across the country. We combine that expertise and understanding with knowledge of the land market, through our teams transacting land around the country.

We advise RPs on the acquisition of development land of all sizes, both urban and rural, ranging from small infill and self-contained plots to large, strategic sites. We provide land values, sales values for both private and shared ownership homes; and gross development values, for all types and tenures of housing.

We are the clear market leaders in this relatively new and fast-growing part of the affordable sector. Equity investors play an increasingly important part in supporting the development and provision of affordable housing, especially specialist supported housing, for which there is an acute need. We have worked from the outset with both listed and unlisted investors, and with their funding partners, advising on the valuation of acquisitions, forwarding funding of developments, and on building surveying due diligence.

In a market which is often in the spotlight from investors and the Regulator, our specialist team draws on this experience, and our work in healthcare and other, complementary sectors, to give robust and reasoned advice.