Trowers advises council-owned not-for-profit body on £750m collaboration with charity to deliver up to 2,500 rental properties in London

Law firm Trowers & Hamlins has advised Capital Letters, a not-for-profit organisation owned by ten local authorities, on a £750m deal with housing charity Home Safe Housing.

The firm said the deal, the first of its kind that Capital Letters has entered into, will help provide up to 2,500 affordable rented homes across London and will help to alleviate the City's affordable housing shortage and provide vital safe, secure and affordable homes for families experiencing homelessness.

Capital Letters was set up to respond to London’s homelessness crisis. It works in partnership with London councils and private landlords to help families find a secure and settled home.

Home Safe Housing is a registered housing charity that provides homes at affordable rents through the housing teams of affiliated local authorities.

The Trowers team was led by Partner Scott Dorling and Managing Associate David Hughes.

Hughes said: "The London housing market is amongst one of the world's most expensive, and the volume of affordable housing stock is nowhere near enough to cope with the capital's ever-growing population and the ever-growing number of families experiencing homelessness. The statistics for the number of children currently in temporary accommodation is alarming and this is something that needs to be addressed.

"It's great that Capital Letters and Home Safe Housing have come together to help increase London's volume of affordable housing stock and providing much needed homes for homeless families. My colleagues and I wish them well with this ongoing project and hope to see it replicated nationwide in due course."