Burges Salmon advises city council on sale of 487 homes to social housing and shared ownership provider

January 7, 2025

Law firm Burges Salmon has advised Birmingham City Council on the sale of 487 homes to Legal & General Affordable Homes.

The portfolio is part of the Perry Barr scheme, a regeneration plan, spanning more than 60 hectares of land, to create a new neighbourhood with more than 5,000 new homes and supporting infrastructure.

Burges Salmon’s cross-disciplinary Built Environment sector group advised the city council providing real estate, planning, construction, tax, employment and corporate expertise.

The team was led by partner Ross Polkinghorne and senior associate Amber Liu.

Polkinghorne, head of Built Environment at Burges Salmon, said: “It has been a pleasure working with Birmingham City Council on this important sale which supports the council’s ambition of providing a sustainable future for Perry Barr, with a wider scheme that accelerates the regeneration of the area and positively tackles housing challenges.

“Buying and selling council-owned land can be highly complex and our experience advising the public sector on large scale schemes of this nature, combined with our ability to provide all-encompassing legal expertise, meant we were able to guide all parties through a smooth and mutually beneficial completion.”

Cllr Jayne Francis, Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness at Birmingham City Council, said: “We are pleased to sell these plots to such a reputable operator of residential properties, one with a commitment to addressing the chronic undersupply of affordable housing in the UK. Legal & General Affordable Homes have an excellent pedigree for investing, growing, and maintaining communities in the long term. We could not have asked for a better partner in Legal and General Affordable Homes and are pleased that we will be working with them towards the long-term regeneration of Perry Barr.

“We’re grateful to Burges Salmon for its excellent support, the team understood from the outset our vision for the Perry Barr community and what our challenges were, which was reflected not only in their commercial-focused advice but also in the way Ross, Amber and the team brought all parties together to get us to a successful outcome.”