Addleshaw Goddard has advised the joint bookrunners and trustees on four capital markets issuances by housing associations within the last month, raising over £1bn in aggregate for the sector.

The Debt Capital Markets team, which sits in AG's wider pre-eminent Housing Finance team, advised on the £400 million issue by Notting Hill Housing Trust, the £280 million issue by the WM Housing group, the £250 million by Catalyst Housing Limited and the £250 million by Housing & Care 21.

These transactions follow the largest own name bond issue by a housing association to date – London & Quadrant Housing Trust's £500 million issuance, which completed in July 2017 with the AG team advising the joint bookrunners.

The Addleshaw Goddard team advising on the transactions was led by partner Beth Collett, with legal director Jennie Chilton leading on the real estate aspects and Steve Mackie advising the trustees.

Beth Collett, who joined Addleshaw Goddard in May 2017, has rapidly built a strong team advising on public debt capital markets issuances by housing associations (including a dedicated team of real estate associates with a focus on social housing), providing a service to the bookrunners of public bonds which is on par with AG's market leading Housing Finance practice.

Commenting on the deals, Beth Collett said: "The fact that we have completed four significant deals within the last month demonstrates that we can comfortably resource multiple transactions.  We expect to see housing associations increasingly looking to the capital markets for their future funding requirements and we are very well placed to assist with these as part of our more comprehensive housing finance offering."

Notes to Editors

• Our banking practice, with over 130 lawyers internationally, covers a range of finance related advice as well as housing finance, including asset finance and leasing, asset based lending, corporate banking, derivatives, finance for professional practices, funds finance, hotel finance, Islamic finance, leveraged finance and real estate finance.
• Our housing finance team has been consistently recognised with a national Tier 1 ranking in both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 for the past 10 years, and is seen as the pre-eminent firm advising funders on housing finance transactions. Alongside Beth, Lee Shankland, Steve Mackie and Nick Barlow are recognised experts
• The team has advised on many of the most highest profile transactions during the past 12 months, including advising all lenders on the refinancings and "mega mergers" in the sector, notably the two largest ever transactions in the social housing space, both of which completed in December 2016:
• the £2.8bn refinancing of Clarion Group which was established on the mergers of Affinity Housing and Circle Housing; and
• the £2.6bn refinancing of London & Quadrant Housing Group and East Thames Housing Group, as part of their merger.
• The team is at the cutting edge of legislative changes and has recently been advising the funding community, via the Council of Mortgage Lenders, on changes to the insolvency regime (and the introduction of a "special administration" route) for housing associations.