Housing & Community Development

We were the first into social housing

Uniquely placed as expert partners. As long ago as 1993, Harper Macleod was the first Scottish law firm to anticipate the evolution of the social housing sector and develop a specialism in law for those in this dynamic sector. So, we're in a unique position to provide multi-disciplinary legal services to clients who require advice that's clear, practical, expert and effective.

We have an unmatched track record. Our team remains in the vanguard of Scotland's social housing activity. We take instructions from a wide range of housing associations, local authorities, registered social landlords, private lenders and other statutory and regulatory organisations. In one of the most heavily regulated sectors in the UK, our clients clearly seek innovative and flexible approaches. Led by our Senior Partner, Leonard Freedman, we're recommended by the Legal 500 as "a first-class option for Housing Association advice".

"Accessible, knowledgeable and innovative". Those are among the independent assessments of us in Chambers UK 2005-06 - along with "extremely capable" and "proactive". We're still the only Scottish law firm to have been involved in every one of the large scale voluntary transfers (LSVTs) of housing stocks from local authority to private or association ownership. To date we have successfully completed LSVTs valued at over £800m.