Pinsent Masons advises Suffolk Council on its public-private partnership to deliver £700m social development and housing projects

Five initial locations have already been identified in Lowestoft, Mildenhall, Bramford, West Row and Newmarket with capacity for a total of around 2,800 homes plus new schools, employment land and open spaces.

Pinsent Masons has advised Suffolk Council from the outset of the competitive process including working with the Council and advisory team to develop the proposed joint venture structure, advising on the procurement exercise, and legal documentation in respect of the joint venture arrangement with preferred bidder Lovell Partnership, part of the Morgan Sindall group.

The 50:50 partnership is intended to deliver around £700m of gross development value over the course of the proposed 15-year agreement, with an option to extend for a further five.

The Pinsent Masons team was led by partner Scot Morrison and included Amy Walker and Sarah Manfredi.

Scot Morrison said: “These types of public-private partnerships are becoming increasingly popular and are an extremely effective way to help both developers and local authorities deliver the large-scale developments needed to address the UK’s housing and redevelopment needs. We’ve been at the forefront of leading on these types of partnerships, which have grown in both size and complexity, helping to establish a united approach to deliver much needed homes, structure finance and share the risk and rewards associated with these types of major infrastructure projects.”

Pinsent Masons has advised on a number of transformational regeneration projects advising both private developers, and local authorities. Recent examples include advising the London Borough of Harrow on a £2.5bn regeneration project to deliver three core sites in Harrow and advising Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council on a public-private partnership to deliver a £1.6bn residential-led garden community.