Legal and
Over the years we have been part of many social housing developments. This has given us a brilliant insight into every aspect of them. That is why we recognise the importance of having a good accounting and legal team. If you have these specialised teams in place early in your development you are far more likely to avoid any potential tax, payroll or other legal issues over the course of your development.
We believe that for you to give yourself the best chance of avoiding the potential legal and accounting pitfalls associated with social housing developments it is imperative to have an experienced accounting and legal team. They will need to fully understand their duties and responsibilities to ensure that you satisfy yours.
Accounting
All Accounting, Bookkeeping & Auditing Services, from company incorporation to final accounts.
Our partners are hugely experienced in providing accountancy services for social housing developments. They can provide you with the complete accountancy service you need which involves the following:
- Bookkeeping
- Auditing Services
- Company Incorporation
- Final Accounts
- Payroll
- Tax and Stamp duty services
Legal
Experience in conveyancing with housing authorities and associations is important. The day you buy your chosen development site is the day you need to start preparing to sell the development. High levels of due diligence are imperative to ensure success in the rest of your development project. Once your purchase of the site has been complete any issues that remain can be very costly. Pre-purchase legal due diligence will protect you from these types of issues.
Your legal team are your best form of protection from the beginning to the end of the project. Boundary disputes and neighbour complaints over noise and privacy are commonplace during construction developments. Legal issues can arise at any stage of a development and it is important that you are prepared for them, as the later they arise, the costlier they will inevitably become. As project delays can be extremely costly. Early preparation for the completion of contracts and the handover of ownership will ensure that this stage of the process is as efficient as possible which ensures a swift receival of payment.
Regardless of the procurement, method all social housing association will require collateral warranties and insurances for all participants in the development team. Collateral warranties are legal documents which binds the consultants and their professional indemnity insurance into the project for years following completion of the project. The number of years varies between 6-12 depending on the project and the chosen delivery method of the project.
The level of indemnity insurance required by each design team member will depend on the overall project value. They will also require employers and public liability insurance for the period of the collateral warranty. The wording of the collateral warranty documents can be very onerous, and this often results in difficulties for the developer in persuading the consultancy team to sign the collateral warranty upon completion.
It is vital that each member of your chosen consultancy team confirms in writing their agreement to sign the collateral warranty prior to being appointed. They must also agree to maintaining the appropriate level of insurance indemnities for the warranty period. Members of the consultancy team must also agree to record each financial transaction associated with the project.
This includes providing their financial records for inspection in the event of any fraud, corruption, collusion, financial terrorism or money laundering is adjudged to have occurred over the course of the project life cycle. Prior to appointing any consultancy team member, it is of importance to ensure they are willing to maintain the appropriate insurance level and sign the collateral warranty. Failure to do so will result in costly delays and potential legal issues.