Top Tips for Homes England Transactions

Set out below are some top tips to assist with acting for a Developer on purchasing a development site from Homes England. 

This is not an exhaustive list but sets out some key considerations from my experience.

1. Establish Scope – Review the invitation to tender documents carefully and work out exactly what is required for any competitive bid.
2. Establish your Team – understand which areas of expertise are required to input into the process to optimise your chances of success.
3. Red Flags – highlight these early on to ensure you are discussing key points during the tender process.
4. Balance – maintain a healthy balance between protecting your client’s interests and winning the bid.
5. Procurement – remember there will be procurement issues if you intend to raise points later on. Ensure that any key points are discussed at tender stage to avoid rejection later on.
6. Gaps – typically, the tender documentation will be standardised. You need to consider what additional information you need to include in the documentation which may protect your client’s interests.
7. Conditionality – consider what additional conditionality may be needed over and above the Homes England precedents.
8. Structuring – consider the bidding entity and whether this reflects the corporate structure of how you intend to deliver your development. Consider whether the document allows for flexibility to input a corporate structure sitting behind the bidding entity.
9. Forward Funding – review the documentation carefully and make any amends as necessary to ensure flexibility for forward funding structures.
10. Smile – remember that any successful bid is the creation of a mid-to-long term relationship with Homes England. The parties need to work together long after the legal documentation has been signed, and it is important that the parties can work together cordially.