Law firm cites increased demand for hire of social housing development partner

Law firm Shakespeare Martineau has recruited a new partner to head-up its social housing development team.

Joanna Lee-Mills, who qualified in 2001, joins the firm following a career break, prior to which she worked at Anthony Collins Solicitors in Birmingham as departmental manager for the built environment team.

Her expertise encompasses complex housing acquisitions and disposals, and she has a breadth of experience in larger scale projects, including stock rationalisation transactions, stock swaps and transfers.

Lee-Mills said: “I am delighted to be joining Shakespeare Martineau and extremely excited to be part of its vision, particularly at a time when the legal sector is having to adapt strategically and intuitively to the ever-changing landscapes perpetuated by the pandemic and its resulting challenges."

Lee-Mills, who will be primarily based at the firm’s Birmingham hub but will be working with clients nationally, added: “I am confident that our ambitions to become a true market leader in social housing will be realised through the continued valuable contributions from our many outstanding individuals and partner organisations. We will always strive to be responsive, flexible and transformative in our approach and I am very much looking forward to overseeing the growth and expansion of the social housing development team at Shakespeare Martineau.”

Louise Drew, partner and head of building communities at Shakespeare Martineau, said the firm had identified a need to increase capacity within the team and a development lead to take it to the next level in terms of reputation as a market leader in social housing.

“We have also been really successful over the past 18 months in terms of winning tenders in the sector, including retaining appointments for Walsall Housing Group and Platform Housing Group, as well as securing new appointments for Regenda Homes and Onward, all of which have ambitious development programmes consisting of large-scale acquisitions, as have many of our other clients,” she said.