Senior Property Lawyer – Development & Affordable Housing

Legal Southwest; Exeter; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading law firm is seeking a Senior Property Lawyer to join its Social Housing property team. The role involves managing complex property matters such as development site acquisitions and contracts. Ideal candidates will have at least 8 years PQE and strong client relationship skills. The firm values its people and offers a supportive culture with potential for hybrid working arrangements.

Benefits

Investment in training and development

Supportive high-performance culture

Qualifications

• At least 8 years of post-qualification experience as a property lawyer.
• Experience in affordable or social housing development work is highly desirable.
• Strong client feedback and ability to cultivate client relationships.

Responsibilities

• Handle a broad range of complex property matters including site acquisitions, contracts, and leases.
• Support junior team members and work collaboratively in a team environment.
• Ensure client needs are prioritized and effectively communicated.

Skills

Client relationship management

Negotiation

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Education

Qualified Solicitor with 8+ years PQE

Job description

About the Role

A leading law firm is seeking a client-focused, highly competent, and collaborative Senior Property Lawyer to join its busy Social Housing property team. The role involves handling a broad range of complex matters, including development site acquisitions, conditional and unconditional contracts, options, golden-brick and other affordable housing transactions, back-to-back sales, site set-up, deeds of easement, infrastructure agreements, overages, management agreements, grant agreements, leases, and other commercial contracts.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will be an experienced property lawyer with a minimum of 8 years PQE, and may currently hold a partner-level position. They will have a proven track record acting for developers, landowners, housing associations, and local authorities, with strong client feedback and the ability to cultivate and maintain client relationships.

Experience within the affordable or social housing sector, particularly with development work, is highly desirable, along with a good understanding of VAT and SDLT issues. Familiarity with drafting or working with model shared ownership leases is advantageous.

The successful candidate will be an effective communicator, able to support junior team members, work collaboratively, and also operate independently, always ensuring clients’ needs are prioritised.

While the role is based in the Exeter office, hybrid working arrangements will be considered for candidates who meet the requirements.

What the Firm Offers

The firm values its people as its most important asset and is committed to cultivating a supportive, high-performance culture. Investment in training, development, and infrastructure ensures colleagues can achieve their full potential. Core values—high-quality work, healthy growth, and happy teams—underpin all activities.

Please get in touch if you would like more information about this role or send your CV via the form below in complete confidence and we will get back to you.

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