Why an in-house legal team makes a real difference to developers

In today’s complex lending environment, legal queries can stall even the best-planned developments. At Atelier, our in-house legal team plays a key role in helping borrowers overcome obstacles, by taking a commercial approach meaning they can complete with confidence. In this blog, Transaction Management Lawyer, Dipinder Surey shares how close collaboration between our Legal, Credit, and Origination teams creates greater certainty, faster completions, and a smoother experience for property developers.

Whether it’s section 106 agreements, planning guidance, title queries, or borrower agreements, there is a myriad of legal issues that can arise during the course of arranging development finance. That’s why our in-house legal team is always close at hand, ready to assist with every stage of the loan process. 

From the origination of a loan, right through to repayment and redemption, any member of any one of Atelier’s teams can email, direct message, or simply walk down the corridor to me, or another member of the legal team, to find an instant answer to a question in the course of their work helping borrowers. 

In the course of our collaboration with the various teams, it becomes increasingly difficult to envisage how other lenders, without in-house legal teams, manage the array of legal queries that arise during the course of lending, all the way from inception to completion.  Of course external counsel provide a valuable service, essential to successful deal outcomes, but we find that having in-house expertise can be particularly helpful before solicitors have been instructed and after loan transactions complete.  It also helps that the in-house legal team is always available and fully understands the requirements of Atelier and its borrowers.

The operation and collaboration across our teams, including Originations, Credit and Portfolio Management teams, significantly expedites the loan process. Given the substantial impact of initial development costs, the fact there is no need for further legal billing can incrementally make a significant difference to SME developers who do not have deep financial pockets.

Our approach means we focus on addressing concerns as early as possible in the process. It is far better to iron out details of the loan early, than leave an issue to cause delay, which could potentially be a problem later down the line. 

"Having legal expertise in-house means we can resolve issues early, avoid delays, and give our borrowers the confidence to move forward — from Day One to redemption."
— Dipinder Surey, Transaction Management Lawyer, Atelier

For our developer clients, the benefit of this additional certainty is obvious. Our Originations team can identify and cross-reference potential issues alongside the legal team, ensuring there are no planning or legal problems that might prevent a development, and that if there are such problems, dealing with these early on to ensure client time is not wasted. 

From the perspective of the Credit team, they can focus on ensuring the figures work best for each client’s need, safe in the knowledge that the agreements and other legal documentation are dealt with by Atelier’s legal team. At each drawdown, the legal team can offer reassurance and certainty to each enquiry, adding legal support to the credit team’s financial expertise. 

No two client situations are the same, and there will always be essential queries to address in this area. Sophisticated and judicious drafting is essential in this regard, and our documentation is drawn up by the Credit and Legal teams working together, allowing for no ambiguity that could cast uncertainty on a borrower’s development. 

Whilst we do have a set of precedents, the legal team is different however, in that we try not to rely too inflexibly on templates, and the strength and skill of our legal offering is adaptability, responding reactively to queries and concerns as they arrive, and crafting the right documents and solutions for every client. Such an attitude and approach runs through everything we do at Atelier, from providing Day One funding to offering a variable base rate that benefits from any Bank of England interest rate cuts, and our legal team is no different. 

Looking forward to the future, our aim is to continue doing what we do well. Clear communication across the whole team and addressing problems head on in their earliest stages provides the greatest clarity and security for our clients, and it is a considerable reassurance at every stage of the loan that our legal team is on hand. Warranties and appointment documents are directly available on the Atelier website allowing borrowers to see upfront what Atelier expects, reducing negotiations at a later stage and saving the borrower legal fees as the template has already been agreed.  Even at the point of redemption of the loan, whilst other lenders may have to bring external lawyers into the fold, our approach of dealing with redemptions in-house where circumstances permit offers a quicker, cheaper and more borrower-friendly experience. 

This reliability and convenience is why our clients are consistently recognising the benefits of Atelier’s in-house capability, and it all contributes to the way we build ongoing relationships with our borrowers. Communication and responsiveness are the foundation of our approach, and the legal team is further testament to this.