Partner Lucy Grimwood is a highly experienced finance lawyer specialising in social housing finance and general lending. She has significant expertise in sustainable finance and is a leading member of Winckworth Sherwood’s cross-sector ESG working group.

Lucy acts for both borrowers and funders, and her clients include housing associations, charities, SPVs, JVs, funders, corporates and statutory bodies. She is adept at managing complex multi-discipline transactions and her practice covers all forms of lending, including secured and unsecured bank debt, and private placements and bonds in the capital markets.

Recent Experience

Social housing finance:

• Acting for housing associations issuing bonds, including Longhurst on its £250m secured bond issue, and its subsequent additional £100m bond tap.
• Advising housing associations seeking new bank debt, and restructuring existing debt – including:
  – Advising VIVID Housing on a SONIA facility agreement with National Australia Bank, including an unsecured tranche; and
  – Acting for Sovereign on its unsecured £250m “club” facility from five lenders.
• Acting for housing associations seeking debt from the capital markets through bespoke structures, for example advising Hightown on both of its issuances of unsecured bonds through the Retail Charity Bonds platform.
• Advising numerous entities entering into private placements, including borrowers and investors, using both LMA and Model X documentation.
• Advising housing associations clients entering into mergers and group restructures, for example advising Longhurst on its group restructure (including all funder consents and a full restatement of its bank debt portfolio).

Joint ventures:

• Advising numerous housing associations entering into joint venture arrangements, both contractual and structural, working with the wider firm and all other relevant stakeholders to ensure the optimum structure is documented for our client.
• Acting for housing associations seeking to provide senior debt funding and all funding and security considerations arising from same.
• Advising on existing JVs for multi-phase sites, including ongoing security and release considerations.

Sustainable finance and ESG:

• Supporting various housing association clients in producing their sustainable finance frameworks, considering sustainable finance and other key issues such as funding retrofit/decarbonisation.
• Running forums for housing association clients to discuss and share knowledge on their ESG strategies and next steps.

Not-for-profit sectors:

• Advising Greenham Trust, a charitable entity, on a £25 million secured private placement.
• Acting for Greenwich Hospital, a Crown charity which serves retired personnel of the Naval Service and their families through grants to Naval Charities, in respect of its first  ever financing.
• Advising a statutory port authority on a private placement to fund capital infrastructure dredging.