Senior Lawyer, Planning Team

Job summary

From healthcare to artificial intelligence, energy to national security, we provide legal advice to government departments on nation-changing subjects.

At Government Legal Department we have a vital, single-minded purpose: to help the Government govern well within the rule of law. This is complemented by our exciting vision to be an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism and a brilliant place to work where we can all thrive and fulfill our potential.

Our work touches almost every aspect of public life. We are the largest provider of legal services across government, working on high profile matters.

Our respected professionals are involved in everything from regulation and litigation to advice on drafting legislation. They provide expertise to the full range of government departments. We are at the heart of delivering the government’s priorities and our success depends on our people.

GLD is a non-ministerial government department headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary, and employs nearly 4000 people, including nearly 3000 legal professionals. We have offices nationwide, in Bristol, Leeds, inner and outer London and Manchester. Our lawyers can also be located within other departments and overseas.

GLD also depends on a range of cross-functional professionals to provide our corporate services. There are nearly 1000 colleagues playing an essential part in helping GLD to achieve its purpose and truly deliver much more than law.

This is an exciting time to join GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service .

To find out more about what we do you can view our introductory film . On our website y ou can hear from team members, find out how to apply and learn about the benefits of working for GLD. You can also read more about the future vision for GLD in our GLD Strategy 2024 – 2027 .

Job description

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) Legal Advisers is a friendly, inclusive, high performing and collaborative Directorate with a strong sense of shared purpose. We provide legal support to the Secretary of State, Ministers and officials in MHCLG to support delivery across all MHCLG’s policy areas. Lawyers in MHCLG help implement policies to empower local leaders, spread opportunities, improve living standards across the UK and restore local pride. The Department has an ambitious agenda to drive up housing supply, increase home ownership, improve building safety, devolve powers and budgets to boost local growth, support strong public services and create community cohesion and social integration. We have a substantial programme of primary and secondary legislation and enjoy a wide and exciting portfolio of core government legal work supporting policy development and delivery in areas that make a real difference to the lives of UK citizens, which is hugely rewarding.

Our work includes advising on:

• Planning policy and casework including implementation of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and government proposals for planning reform
• Delivery of the new towns programme, an ambitious new programme designed to build housing, infrastructure and create local communities
• Housing policy (including reforms to the private rented sector and leasehold, social housing, homelessness, refugee housing
• Building safety and fire (remediation of unsafe buildings and recovery of government contributions to remediation funding, regulation to support safer, greener homes)
• Community integration, faith and social cohesion, construction of the Holocaust Memorial and the Grenfell Memorial
• Grant funding to support regional growth and regeneration
• Elections policy including the Representation of the People Bill
• Local government including implementation of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026.

The Directorate is comprised of twelve legal teams in 4 legal groups, with each team in a group headed by a Deputy Director. It is co-located with MHCLG in its London office and at the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol, with lawyers also working from our GLD Bristol, Croydon Leeds, and Manchester offices. The Legal Directors are Amanda Garner-Patel and Susan Carter, working in a job share.

We are looking for a senior lawyer to join the Planning Team within MHCLG Legal Advisers. The Planning Team is a friendly, high-performing and collaborative team of lawyers playing a pivotal role in delivering some of the Government’s most ambitious objectives this Parliament, including building 1.5 million homes to tackle the housing crisis, delivering major infrastructure projects, reforming the planning system and creating new communities. The team advises across a broad range of planning law matters, including planning applications and appeals, local plans, environmental assessment, habitats, Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, planning casework and planning legislation.

Within the Planning Team, the Community Infrastructure Levy and Developer Contributions mini team advises on the operation and reform of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) regime and wider developer contributions framework. This role has a particular focus on CIL and offers the opportunity to work at the centre of a significant programme of legislative reform. Current priorities include amendments to the CIL Regulations, proposals relating to CIL reliefs and exemptions, reforms to developer contributions, advising on development viability and managing litigation concerning the interpretation and application of the CIL regime.

The work combines policy development, statutory interpretation, litigation and legislative drafting. A significant part of the role will involve supporting the development and drafting of secondary legislation, working closely with policy officials, Parliamentary Counsel and Ministers to deliver reforms that are central to the Government's housing and growth agenda. The team works closely with MHCLG policy colleagues, HM Revenue and Customs, local authorities and specialist counsel, providing strategic legal advice in an area that is critical to funding the infrastructure needed to support sustainable development and housing growth.

Our senior lawyers are also part of our collective leadership, and you will be expected to contribute positively to the cultural and corporate life of the directorate. All of our lawyers have ‘corporate’ (directorate/GLD) roles covering a wide range of issues, from developing our legal learning syllabus, to helping run our Grants Centre of Excellence.

Ability to work constructively with a wide range of others is essential, whether it is clients, other parts of MHCLG, other parts of the team, lawyers elsewhere in the directorate (for example in our planning or local government teams), GLD’s Commercial Law Group and the Property Law Hub, Cabinet Office Legal Advisers and lawyers across government, external solicitors, GLD litigation lawyers or counsel.

The role requires the ability to work on policy development as well as operational delivery. It involves advising at pace on fast-developing situations, both in writing and face to face. It requires the assurance and experience to advise senior policy and operational colleagues, the Accounting Officer (Permanent Secretary) and Ministers. The post-holder will be expected to lead relationships with senior policy colleagues in their area, including on business planning and legal resourcing.

Key Responsibilities

The key responsibilities include:

• providing targeted advice in a flexible range of formats (written, verbal, comment boxes etc)
• managing a legal workstream and client relationships
• line managing (and leading a small mini-team of) junior lawyers, supporting their learning and professional development
• building and maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders (policy and legal) and
• providing strong professional leadership within your team and the wider directorate.

Candidate Information Session

We will be holding a candidate information session for these roles on Microsoft Teams from 1:00pm – 1 : 45 pm on Thurs day 1 7 th September 2026.

Candidates will have the opportunity to hear from Lawyers working within The planning team in Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government about what they do and their experiences working for government. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions about the role.

If you are interested in further information on this role please join the link below:

• Join the MHCLG LA Planning Team Information Session
• Meeting ID: 329 630 645 199 121
• Passcode: hG9ug7HH

Person specification

Behaviours

Below are details of the Success Profiles that make up this role. Demonstrating all the behaviours listed below is essential at either application or interview. You can read more about Success Profiles and how they are used as an assessment method before completing your application .

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership (lead behaviour)
• Making effective decisions
• Communicating and influencing
• Developing self and others
• Managing a quality service

Key Skills and E xperience

Essential - must be demonstrated at application and/or interview

• You will be an experienced planning lawyer with a strong track record of advising clients on complex planning matters.
• Experience of working in a busy and diverse team and the ability to multitask and prioritise when faced with competing deadlines.
• Excellent powers of analysis and sound legal judgment, with the ability to produce timely and fit for purpose, risk-based advice

Technical Legal Skills

Essential

• Knowledge and practical experience of public and planning law, particularly knowledge and experience of the operation of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 and section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
• The ability to think strategically and creatively, see legal issues in their wider context and advise accordingly

Security Clearance Level

All GLD employees must hold BPSS. In addition to this, those based in our London offices must hold or be willing to obtain CTC level clearance for this role. If London based, you can start your position pending this clearance level, however your appointment will be conditional upon obtaining CTC clearance. More information can be found about the vetting and clearance levels before completing your application.

Sponsorship and Visas

There is the possibility that GLD can provide sponsorship for skilled workers, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria set down under current immigration legislation. GLD does not guarantee sponsorship will be provided or that an applicant will be successful in gaining a skilled worker visa.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that they meet the criteria for sponsorship. They also have the responsibility to notify the Resourcing Team that they require Sponsorship at the start of the onboarding process into GLD. This applies to existing civil servants as well as external candidates.

Qualifications

Academic and Professional

Applicants should have a minimum of a 2:1 honours degree in their first degree (in any subject). Where an applicant holds an overseas degree qualification this should be equivalent to a 2.1 degree. GLD will consider applicants who do not have a 2.1 degree but only where satisfactory evidence of equivalent high level academic and/or professional achievement can be provided (e.g. via relevant experience and results achieved for the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE, Legal Practice Course (LPC), Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC)).

Applicants must be qualified to practise as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Le