Steven Kay

Partner
  • Experience

Steven qualified as a Solicitor in 1999 and joined Birketts in September 2014. He has a broad background with over 15 years’ experience in commercial and residential property, including almost ten years in the residential development teams of two national law firms, specialising in residential and mixed use developments.

Steven specialises in acting for the major national housebuilders and heads our Housebuilder Sector Group  – a team of experts acting for national and local developers across all of Birketts’ offices. 

Steven’s expertise includes portfolio sales and acquisitions, corporate acquisitions and disposals, strategic land issues, including land assemblies, option and overage agreements, promotion, co-operation and collaboration agreements. His work also involves dealing with funding, development and infrastructure agreements.

Steven is regularly involved in the detailed set-up of large developments for plot disposals and deals with rent charge schemes, management company set-up and structures and affordable housing sales, including umbrella and golden brick schemes. Steven takes great pride in seeing a site he has worked on fully developed and occupied. 

Examples of Steven’s work include:

  • The grant of two complex long term option agreements to a national developer, which include grant to the developer of development leases, and a splitting of sales receipts between landowner and developer as the development is built out. The transaction was particular complex given land ownership and tax issues, obtaining title indemnity insurance and with the landowner paying particular attention to design code compliance, scheme layouts and legacy principles;
  • Acquisition for a national developer of a portfolio of 11 options, acquired in part by simple assignments but also by company share acquisitions , including all company and title due diligence. Steven’s work on the option sites continues as planning and development progresses on these sites, including service of option notices, drawdown, overage arrangements and affordable housing disposals.
  • Extensive ongoing involvement on one of the earliest sites in the UK to be registered as a Asset of Community Value under the Localism Act 2011 – considering the impact of registration on existing documentation, various variations to the contractual documentation to deal with such registration and planning issues arising. Subsequently dealing with the charging of this site for funding purposes and its sale to another developer.

Steven is based at our Chelmsford office.

Steven is recommended by Legal 500 [UK 2021].

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