Kate Topp

Partner

Biography

Kate is a real estate partner at Ashfords, where she leads the housebuilding and development sector, working closely with developers, landowners, and land promoters to deliver large-scale housing and mixed-use projects that help to address today’s regeneration and housing needs. She is highly experienced in strategic land acquisitions, advising on consortium structures, joint ventures, and land disposals for complex schemes, bringing trusted expertise to help clients deal with a wide range of commercial challenges.

She regularly supports and advises on navigating legal, regulatory, and partnership challenges, and at every stage of development from initial strategy to delivery. Her experience includes the effective integration and management of affordable and social housing in developments and supporting clients in creating resilient places for future growth, including considerations around sustainable development. Kate combines a collaborative and responsive approach with sector insight to deliver practical, solutions-focused support that helps to drive successful investments and project outcomes.

Relevant experience

Major PLC housebuilder: Leading for a housebuilder on a joint venture with a local authority for approximately 3,000 houses and ancillary mixed use development involving multiple service lines including corporate, banking, construction and planning.
Landowners: Acting for a group of landowners entering into a hybrid promotion/ option agreement with a major housebuilder for around 750 houses.
Major PLC housebuilder: Acting for a housebuilder on a high value build licence site just outside London for around 700 houses involving a district heating network, retail units, a doctors surgery, care home and affordable housing.
Major PLC housebuilder: Advising on a consortium site for a major PLC housebuilder - exercising and varying historic option agreements, dealing with the buy out of one of the consortium members and partitioning.
Regeneration client: Acting for a large regeneration client disposing of serviced parcels to housebuilders.

Specialisms

Real Estate Housebuilding & Development

Testimonial

"We have confidence in Kate and the team that she leads, we trust that they will perform highly and they always do. She is an advocate and a role model for her team."

Chambers 2025

Testimonial

"Kate Topp is head of the real estate team at Ashfords who specialises in residential development. She primarily acts for developers and house builder clients."

Chambers 2026

Testimonial

"Kate Topp is well-connected within the industry and this can help aid the legal drafting process because of her relationship with others. She is always on hand to provide advice, she is prompt in her responses and we approach her to act for us on a number of our key important acquisition projects because we trust her work and the approach that she takes."

Legal 500 2025