William Nassau-Lake

William Nassau-Lake is a Partner and Head of Boyes Turner’s Development & House Building Team. He has more than 20 years’ experience advising SME and regional house builders, developers, landowners, land promoters, land traders, funders and borrowers on residential and mixed-use development projects across the country.

William specialises in the acquisition, disposal and development of land, advising clients throughout the development lifecycle from site identification and acquisition through to plot delivery of final plot sale. He regularly advises on unconditional and conditional contracts, option agreements, promotion agreements, strategic land transactions, joint ventures, overage arrangements and development funding.

Working closely with the firm’s Planning, Construction, Property Dispute Resolution and Commercial Real Estate teams, William provides clients with a fully integrated service covering all legal aspects of the development process.

In addition to acting on development land transactions, William advises on planning and infrastructure agreements and oversees the firm’s specialist plot sales team, supporting house builder clients in the efficient delivery and disposal of completed residential developments.

William’s client base includes SME and regional house builders, developers, institutional and private lenders, housing associations, educational and care sector organisations, trusts, landowners and UK and international high-net-worth individuals.

William's key cases

A few of William’s key cases includes:

Advising a regional developer on the acquisition of a central London office building for £15 million, facilitating a residential-led redevelopment delivering more than 90 new homes with a gross development value exceeding £50 million.
Acting for a care sector aggregator on the acquisition and disposal of care home and healthcare assets with an aggregate value of more than £100 million.
Advising an SME house builder on the unconditional acquisition of a residential development site in Kent with outline planning permission for more than 50 new homes.
Acting for a private investor on the acquisition of land in North London for development and use as a private cemetery.
Advising a regional developer on a joint venture with a landowner to deliver 23 private and affordable homes on a high-profile residential development site in Oxfordshire, with a gross development value of approximately £16 million.
Acting on the acquisition of a residential development opportunity in Battersea for £7.4 million, including advising on complex rights of light issues.
Advising a regional developer on the acquisition of a residential development site in Islington for £5.5 million, involving a complex leasehold structure, overage provisions and airspace development rights.
Acting on the acquisition of a prominent office estate in Buckinghamshire from fixed charge receivers, including advising on the strategy for securing vacant possession to facilitate the phased delivery of approximately 45 new homes.
Advising a university on the acquisition of a redundant town centre library for £4 million to support the expansion of educational and community facilities.
Appointed by an Oxfordshire-based SME house builder to manage plot sales across its development portfolio, comprising more than 70 residential units with a gross development value of approximately £50 million. William worked closely with the client to review and improve its plot sales processes, implementing streamlined procedures that accelerated exchanges and completions and reduced transaction times across the portfolio.

William's awards and recognitions

Band 1, Commercial property, group (Thames Valley) – Legal 500
Band 1, Real Estate up to £10 million, group (Thames Valley) – Chambers
Recommended Lawyer (2 times) – Legal 500
Band 2, Real Estate up to £10 million, individual (Thames Valley) – Chambers

William's accreditations

Member of the Law Society