Covenants on garden space

[coolpatterngirl]

Good morning all,

I've been to view a house which i quite like and has potential, however, half of the garden has a covenant on it until 2040 that a person may purchase that ground at any sum.

The person named on the covenant has passed away and the estate agent don't know if the heirs of the deceased estate are aware or plan to do anything with the garden.

Are covenants transferable on death? Has anyone experienced anything similar?

I believe it will naturally be transferred to the heir yes.
We looked at buying something in a similar situation some time ago and did a lot of research and decided against it due to the 'risk' that the heir may decide to act upon the covenant.

I'd keep well away far too risky. Basically you're buying the house but don't own the land until 2040.

Thank you, I was afraid of such.

IF we were to offer, would the transferring solicitors be able to find out this information?

What is the exact wording of the covenant?

Perhaps the heir would be willing to get the covenant cancelled for a price.

I may be wrong, but I suspect OP you may not have read the actual covenant, but have been told about it. It's important to read the actual text as that may answer some of your questions.

For £3.00 you can purchase the title deeds from Land Registry. I think it would be worth it to see in writing what the restrictive covenant is - it might not be quite as bad as the rumour!

Thanks, the agent said he'd email me a copy yesterday but haven't received it as yet.

You can also take out insurance against the covenant being exercised

don't wait for the agent, order it yourself, direct

be sure to use the .gov.uk website, not one of the scammers

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry

We bought a house with a covenant on a chunk of the garden. It limits our ability to complain about prospective development on contiguous land. When you understand the history of land transfer it makes sense and is irrelevant . Worth you trying to understand what the original intention of the covenant was.

Just a note on purchasing the title register online from the Land Registry; it costs £3 for an instant download. However, if you can't see the covenant in the title register, it is possible that it is contained within a previous conveyance referred to in the title register. There will be a note stating whether documents referred to are on file and you can get copies from the LR by filling in form OC2 and paying a fee.