Buying a house with an overage/conditions on development?

[OverageonHouse]

I'd love some knowledgeable - or failing that some anecdotal! - advice.

We're hoping to buy a house, which we currently rent from a big, multiple-property landlord. The LL has put it on the market, but with quite complicated conditions. There would be an overage on part of the garden, for 80 years, banning development. There would also be conditions that say the house itself must be kept as a single family home, and any developments that would need planning permission must be ok'd by the former landlord. As I understand it, they can enforce this because they own the land and houses around this one, so have an interest in the property.

I am mostly worried about the overage. I know it can put mortgage lenders off. We're cash buyers, but if we have to sell, obviously it'd affect whoever bought, and that makes me worry it'd be hard to sell.

I would love any advice/thoughts you have. I know the standard good advice is that there's always another house out there and you can walk away (and we can, and we will, if need be). But obviously, because we already live there, we're more invested than we would be if it were just another nice house we'd viewed a couple of times.

Oh, I should say - the garden is enormous for the size of the house, and the patch on which there's an overage is tucked away at the back and to the side of the main property. If you didn't know it belonged to the house, the house would still look to have a very generous-sized garden.

I think it would be dangerous to rely on MN here - its really something you need to speak to a solicitor about who has access to the documents to see what the specific implications are of this overage clause.

We have overage on the land that attaches to our house (but we do have 4 acres) we have a mortgage on it no issues there. It depends on if that piece of land in your mind was going to be developed? Does it allow a garage/shed etc or is the overage on anything? Ours is only for a residential dwelling. We can build anything else.

@africa2go, sorry, I should have made clearer. I'm not relying on MN, just asking the question. I'm also talking to solicitors about this. What I'm interested in here is people's own personal experiences (especially, if they've felt put off buying a house with conditions, or if they've had concerns/cold feet from potential buyers over it). This sort of thing isn't really what a solicitor can comment on.

@Shadowboy - that's interesting. No, we don't want to develop; it's a much, much smaller area of land (smaller than the main garden) and while I suppose you could squeeze in a teeny tiny house, there would be logistical issues with it. I don't know if we could put a garden shed up or not, will check.

The needing permission for any changes would bother me. I bought an ex council house which had a covenant saying I needed permission for changes- I was totally unaware of this and built a conservatory diningroom. When I came to sell I had a bit if hassle about this - I overcame it but it was a pain. The single dwelling and not developing the land I would have thought pretty standard though.

There was a thread on this just after Christmas which I think you'll find helpful:-

Feeling bullied, should we pull out?

I think the basic upshot was that it is not unusual for there to be overage clauses on some plots of land but make sure that the sellers aren't taking the mickey by making it for a long time.

In the thread I linked to I think the sellers wanted it to last for 40 years. The OP then spoke to a knowledgeable Land Agent and they settled on paying about £15k extra to not have an overage clause.

Presumably the current landlord could develop his own surrounding plots, potentially to the disadvantage of your own .