Prospective purchasers of building land will be understandably wary of unreasonable covenants on the land and may even shy away from anything that has a hint of restrictions. However, a law firm is advising that for vendors, covenants can be a good way of protecting your lifestyle.

Landowners selling off part of their land should take action to preserve the value of what they are keeping and their quality of life by imposing restrictive covenants on the land being sold, according to Darlington law firm Latimer Hinks.

Anne Elliott, a Partner at the firm believes the imposition of covenants can go a long way towards ensuring that the new owners of what was your land don’t make your life a misery.

Such covenants can cover the future use of the land, the planting of trees and poisonous shrubs, parking on site, the removal of trees, and other reasonable issues which could protect your retained land, its value and your amenity.

Mrs Elliott said: “In an age of over-development, people wanting to sell off land adjacent to the home or property should be concerned about the potential effect on their privacy or the value of their home.”

“By imposing covenants, people can limit the way in which land is developed, giving peace of mind about what will or won’t be happening or springing up next door.”

“Such restrictions could stop farm buildings being demolished and replaced with overpowering buildings, or high walls being built in place of a picturesque country hedge or fence.”

Common clauses and areas of concern addressed in restrictive covenants can also include developments in wooded or ‘green’ areas, tree cutting, parking, and over-development.

Two-way arrangement

While lawyers like Latimer Hinks make a very sensible suggestion, unreasonable restrictions may make the land difficult to sell. Also, it’s all too easy for vendors to leave these decisions to solicitors to sort out at the point of contract exchange. By this time a prospective buyer will have invested a good deal of time and money in the deal.

Vendors should make sure that any restrictions they want to place upon the buyer are thought out well in advance of putting the land on the market. They should be disclosed as part of the sales document and not ‘presented’ to the buyer at the time of contract exchange.