Land at rear of property to be used as private garden not included in sale

Sophiej27

Hello was hoping someone on here would be able to help.

I am currently in the process of buying my first property. I have paid for the title deeds and noticed there is a plot of land to the rear which is mentioned on the title however is not included in the sale.

upon investigation this land can only be used as a private garden for the property I am purchasing (exact wording below).

I have asked my solicitor about this and she advised she can not help as its is not being sold.

Does anyone know if I have any legal rights to this land or if I can stop it being used as it goes against the covenant.

any help would be greatly appreciated 

1. Not to use the said land other than as a private garden for use in conjunction with the dwellinghouse known as property I am buying aforesaid.

user1977

What do you mean by the plot is "mentioned" on the title? Do the sellers own it, but they're keeping it rather than selling it to you?

Sophiej27

user1977 said:

What do you mean by the plot is "mentioned" on the title? Do the sellers own it, but they're keeping it rather than selling it to you?

Yes, they are keeping the land to the rear however as per the title it can only be used in conjunction with the property I am buying.

Hoenir

Might be worth enquiring via the EA  what the vendor's plans are. 

Sophiej27

Hoenir said:

Might be worth enquiring via the EA  what the vendor's plans are. 

EA stated only the house itself was included. The vendors solicitors have also confirmed they are keeping the land.

thelawnet

Sophiej27 said:

Hello was hoping someone on here would be able to help.

I am currently in the process of buying my first property. I have paid for the title deeds and noticed there is a plot of land to the rear which is mentioned on the title however is not included in the sale.

upon investigation this land can only be used as a private garden for the property I am purchasing (exact wording below).

I have asked my solicitor about this and she advised she can not help as its is not being sold.

Does anyone know if I have any legal rights to this land or if I can stop it being used as it goes against the covenant.

any help would be greatly appreciated 

1. Not to use the said land other than as a private garden for use in conjunction with the dwellinghouse known as property I am buying aforesaid.

Typically you will find that the owner of a piece of land has sold part of their land to the builder of your property, and the purpose of that covenant is to protect them. So the owner of 'Toad Manor' sells part of their land to build 'Toad Cottage' with adjoining garden, and Toad Manor wants to ensure that Toad Cottage's garden is never used for anything else.

This is a contract, however depending on when the covenant was entered into, it would pass to the successive owners of the property that's being benefited (i.e. the larger piece of land). That means that the owner, 70 years later, of Toad Manor can stop the owner of Toad Cottage from building on Toad Cottage's garden.

Thus the covenant is not intended to benefit you (or preceding owners) in any way, it's only a burden for you. 

The current owner of Toad Manor is likely to be able to enforce the covenant against your vendor, but they don't have to. It's their right - it's not yours. 

Sophiej27

thelawnet said:

Sophiej27 said:

Hello was hoping someone on here would be able to help.

I am currently in the process of buying my first property. I have paid for the title deeds and noticed there is a plot of land to the rear which is mentioned on the title however is not included in the sale.

upon investigation this land can only be used as a private garden for the property I am purchasing (exact wording below).

I have asked my solicitor about this and she advised she can not help as its is not being sold.

Does anyone know if I have any legal rights to this land or if I can stop it being used as it goes against the covenant.

any help would be greatly appreciated 

1. Not to use the said land other than as a private garden for use in conjunction with the dwellinghouse known as property I am buying aforesaid.

Typically you will find that the owner of a piece of land has sold part of their land to the builder of your property, and the purpose of that covenant is to protect them. So the owner of 'Toad Manor' sells part of their land to build 'Toad Cottage' with adjoining garden, and Toad Manor wants to ensure that Toad Cottage's garden is never used for anything else.

This is a contract, however depending on when the covenant was entered into, it would pass to the successive owners of the property that's being benefited (i.e. the larger piece of land). That means that the owner, 70 years later, of Toad Manor can stop the owner of Toad Cottage from building on Toad Cottage's garden.

Thus the covenant is not intended to benefit you (or preceding owners) in any way, it's only a burden for you. 

The current owner of Toad Manor is likely to be able to enforce the covenant against your vendor, but they don't have to. It's their right - it's not yours. 

Thank you. My main concern was that I would somehow be liable for anything the current vendor does with the property upon closing on the house land based on the wording that it was intended for my property only.

The land is separated by an unregistered road which I seem to own part of. I am more than happy to let them keep the land as they currently own it. As mentioned above my concern was the affects it could have on me as the owner/occupier of the house in conjunction with the land.

SarahB16

Sophiej27 said:

Yes, they are keeping the land to the rear however as per the title it can only be used in conjunction with the property I am buying.

In due course this separate piece of land will be on a different title to yours.  Any chance you could share a pic of this so we can see the layout.  My only worry if I were you is that it could be developed on but I think the vendor is more worried that you may wish to extend your house so is stopping you as they will continue to own that land. 

thelawnet

Sophiej27 said:

thelawnet said:

Sophiej27 said:

Hello was hoping someone on here would be able to help.

I am currently in the process of buying my first property. I have paid for the title deeds and noticed there is a plot of land to the rear which is mentioned on the title however is not included in the sale.

upon investigation this land can only be used as a private garden for the property I am purchasing (exact wording below).

I have asked my solicitor about this and she advised she can not help as its is not being sold.

Does anyone know if I have any legal rights to this land or if I can stop it being used as it goes against the covenant.

any help would be greatly appreciated 

1. Not to use the said land other than as a private garden for use in conjunction with the dwellinghouse known as property I am buying aforesaid.

Typically you will find that the owner of a piece of land has sold part of their land to the builder of your property, and the purpose of that covenant is to protect them. So the owner of 'Toad Manor' sells part of their land to build 'Toad Cottage' with adjoining garden, and Toad Manor wants to ensure that Toad Cottage's garden is never used for anything else.

This is a contract, however depending on when the covenant was entered into, it would pass to the successive owners of the property that's being benefited (i.e. the larger piece of land). That means that the owner, 70 years later, of Toad Manor can stop the owner of Toad Cottage from building on Toad Cottage's garden.

Thus the covenant is not intended to benefit you (or preceding owners) in any way, it's only a burden for you. 

The current owner of Toad Manor is likely to be able to enforce the covenant against your vendor, but they don't have to. It's their right - it's not yours. 

Thank you. My main concern was that I would somehow be liable for anything the current vendor does with the property upon closing on the house land based on the wording that it was intended for my property only.

The land is separated by an unregistered road which I seem to own part of. I am more than happy to let them keep the land as they currently own it. As mentioned above my concern was the affects it could have on me as the owner/occupier of the house in conjunction with the land.

No, that wouldn't be possible. It was a restriction on the title of your house and garden. Now that the house and garden have been split into two separate titles, it would continue to burden the title of  the garden. At some point they could:

build on it (or whatever) and see if the owner of the  benefiting land sues them OR
enter into a deed with the owner of  the benefiting land so that there is no longer any restriction on  how it's used.

neither of these would involve you - it's something that runs with the land affected.

Sophiej27

SarahB16 said:

Sophiej27 said:

Yes, they are keeping the land to the rear however as per the title it can only be used in conjunction with the property I am buying.

In due course this separate piece of land will be on a different title to yours.  Any chance you could share a pic of this so we can see the layout.  My only worry if I were you is that it could be developed on but I think the vendor is more worried that you may wish to extend your house so is stopping you as they will continue to own that land. 

The properties currently have seperate titles however the title number for the land is seperate. There would be no way to extend the property due to a unadopted road and the covenant only allows for a garage to be built.
The land is also more behind the house next door but is named land to the rear of (my property), mentions my property in the covenant and contains the title number for my property.

Section62

Sophiej27 said:

thelawnet said:

Sophiej27 said:

Hello was hoping someone on here would be able to help.

I am currently in the process of buying my first property. I have paid for the title deeds and noticed there is a plot of land to the rear which is mentioned on the title however is not included in the sale.

upon investigation this land can only be used as a private garden for the property I am purchasing (exact wording below).

I have asked my solicitor about this and she advised she can not help as its is not being sold.

Does anyone know if I have any legal rights to this land or if I can stop it being used as it goes against the covenant.

any help would be greatly appreciated 

1. Not to use the said land other than as a private garden for use in conjunction with the dwellinghouse known as property I am buying aforesaid.

Typically you will find that the owner of a piece of land has sold part of their land to the builder of your property, and the purpose of that covenant is to protect them. So the owner of 'Toad Manor' sells part of their land to build 'Toad Cottage' with adjoining garden, and Toad Manor wants to ensure that Toad Cottage's garden is never used for anything else.

This is a contract, however depending on when the covenant was entered into, it would pass to the successive owners of the property that's being benefited (i.e. the larger piece of land). That means that the owner, 70 years later, of Toad Manor can stop the owner of Toad Cottage from building on Toad Cottage's garden.

Thus the covenant is not intended to benefit you (or preceding owners) in any way, it's only a burden for you. 

The current owner of Toad Manor is likely to be able to enforce the covenant against your vendor, but they don't have to. It's their right - it's not yours. 

Thank you. My main concern was that I would somehow be liable for anything the current vendor does with the property upon closing on the house land based on the wording that it was intended for my property only.

The land is separated by an unregistered road which I seem to own part of. I am more than happy to let them keep the land as they currently own it. As mentioned above my concern was the affects it could have on me as the owner/occupier of the house in conjunction with the land.

Is the piece of land the vendor is keeping included within the title of the property you are buying, or does it have its own separate title?

Your vendor can do other things with the piece of land if they keep it - for example they could agree to sell it back to the owner of 'Toad Manor', or could pay the owner of 'Toad Manor' additional money to get the covenant removed. Or they could do something altogether different and hope the covenant doesn't get enforced.