Restrictive Covenants & Land Access Rights Solicitors

When land is to be developed one plot may well depend on another plot for important rights such as access, provision of utilities, utility passage, etc. Typical circumstances in which these type of arrangements arise are when a plot under singular ownership is split, for example when someone sells part of their land for development – or alternatively when neighbours discuss and agree the granting of these types of right, often in consideration of some payment or exchange. Utility providers may also require legal rights over your land in order to provide essential services.

The law is quite complicated, and the scenarios easily become convoluted. Even just to understand what needs to be done, and how it might be achieved, requires a high level of qualification and experience in the applicable land law. Land Registration will inevitably arise, that might also have tax implications. In short, there’s normally a lot more legal work involved in these situations than lay-people typically expect – so do please anticipate being surprised by how much is entailed.

Our fixed price product is only for relatively simple situations that do not include either maintenance or service charge obligations. We are willing to advise on situations that do include maintenance and service charges, but we will need to agree a specific quote, likely to be higher than the fixed-fee.

Our fixed-fee product includes:

• Understanding your description of the circumstances and intended outcome
• Checking the relevant title registers
• Advising what needs to be done to achieve the desired objective
• Drafting or dealing with the appropriate documentation
• Checking documents have been properly executed
• Making and pursuing to conclusion the Land Registration aspects

Not included is negotiation of terms between the parties, acting for more than one of the parties, obtaining any third party consents required (e.g. from lenders or landlords), dealing with any applicable trusts, and other contingencies including any preparation of plans – although we may able to offer assistance with aspects of these other issues that might arise, at extra cost, as they are required.  Any Land Registry fees payable for registration of documentation will be payable in addition to our costs.

We don’t generally do anything for new clients until our process of client retention has concluded – this involves agreeing the scope of what we are doing for the price (our terms are below), setting-up our client record (that includes ID checks), and producing the bill (payment in advance is required for all new clients).

After that, the production of the documentation is a job that we can undertake in a few hours once we can schedule it in our workflow, that can depend on how busy we are at any particular time. We would not usually take-on a job for which we could not engage within about a working week.

There may be negotiation of details within the documents required with the counterparty or their legal representative, which can take time.  Often the completed documents will then need to be submitted to HM Land Registry for registration. The time HM Land Registry take to process such a registration varies greatly, depending on how busy they are. Some applications are processed very quickly, up to “next day”; however, most applications appear to languish awaiting HM Land Registry attention; in 2024 many applications were taking about 12 months to be registered – and some types of application can take even longer than that, unfortunately. However, once submitted HM Land Registry process applications on any title in order of submission – so their delay ought not to affect the priority of your application relative to other matters on that title.

Your supplier is SRA-regulated Mounteney Solicitors, that charges VAT some customers may be able to reclaim.

Our fixed product described is charged at a fixed-fee of £1,000 + VAT = £1,200. Any Land Registry fee payable for registration of documentation will be payable in addition to our costs.

Our fees are fixed for our work described, regardless of how much work we actually do. In some cases this may mean we’ll get relatively better paid for doing less work than in other cases, in which the fixed fee will barely cover our costs. This is simply the nature of the mutual ‘gamble’ between a solicitor and their client when they fix a fee of a set job.

There is more about our fees on our website here

If you have any questions, require any further information, or would like to engage us on the T&Cs linked Our Terms in the footer below, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.

If you need expert advice on Restrictive Covenants, easements, or any issues relating to your property title, our specialist Land and Title Solicitors are here to help. Whether you’re looking to modify, enforce, or better understand a covenant, we provide clear, practical guidance tailored to your specific needs.

With offices in Bramhall, Cheadle, Hazel Grove and Heald Green, our team is on hand to provide trusted local support. Whether you’re splitting land for development, negotiating easements with neighbours, or formalising agreements with utility providers, our solicitors in Stockport have the expertise to handle the complexities of land law and registration.

Don’t let restrictive covenants or title issues hold you back. Contact our experienced Restrictive Covenant Solicitors today to discuss your situation and take the next step with confidence.