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TLDR: I’m the seller of a property. Solicitor says not to worry that positive covenants I hold on the property are not in contract of sale. I think they should be and buyers should give indemnity?
A little bit of context and background -
I’m in the process of selling a house, England UK. It is a back to back (back end) terrace house with a parking space.
After finding a buyer and getting a few weeks into the job it turns out during my original purchase land registry made a mistake and did not properly grant me rights of way over the access road, holding up my sale. These rights have now been rectified by the land registry who accepted the mistake and are in the process of updating the title.
Current issue and concern -
I have now received the contracts to sign between me and my buyers. The concern I have is that there are some positive covenants I have (maintenance of the road and a retaining wall facing a public sector organisation) which are not mentioned in the contracts for this current sale. I think they ought to be as otherwise from a legal perspective I would still be responsible for that maintenance.
My solicitor has assured me 'these covenants get missed all the time in residential properties' and that I wouldn't have any ties to it in the future at all.
I have asked my solicitor to change the contract so the transfer form should now incorporate a buyer indemnity insurance/covenant to the me the seller relating to the covenants and matters in the first transfer to be referred to in the amended register of title. But my solicitor refused to mention this matter to the buyers solicitor as they think it is not our responsibility. We’ve not yet given time for the land registry to amend the title and so it feels wrong signing off on a title that will be changed.
The buyers are keen to move in and I’m also ready to move, I’m ready to move and not looking at delaying for any other reason that I want to make sure it’s all done properly.
It feels like it's a bit rushed and sloppy and the solicitors just wanted to brush things under the carpet and finish the transaction asap. But I don't want to have any responsibility for any land or bit of wall down the line!
Is my solicitor right in that I should ignore it and leave the contract as is? Or should I press on to have the contract updated? Are these positive covenants rarely worth worrying about? My solicitor said it could open a new risk for me and it shouldn't be mentioned... Is she right? Or am I right to be worried? Can’t tell if it’s scare tactics or what.
A little bit of context and background -
I’m in the process of selling a house, England UK. It is a back to back (back end) terrace house with a parking space.
After finding a buyer and getting a few weeks into the job it turns out during my original purchase land registry made a mistake and did not properly grant me rights of way over the access road, holding up my sale. These rights have now been rectified by the land registry who accepted the mistake and are in the process of updating the title.
Current issue and concern -
I have now received the contracts to sign between me and my buyers. The concern I have is that there are some positive covenants I have (maintenance of the road and a retaining wall facing a public sector organisation) which are not mentioned in the contracts for this current sale. I think they ought to be as otherwise from a legal perspective I would still be responsible for that maintenance.
My solicitor has assured me 'these covenants get missed all the time in residential properties' and that I wouldn't have any ties to it in the future at all.
I have asked my solicitor to change the contract so the transfer form should now incorporate a buyer indemnity insurance/covenant to the me the seller relating to the covenants and matters in the first transfer to be referred to in the amended register of title. But my solicitor refused to mention this matter to the buyers solicitor as they think it is not our responsibility. We’ve not yet given time for the land registry to amend the title and so it feels wrong signing off on a title that will be changed.
The buyers are keen to move in and I’m also ready to move, I’m ready to move and not looking at delaying for any other reason that I want to make sure it’s all done properly.
It feels like it's a bit rushed and sloppy and the solicitors just wanted to brush things under the carpet and finish the transaction asap. But I don't want to have any responsibility for any land or bit of wall down the line!
Is my solicitor right in that I should ignore it and leave the contract as is? Or should I press on to have the contract updated? Are these positive covenants rarely worth worrying about? My solicitor said it could open a new risk for me and it shouldn't be mentioned... Is she right? Or am I right to be worried? Can’t tell if it’s scare tactics or what.