Solicitors for Drafting & Amending Deed of Covenants

Leases often contain provisions that the lease may only be assigned to someone who has entered into a covenant with the freeholder and/or the management company (and, occasionally, other tenants).  A deed of covenant may also be required on the transfer of freehold property where a transferee is required to confirm it will comply with positive covenants which affect the property (such as a requirement to contribute towards the cost of repair of shared areas).

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. In short, there’s normally a lot more legal work involved in these situations than lay-people typically expect.

Our fixed-fee product includes:

• Understanding your description of the circumstances and intended outcome
• Checking the relevant title entries and/or deed
• Advising what needs to be done to achieve the desired objective
• Drafting or dealing with the required Deed of Covenant

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 dealing with any Stamp Duty Land Tax arising or similar and making and pursuing to conclusion the Land Registration aspects– although we may able to offer assistance with aspects of these other issues that might arise, at extra cost, as they are required.

Note that a landlord or management company or other third party who is required to provide or enter into a Deed of Covenant will often require its own costs to be met by the party who requires the Deed of Covenant.  Any such costs will be payable in addition to our charges.

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 deed 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. Once produced, the deed will need to be agreed between all relevant parties before they sign.

The completed deed will usually be required for the purposes of a disposition that is to be registered with HM Land Registry (although the deed itself isn’t usually required by HM Land Registry). 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 the 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 charges at a fixed-fee of £400 + VAT =£480.

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 complying with positive covenants during a property transfer, our specialist Land and Title Solicitors are here to help. Whether you’re drafting a Deed of Covenant or need guidance on navigating leasehold obligations, we provide clear, practical solutions tailored to your needs.

With offices in Bramhall, Cheadle, Hazel Grove and Heald Green, our team is on hand to provide trusted local support. We specialise in helping property owners and tenants meet the legal requirements of property transactions, ensuring a smooth and compliant process.

Don’t let the complexities of positive covenants cause unnecessary stress. Contact our experienced solicitors in Stockport today to discuss your situation and take the next step with confidence.