Survey finding
Restrictive covenants on your title: what to do
Most covenants are manageable. This page covers when they bite and what to do.
Last updated: 6 May 2026. Editorially reviewed: 20 May 2026.
Finding
Restrictive covenants on title
What this usually means
Restrictive covenants on the title can prohibit business use, restrict alterations, require maintenance, or grant rights to former landowners. Many are obsolete (Victorian estate covenants), some are live (estate management).
Why it matters
Solicitor reviews; indemnity for breach risk is common.
Ask your surveyor
- Check:Are there any visible breaches (extensions, business use)?
Ask the seller
- Check:Has covenant compliance been checked?
- Check:Any indemnity in place?
Next steps
- •Get two written quotes from local trades before negotiating with the seller.
- •Speak to your mortgage broker before exchanging if the finding affects mortgageability.
Tool shortcut
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What you need to know
Severity
Maintenance item. Worth quoting and including in negotiation.
Typical cost to fix
Indemnity policy £100-£500. Application to discharge £1,000-£3,000 plus legal fees.
Mortgage impact
Lender accepts covenant indemnity.
Insurance impact
Standalone.
When to pull out
Pull out only if covenant blocks intended use and cannot be discharged.
When to renegotiate, and by how much
Cost of indemnity or discharge; typical £100-£2,000.
Thinking of pulling out or renegotiating? What to do after a bad survey
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The Survey Decoder explains the wording. The full report adds address-specific flood, subsidence, EPC, crime, listed status, building age and price comparison data, so a single finding isn't judged in isolation.
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Check the property before you offer
Flood, subsidence, EPC, crime, schools, transport, broadband, tenure, age, listed status and price checks where data is available.
Run a free previewHow MyPropertyScan produces this guide, and what it is not
Published by MyPropertyScan and written by Ziad Nasr, who is accountable for its accuracy. No page here is written or reviewed by a chartered surveyor, conveyancer or regulated adviser, and we do not claim otherwise.
This page is not:
- Chartered surveying — we do not inspect properties or produce RICS Home Survey reports
- Legal advice — we do not act as conveyancers or advise on title, tenure or contracts
- Mortgage or insurance advice — we are not regulated by the FCA and give no recommendations
Figures and process steps come from the published UK datasets and standards listed on this page, not from professional practice. Pages are updated when source coverage, survey cost assumptions, or lender and legal requirements materially change. Dataset limitations are set out on the methodology page.
Spotted something out of date or wrong? Email hello@mypropertyscan.com and we will correct it and change the update date.
Sources used
We use UK public and specialist sources where they are available. Public datasets can be incomplete, delayed, or missing for some addresses. Treat them as a starting point, not as a replacement for professional advice.
Source standard: preference goes to official government datasets, statutory bodies, professional standards, and primary dataset publishers. We cite the source family on the page and explain coverage limits rather than filling gaps with unsupported estimates.
- Professional standard: RICS Home Survey StandardRICS standard for condition-based residential surveys in the UK.
- Learn more from: RICS consumer guide to surveysConsumer-facing guide to survey types and when each level is appropriate.
- Official guidance: GOV.UK buying or selling your homeGovernment overview of the home buying and selling process.