Overage for Conveyancers - A Practical Introduction

Introduction

Overage clauses can represent something of a challenge to conveyancers. If you get it wrong a court case will often be the result either as to what the clause actually means or as a claim by the client when loss is suffered because of faulty wording of the clause.

Overage provisions are famously complicated and great care is needed in drafting.

You may be involved in commercial conveyancing where you will come across Overage Agreements as part of your practice or as a residential conveyancer you may only come across overage from time to time, for example when a client sells land to a developer - in either case it is useful to be aware of the background, pitfalls and case law.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive session will cover the following:

• What are overage clauses? - a look at construction, meaning and reasons for them, and the different types you might come across
• How do you protect them? - a look at the use of restrictive covenants, mortgages and charges, lease back arrangements
• Will the overage clause run for a specific time only or until an agreed event happens and how is the consideration to be calculated - a fixed sum or an arithmetical formula?
• Will the obligation envisaged by the clause be absolute or at the option of one of the parties and what is meant by ‘a trigger event’?
• Option agreements and conditional contracts
• A look at a specimen deed of overage
• Common errors in drafting and potential liability in negligence for the conveyancer
• ‘Permitted disposals’
• What will the court imply?
• Questions of construction
• How hard do you have to try to make overage happen?
• What is meant by ‘detailed planning permission’?
• You’ve got planning but you can’t use it
• What about tax in the context of overage?
• Comparison between overage agreements, conditional contracts and option agreements
• Can you buy and sell overage rights?

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.