Claw Back Provision - What Does It Mean?

[wiltsman]

I'm in the process of buying a house where the back garden is smaller than the ones in my neighbours identical houses. This is because at one point my house, being the the last in the row was next to a play area owned by the council. This is no longer the case, which is why the council are now offering me some of their land, for a few thousand pounds, meaning my garden will now be the same size as my neighbours.

An email from the council confirning the details of the sale has included the following, 'There is also a claw back provision include in the Title that the Council will need to abide by'.

Now, checking on Google, I'm informed that a clawback agreement is an agreement made between a seller and a purchaser of land and/or buildings. It provides for the seller (the council) to receive an additional payment, or otherwise share in the uplift in value of the property if a certain future event occurs.

Does this mean that if the value of my house increases in the future then the council can demand an additional payment from me? As the house needs an extension to provide a decent sized kitchen amonst other things, this should increase the value of my house, but I'm not happy that the transaction will trigger a claw back provision, or have I got it wrong?

Any legal eagles out there in AB land who can put me straight?

[AuntPG]

It usually stipulates in the Contract what will be covered by the Clawback. Normally this would be if you wanted to develop the garden -say get planning permission for a house. The Contract will state the amount or percentage of Clawback and what it covers. You will no doubt be getting a Solicitor or Conveyor to deal with the sale so he/she will be able to explain what you are potentially signing up to. Of course, the easiest way is to give the council a call .

[wiltsman]

Thank you for your reply Aunt PG. I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge you earlier. I do understand things more fully now.