Positive Covenant
An obligation requiring the landowner to do something (e.g., maintain a fence). Positive covenants do not generally bind successors in title at common law (Austerberry v Oldham Corporation [1885]), though workarounds exist.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Unlike a restrictive covenant, a positive covenant — such as an obligation to maintain a fence or contribute to shared costs — does not automatically bind a later owner of the burdened land at common law. In practice, conveyancers instead rely on a chain of personal indemnity covenants passed from seller to buyer down the chain of ownership.
HM Land Registry continues to support that mechanism by recording the relevant deeds on the register: it maintains the concept of the 'chain of indemnity', which ensures that liability for a positive covenant's breach is transferred with each property sale, while noting that HM Land Registry is not required to record the specific details of a positive covenant in the register itself — only a reference to the deed that contains it.
Related terms
Official sources
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