The landlord (a ltd company) of a commercial property wishes to sell it to the present tenant, who wants to buy it. But part of the land at one side of the commercial building would make a good residential property site if sold off separately. The landlord does not want this parcel of land to be developed and wishes to place some sort of restriction - in perpetuity - that this land cannot be developed, in case the new owner decides to either sell it off separately or sell the whole lot to another owner who then tries to sell the land off.
Has anyone got any ideas that they might offer as to how a workable restriction might be arranged? One idea would be for the ltd co to retain ownership of the parcel and continue to lease it to the owner at the time of the main bit in order to retain control, but this is not ideal because the ltd co would have to remain in existence for ever and does not particularly want to. Another way might be to place a covenant in the terms of the sale prohibiting development, but some smart-ass always finds a way round this sort of thing.
Thanks if you have any ideas.
Rob Graham