At its simplest a sale and purchase agreement can be an unconditional agreement setting out all the terms such as the price, the parties and the property.

However, if the property does not have the desired planning permission the agreement will most likely be one of the following:

• A conditional contract, whereby within a set period of time following the grant of permission the developer is contractually obliged to complete the purchase of the property.
• An option agreement, whereby in consideration of a premium, the seller agrees not to sell the property to anyone other than the developer for an agreed period of time. Often the developer is obliged to make a planning application but the developer is not obliged to purchase the property, even if planning permission has been obtained.
• A promotion agreement, whereby the promoter will prepare and submit a planning application on behalf of the owner and will find a purchaser for the property after planning permission has been granted . In return, the promoter receives a share of the sale price.

Conditional contracts and option agreements can also be used in other situations where the parties are waiting on a future event, such as taking premises back from a tenant or acquiring an adjoining property.

Transfer deeds create rights and obligations that bind a property beyond the life of a contract and are often complex and detailed documents. Where a seller retains some neighbouring property the transfer deed can:

• Create new positive covenants or obligations to undertake future tasks such as surfacing a road, erecting a fence or contributing towards the cost of maintaining such items of this nature.
• Create new negative covenants or restrictions against doing certain things in the future such as limiting what a property can be used for or preventing a nuisance or not obstructing a road, etc.
• Grant or retain easements ( rights over land e.g. rights of way, rights of drainage).