A COUPLE finally found a buyer for their home after 10 months only to be told they were banned from selling it to outsiders.

Phil and Vicky Collins struck a deal with a family from Scotland to sell their home in the village of Briantspuddle for £192,000.

The sale was agreed, mortgages put in place and both families had started packing before council chiefs dropped the bombshell.

They halted the deal because of a covenant that meant there were restrictions on who the former council house could be sold on to.

Mr Collins, 31, said they were not advised of the covenant when they bought the house six years ago.

He added: “We spend 10 months trying to sell the house without even a single buyer coming to view it. No local came to see it even when we dropped the asking price from £217,000.

“When we bought we already lived in Dorset and no one mentioned anything about a covenant.

“In this day and age, with property sales almost dried up and people desperate to move, it’s beyond belief the council and its housing trust is standing by this principle.”

The Grainger family from Glasgow were also stunned at the development. The father had found a new job and they were preparing for a new life in the picturesque village.

However, housing bosses say that restrictions on who homes in Purbeck can be sold to could apply to other properties and that people should be made aware of covenants when buying any affected properties.

Since the house was originally bought, Purbeck Housing Trust, part of the Synergy Group, has taken over the council’s housing stock and Brian Miller, interim director at Synergy, has warned others could be affected.

He said: “This is a property that was sold under Right to Buy legislation and because it was in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a covenant was put to restrict the sale to a certain group of people.

“It can only be sold onto somebody who has worked or lived in Dorset or another Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for the last three years, a designated rural area or National Park.

“Any other properties sold in a similar fashion could have a similar covenant.

“It’s quite a restriction – but when you buy a Right to Buy you have to accept the restriction.”

A spokesman for Purbeck District Council said: “The owner should have been made aware of the covenant when the property was purchased.”