RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS??

[martin33100]

Hi, just wondered if any one has ever had a restrictive covenant on there house?, I would like to build over our attached garage on our 15 year old house and it seems that the builder has put a restriction on this.
I have just got a copy of the first transfer from Land Registry 4th April 1997 made between Wimpey Homes Holding ltd and the first owner and it contains some restrictive covenants(6 in total).

Covenant No 2:- That no building or other structure whatsoever without the consent in writing of the Company be erected or constructed upon any garage comprised in the property which adjoins the dwelling comprised therein.

So to put this in basic terms, do I have to see if the Company:- Wimpey Homes Holdings is still trading? and then see if they will give consent in writing to build over our garage?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[b3taman]

Restrictive covenants are very common. Whether they are enforceable depends on how they are worded and whether any of your neighbours might wish to raise your proposed building works with Wimpey, regardless of whether or not you have PP.
Wimpey Homes is now Taylor Wimpey and are major UK housebuilders.
I suggest a polite call to their head office and ask to speak to someone about a restrictive covenant on your property would be a good start.
Best of luck.

 

[garyo]

Can you convert the garage to a room first, and then build on it afterwards?

 

[kingandy2nd]

Hello,

We had a similar covenant attached to our property which our solicitor advised us about when we bought the property.

His advice to us was that builders often attached such covenants because they don't want buyers throwing up extensions or doing other building work which would interfere with building the rest of the estate or have an adverse affect on how the estate looks while their still trying to sell the homes (I.e someone could throw up a ruddy great extension next to te boundary of an unsold property thus devaluing it for the builders).

He also said that usually once the builders have finished and they sold all the properties that aren't too bothered about enforcing the covenants.

Obviously there's no guarantee that's always the case, and as has been suggested here it would be best to approach said builders in the first instance...but hopefully it shouldn't be a massive problem for you.

 

[^woody^]

Developers put these nonsense restrictions on the properties to protect the style of the estate and the company's image.

Wimpey have merged into Taylor Wimpey now, but the benefits will transfer to the new company. However whether the company still actually benefits from the covenant is debatable

You either ignore it and build, or apply to have this removed from the deeds or challenged

Sometimes the local council may be a beneficiary of the covenant too.

If anyone else on the estate has done similar work, then that will give your an idea of what is acceptable

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

It will also very likely crop up when you come to sell, whenever that maybe. An indemnity should sort it but it will likely come up.

 

[jeds]

As above, these covenants are common - but they are normally time limited to 5 or 10 years. The idea is that developers want to preserve the design of the estate whilst their name is closely associated with it. After 5 or 10 years that close association wears off. They couldn't care less what you do with it after that.

 

[martin33100]

As above, these covenants are common - but they are normally time limited to 5 or 10 years. The idea is that developers want to preserve the design of the estate whilst their name is closely associated with it. After 5 or 10 years that close association wears off. They couldn't care less what you do with it after that.

Thanks for all the replies so far, the way the guy at land Registry was talking the covenants still stand even though the house is 15 years old, this is a copy of the transfer and the covenant in question is in the third schedule and its no. 2.

 

[^woody^]

... the guy at land Registry was talking the covenants still stand even though the house is 15 years old,

They will stay on the deeds until formally removed, but they may not be valid or enforceable.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

It will also very likely crop up when you come to sell, whenever that maybe. An indemnity should sort it but it will likely come up.

 

[martin33100]

... the guy at land Registry was talking the covenants still stand even though the house is 15 years old,

They will stay on the deeds until formally removed, but they may not be valid or enforceable.

Do you know how I can find out if they are valid or not?

 

[^woody^]

Do you know how I can find out if they are valid or not?

The only way to know, is to do the work and see if anyone tries to enforce the covenant, and then let a court decide validity or not, or solicitors agree non validity.

The other option is to get a proper legal opinion on whether the covenant is enforceable or not. And then make a decision

The other is to determine the beneficiary and negotiate (and pay for) the removal of the covenant.

 

[martin33100]

Do you know how I can find out if they are valid or not?

The only way to know, is to do the work and see if anyone tries to enforce the covenant, and then let a court decide validity or not, or solicitors agree non validity.

The other option is to get a proper legal opinion on whether the covenant is enforceable or not. And then make a decision

The other is to determine the beneficiary and negotiate (and pay for) the removal of the covenant.

I have just spoken to my local taylor Wimpey office and all they want is to see a plan of what I want to build plus a fee of £75 and hopefully they will say yes its fine and remove the covenant to build it.
Also how do I know if our house has permitted development rights?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Speaking to your local authority planning department is the easiest initial route and ask them if your property has had any permitted development rights removed. With a bit of luck and you don't get a complete muppet they will have access to the original application approval where it will state any restrictions in the conditions. Or any Article 4 Directions should also show up.

 

[martin33100]

Speaking to your local authority planning department is the easiest initial route and ask them if your property has had any permitted development rights removed. With a bit of luck and you don't get a complete muppet they will have access to the original application approval where it will state any restrictions in the conditions. Or any Article 4 Directions should also show up.

Thanks for the reply, after I spoke to Taylor Wimpey regarding the covenant I did have a chat with a nice guy at Fareham planning, I suggested showing him the plans first to make sure they would pass them before I sent them to Taylor Wimpey for removal of the covenant, when I asked about permitted development rights planning said have a look on there web site:- do I need planning permission regarding this but he went on to say I would probably need planning permission, they should be able to tell me when I show them the proposed drawings??