Big Garage Project

[^woody^]

I don't do much in conveyance/property law nowadays, but although precedent may have change, the general principles of covenants/easements will still be valid.

Having said that, it is a complex situation when the details, beneficiaries and meanings have to be determined, and therefore more often than not it is not a simple matter to determine if the covenant is valid, or if there is a beneficiary. Also covenants may be revoked, removed or be time barred from enforcement for other reasons

There are general covenants on deeds which are intended to protect interest in adjacent land - typically where one landowner sells part of his land for development and wants to protect his remaining land or the area in general. These will run with the land (and possibly future owners) or be related to whatever the covenant was meant to protect on the adjacent land.

A more onerous covenant is one which is part of what is called a 'scheme of development'. A developer may place covenants in the deeds to protect the site until all the houses are sold, but the benefits of these will pass to subsequent owners of the properties - even though there is no specific mention of this intention. In these cases, if many properties have the same covenant, then it is deemed that each property will derive benefit from neighbouring properties covenants, and therefore the owners will be entitled to enforce covenants either individually or collectively. But there are set circumstances for when a scheme of development exists or not.

Enforcing covenants costs a lot of money in solicitors fees, and with no guarantee of success or of what will be granted by the court - either an injunction to remove the breach or damages in-lue of the breach. The court decides which will be appropriate, and not the claimant. There are cases where the claimants wanted damages, but were granted injunctions, and vice-versa. If the resulting breach has little or no impact, then the covenant will be deemed spent

 

[IJWS15]

You might want to consider putting a fall into the floor. I did this on the last one I built - 2" over 20 odd feet. Was not noticeable unless you looked at the edge and the bricks, enough for water running off the car to run out though the door but not enough for the car to move on its own with the handbrake off.

 

[GJS]

Thanks, Woody - that's very interesting.

I think that in my case the covenants are part of a scheme of development. For example, all the front gardens are open plan i.e. no walls or fences and these are banned by covenants. It would certainly look really odd if one home owner decided to build a three foot brick wall around his front garden. It makes sense to me that the developer/builder will want to protect against this sort of thing until all the houses are sold, and then the new owners of the properties will want to be similarly protected.

So, the covenants that I intend to break (sounds good doesn't it?) are:

1. Removal of a tree along one of the boundaries. This is not allowed without council permission (see several posts above).

2. Extending past the front of the existing property, towards the street.

In the case of 1 I don't think there will be any problems here, although I've a slight concern about some eco nutters living in the close that will almost certainly start raising there eyebrows. I can't see how there will be anything they can practically do it about though.

In the case of 2, I think I will try and get approval from the builders, but ignore it if I don't get it. It's impossible to imagine that the builder will try to enforce.

No 2 will also be a planning issue, I think, but I also think there is a good case for allowing it. At the end of the day the garage will be sympathetic to the area and there'll be no loss of amenity for anyone. People living adjacent will benefit from the removal of an eyesore fence and gate.

There was a previous application for a side extension of garage with a self contained flat above. This was rejected on the basis of being two seperate dwellings. I wonder if the planners will consider that my proposal will discourage a two storey extension being built in the future?

IJWS15 - That's a good tip. It also makes it easier to get my motorbike out. No reverse gear on that!