Covenant on ex council house

[Graemevw]

It turns out the house were trying to buy is ex council and there is a covenant on it saying that i cant build anything anywhere on the property.
without permission from the council first.

I want to build a garage, without a garage the house is useless to us.

Im trying to talk to the council about it but the relevant people are never there.
Our solicitors arent much use yet either.

What i wondered if is anyone has been through similar things? When asking permission, how much info will they need? I cant provide plans or anything as we dont own the house and live miles away.

All i know is i want to build a garage that would be within PD rights.

I also know they will charge to give me permission, and different councils charge different amounts.

What im trying to find out though is whats involved in applying for/getting permission?

Anyone got any experience with this?

Does the fact that we dont own the house yet make things any harder to sort out?

Thanks.

 

[Graemevw]

Oh, there are other issues too.

It says no driveways and the front garden must remain grased and open plan.
There is a path that leads to the front door and around the back of the house.

The garage is for motorbikes.
I dont need a drive, the path is fine as it is, will using this for motorbike access mean the path becomes a drive?
If i did this would i need to drop the kerb? I dont want to drop the kerb as i cant create off street parking and therefore i wouldnt be able to park on the front, or on the road across the dropped kerb

I realise the council (chesterield) are the people to be answering these questions but i'd like to here about anyones previous experiences with this kind of thing.

Thanks.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

In my experience you will need to apply for planning permission but under the proviso that what you are applying for would ordinarily be allowed within permitted development and as such there would be no charge.

You would have to submit the same information that was required for a Full Planning Application or an application for a Lawful Development Certificate (the info required for each of these application is pretty much the same).

But you should run this past the duty officer or other planner at the authority before you submit it.

Unless there is something specific in your deeds or the original planning permission then you can park a bike on the front garden.

 

[^woody^]

This type of permission would be required from the Housing Dept, and would not be related to the planning dept

Basically, it is a typical covenant for all the council house sales. It is intended to protect the housing dept's interest in any adjacent properties or land which it may still own - things like access, and future sales

All they will [should] want is a basic sketch plan and some basic details of what you want to do. They will just be looking for what impact it will have on any of their properties or land

There permission can can not be withheld without a very good reason
If the covenant is no longer valid, then you can ask to have it removed.

There should not be any cost, but in these lean times they may levy a fee - but IIRC, they should notify any charges first and publish fee scales. Just don't ask about fees, and if they try to charge afterwards, complain that you were not told in advance

 

[Sophie83]

I bought an ex-council house in 2007.

It had a covenant saying no boats or caravans allowed, and no tarmacing of drive.

As far as i know this was a load of rubbish because most of the street (all ex-council) have done their drives with no planning permission and I dont think if i parked a caravan here i would get into trouble.

I know that my previous owner had bough the rights to freehold and so did my neighbours which may release them from the covenants which were originally placed when all the houses were owned by the council?

When we were buying though we were told the driveway was illegal by the solicitor and then after some research we were told it was ok.

So it might depend on whether you are buying it freehold. the document may be way out of date.

 

[Richard C]

It had a covenant saying no boats or caravans allowed, and no tarmacing of drive.

As far as i know this was a load of rubbish because most of the street (all ex-council) have done their drives with no planning permission and I dont think if i parked a caravan here i would get into trouble.

I know that my previous owner had bough the rights to freehold and so did my neighbours which may release them from the covenants which were originally placed when all the houses were owned by the council?

It doesn’t make any difference if it’s Freehold or Leasehold, the covenants will still apply unless they have been specifically lifted. The no boats/caravan’s in front gardens restriction doesn’t just apply to ex local authority houses, many local authorities have such a restriction but the fact that you’re Council does not appear interested in enforcing them doesn’t mean they cant.

Driveways now also require planning permission if they are not of permeable construction or have dedicate soak away drainage.

 

[RedHerring2]

Our ex-council house had a similar covenant, but just an outline one, i.e. anywork will require the permission of the housing dept.
I built a garage and an extension, with full PP and BCO approval, from the same authority.
I didn't bother asking the housing dept.
My defence, if it's ever needed, will be "I assume the departments communicate with each other within the same authority".

The garage has been completed three years now, and the extension has been in construction for 15 months without problems.

 

[Graemevw]

Thanks.

I managed to speak to someone about it today, i have to deal with Kiers housing department.

Basicaly its a flat rate of £100 or £150 depending on if the work need planning permission or not.
She also said there are very few reasons why you'd ever be refused. Things like trying to build over a shared right of way or such.

She seemed very surprised that i knew if the garage i want to build needs planning or not. She said 'but how do you know it doesnt need planning' so i reminded her all the info is on the planning portal.