Is Enforcement of Restrictive Covenants Common?

[RomanAbramovich]

Sifting through the title deeds of a property I'd like to buy, of note is a restrictive covenant stating 'no building other than a garage shall be erected within 15 feet of a dwelling on an adjacent plot'.

Presuming the purchase completes, I plan to extend the property along one side (subject of a previous post), which will contravene the above covenant.

Anyone had experience of this type of scenario? The covenant is dated 1968 - is it common for neighbours to challenge domestic extensions on the basis of such covenants - or are they generally ingnored?

How would a neighbour know of restrictive covenants on an adjacent plot?!

 

[denso13]

http://tinyurl.com/noe3yf2

 

[endecotp]

They will know because they will have a similar restriction on their own deeds.

My guess is that while "no washing outside on Sunday" type restrictions are largely ignored in many places, the sort of restriction that you are looking at could actually be enforced. But I don't have any real experience to back that up.

 

[RomanAbramovich]

http://tinyurl.com/noe3yf2

 

[RomanAbramovich]

They will know because they will have a similar restriction on their own deeds.

My guess is that while "no washing outside on Sunday" type restrictions are largely ignored in many places, the sort of restriction that you are looking at could actually be enforced. But I don't have any real experience to back that up.

Neighbour to one side has extended (with living accommodation not a garage) to within 3 feet of the boundary of the property I wish to purchase. Either they didn't have the same restrictive covenant, they ignored a similar restrictive covenant or reached an 'agreement' with the persons entitled to the benefit of the covenant (ie the adjacent properties).

Anyone know if it's possible for joe public to get visibility of such legal history, using freely available records?

 

[mattylad]

ISTR that there may be no one that can restrict you.

The covenant is by the people at the time and they are unlikely to still be around.

Even if the neighbours were to have the same, who would they get to enforce it?

 

[endecotp]

The covenant is by the people at the time and they are unlikely to still be around.

Normally the covenant says something to the effect of

"I hereby agree that I will not build blah blah and also that when I sell the property I will do so with a covenant imposing the same restriction"

So you, the new purchaser, will enter into a new covenant.

 

[endecotp]

Anyone know if it's possible for joe public to get visibility of such legal history, using freely available records?

No, land registry type docs are not publicly available.

Talk to a conveyancing solicitor!

 

[cjard]

Anyone know if it's possible for joe public to get visibility of such legal history, using freely available records?

No, land registry type docs are not publicly available.

Talk to a conveyancing solicitor!

Since when? Every land registry "title registry" document I've ever downloaded, at a cost of just £3, has listed all the restrictive covenants that apply to a property. It might even include a scan of the original paper deed setting it out in ye olde Englishe language..

Roman, just go on the LR website, search your neighbour's address and download their title registry entry (note; there are 2 kinds, the plan shows the extent of the title, the register describes it). It should contain all the covenants that apply to the site

 

[RomanAbramovich]

Anyone know if it's possible for joe public to get visibility of such legal history, using freely available records?

No, land registry type docs are not publicly available.

Talk to a conveyancing solicitor!

Since when? Every land registry "title registry" document I've ever downloaded, at a cost of just £3, has listed all the restrictive covenants that apply to a property. It might even include a scan of the original paper deed setting it out in ye olde Englishe language..

Roman, just go on the LR website, search your neighbour's address and download their title registry entry (note; there are 2 kinds, the plan shows the extent of the title, the register describes it). It should contain all the covenants that apply to the site

Great tip cjard - the registry entry for the neighbouring property states...

'C: Charges Register
This register contains any charges and other matters
that affect the land.
1 A Transfer of the land in this title dated 22 August 1968 made between
(1) xyz Limited and (2) Jo Bloggs and Jane Bloggs contains restrictive covenants.'

This downloaded LR copy of register of title is pretty much identical to the one I have a hard copy of for the prospective purchase. Neither LR doc details what the covenants are - it's the original paper deed (photocopy) that describes the restrictive covenant 'no building within 15 feet of the plot boundary'.

So I'm now armed with the knowledge that the neighbours plot has restrictive covenants on it, but I don't know what those restrictive covenants are - even though it's likely that I might well be a beneficiary of said restrictive covenants if I become their neighbour!

The neighbour was granted full plans in 2002 and subsequently built to within 3 feet of the boundary.

Looks like santander provided the loan on the neighbouring property, so assume the original title deeds are locked in a storage vault somewhere. Furthermore, there's no audit trail on whether the (deceased) owner of the prospective purchase agreed to lift/waive the covenant.

 

[endecotp]

Wow! I'm sorry, you are quite right. Apparently it changed in 1990.

 

[RomanAbramovich]

Wow! I'm sorry, you are quite right. Apparently it changed in 1990.

Please don't apologise - I wasn't aware LR provided such info and online too - I've been educated!

...in this scenario how would a neighbour know that there is a restrictive covenant stating 'cannot build within 15 feet of the boundary' on the property I wish to purchase?

If they aren't aware of such a covenant, they can't apply to have it enforced


The original title deeds will pass into my hands, therefore neighbours can only become aware of said restrictive covenant if I inform them!

I plan to build to within 1 foot of the boundary along one side of the plot, structure to be within PD rights, so I'm really trying to weigh up the risk of being held to ransom by the neighbour/s.

 

[mattylad]

Just beware the fake sites that charge you more than £3.

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/property-ownership is the correct link.

And my statement still stands that there may be no one to enforce your covenants. Third parties cannot enforce them, only the people that the covenants are made between.

So if the people in the docs, or the company that owned them is no longer around then its just down to you.

 

[tigs333]

it might be difficult if you try to sell...


Wont the covenant and your 'building ' not match?

 

[tony1851]

Restrictive covenants like that are the result of how estates were traditionally built. A developer would be unlikely to be able to afford to build an estate of, say, 100 houses in one go.
Instead, he would build a handful, sell those, and put the money towards building the next small batch of houses.
In the meantime, he had to make sure that the new owners of his first houses did not start building on them, or keeping pigs and cattle etc in the gardens, because that would devalue the next batch of houses he had to sell.
The upshot is that once the whole estate has been built and sold, the developer couldn't care less what subsequently happened to the value of his houses.