Who enforces Restrictive covenants?

Debras_Angel

vivatifosi wrote: »

woodstock,

Check the exact wording of the deeds before thinking you can go breaking the covenants. While others have already stressed how unpopular this could make you with the new neighbours, I'm a director of a management company that was set up by the developer and is now run wholly by residents. One of our key functions as an organisation - and this was written up when the estate was built - is to enforce the covenants. We can and do enforce precisely the kind of restrictive covenants that you are planning to break, so be careful if you are planning to move somewhere that has such rights (which is by no means every estate with covenants). We would come after you I'm afraid!

Ditto, same as above I am director/company secretary and basically run the residents management company and everything you quote would be enforced. You will most certainly upset your neighbours from day 1.

I would have thought a breeze block workshop would be even worse than a shed or hut made of wood as most people would accept that in a garden.

Woodstock is your garden fully enclosed?

Oblivion

woodstoke wrote: »

I intend to build a breeze block/brick one so does this count as a hut as it does not mention bricks.....

Covenants aside, you may well need planning permission for such a structure. You need to check with your local council's planning department.

Dave.

lesley1960

residents management company


god help us

woodstoke

Its a large garden fully enclosed with 8ft copper beech hedging (12 month year cover) as the shed is going to be positioned at the bottom of the garden (planning states 5m away from house and not more than half the garden taken up by shed and not higher than 4m pitched 3m high for flat roof) planning is not needed.......no other houses look onto the garden so i don't think anyone will mind.....

Debras_Angel

lesley1960 wrote: »

residents management company


god help us

What do you mean lesley?

vivatifosi

I was going to ask the same question Debras Angel. Most of the time what we do is much more mundane than sorting out covenants - ensuring that the communal gardens are well kept, fences are fixed when they blow down and stuff like that. The directors also worked together to get council tax rebands for 2/3rds of our residents. So we're reasonably popular here....

Woodstoke, back to your issue. Where we are we allow people to bring caravans on site for 1 day prior to holidays and one day after for loading and unloading, though a pop up one in a garage would also work well. We are also lucky in that the council has a caravan storage site which is reasonably priced. Hopefully one or other solution would work for you. In terms of your garden it sounds pretty secluded and already there (providing you don't fall foul of the high hedge legislation but that's a different issue...). I would check to see what kind of structures exist on site already, it is sometimes possible to pay the developer a fee and for them to approve a structure, though you may not get exactly what you want. And can you not compromise on the hedge? 4ft is still pretty tall... Hopefully that's a couple of possible solutions...

Debras_Angel

vivatifosi wrote: »

I was going to ask the same question Debras Angel. Most of the time what we do is much more mundane than sorting out covenants - ensuring that the communal gardens are well kept, fences are fixed when they blow down and stuff like that. The directors also worked together to get council tax rebands for 2/3rds of our residents. So we're reasonably popular here....

I'm the main person looking after everything from the accounts to companies house info to collection of service charges, the communal areas like the gardens, parking etc. We are in a gated community so it's very private. I do everything voluntarily as most of the other residents aren't interested so it's all down to me or we could use a management company!!:eek:

Richard_Webster

Restrictive covenants and sheds....

Typical wooden garden shed can be in breach of a lot of these covennats, depending on how they are worded.

Normal approach when we ask seller's solicitor for consent/indemnity policy for shed is to say that they are not doing that, if my buyer client doesn't want shed they will remove it. If he wants shed he has to take the risk.

Although there are exceptions - nasty developers/landed estates who do go looking for breaches of covenants - in a lot of cases you are only really protecting the position for when you sell. Actual enforcement by a developer etc is rare. With neighbours it is what winds them up - caravans and leylandii do have that effect - garden sheds don't tend to.

concernedseller

I have a concern. I am trying to sell my home and my neighbour has violated several covenants and potential buyers have complained about it. I have been told by some that developers cannot enforce covenants and that I am wasting my time. Now my neighbour believes that they can't touch him and he is not doing anything. Any advise?

concernedseller

On my last post I forgot to mention that I am currently in Halifax, NS.