buying house, clause in land registry documents stating can't run a business ...

vivatifosi

MegaMiniMouse wrote: »

I don't know where an 'offended' party can find out about restrictive covenants - I doubt whether the council will be interested in getting involved, since the 'restriction' was not imposed by them

Come to think of it, what is the point of imposing a restrictive covenant, if there is no system of enforcing it...

I guess it depends on how old the houses are, whether they are all different or part of an estate, whether the covenants pass from owner to owner, whether developer enforceable only...

Here, all the deeds say effectively the same, with the differences relating to the plots only. Therefore the type of homeowner that is likely to kick up a stink over covenants breaches will know exactly what the covenants are because theirs will be the same. Not only that, they'll have a copy in their dresser drawer, prep'd with the relevant sections highlighted, ready to copy and shove through the letterbox of any "offender's" door:rotfl:. I can't begin to tell you how difficult that makes a director's job when they've got to juggle all these conflicting interests and has a narrow term of reference in which they can operate. The reason I do this unpaid job is to help make this a nice place to live, not act like a member of the Stasi!

In terms of enforcement, this is also a grey area as some associations are set up differently to others. As I mentioned earlier, where I live, there are absolutely ways to enforce the covenants, however some deeds have fewer "teeth" for want of a better expression. Personally though, I want to spend the funds here on keeping the grounds nice and well maintained, the drains properly cleaned, the fences mended etc, in other words, what we're supposed to be collecting them for. The last thing we'd want to do is spend money on a legal issue if we don't have to. This site has been here about 18 years and no court issues ever, but everyone does know what the covenants are and how they affect them.

Soot2006

On the other hand, there is a covenant against keeping poultry in my street and every second house has hens and they make a lot of noise but other than the odd loud argument, no one minds all that much. People have been advised that there would be no way of enforcing this covenant as the house were built in the 1950s and no one really cares any more.

happycamper3

If it helps I am buying this cash, no mortgage, and the house is over 100yrs old, the next door but one neighbour runs a computer business from home, and from what I can see there is another childminder in the road, if I can't childmind then that is what will happen, but still look after my friends 3 children and my niece for nothing, this covenant my stop me working, as dd has special needs, and I need to be home for her, no employer would employ me with my situation, just thought it would be the ideal job, working from home, not claiming any benefit,and being there for when my kids need me......... lets see what the solicitor says tomorrow.

For ofsted in my area, I can look after up to 8 children as they are all over the age of 7, in fact I could have as many as I liked (but don't).

mustrum_ridcully

Soot2006 wrote: »

On the other hand, there is a covenant against keeping poultry in my street and every second house has hens and they make a lot of noise but other than the odd loud argument, no one minds all that much. People have been advised that there would be no way of enforcing this covenant as the house were built in the 1950s and no one really cares any more.

It's unenforceable because The Allotments Act 1950 - An Act to amend the law relating to allotments and to abolish restrictions on the keeping of hens and rabbits, gives home owners and tenants the legal RIGHT to keep chickens.

However, covenants could be grounds to refuse planning permission. I've heard of a case where someone almost had to demolish a house they'd built because a council wanted to revoke PP due to a covenant (which they weren't aware of when PP was given).

vivatifosi

happycamper3 wrote: »

If it helps I am buying this cash, no mortgage, and the house is over 100yrs old,

I'm sure you'll be fine then happycamper3, just get it checked out for your own peace of mind.

Londonsu

Soot2006 wrote: »

On the other hand, there is a covenant against keeping poultry in my street and every second house has hens and they make a lot of noise but other than the odd loud argument, no one minds all that much. People have been advised that there would be no way of enforcing this covenant as the house were built in the 1950s and no one really cares any more.

yep we have a covenant that says we have to give the local pub a bale of hay a year (our house is a Victorian farm workers cottage)
the people who sold us the house have a covenant in their new house that says they cant keep pigs

Brock_and_Roll

Just to be clear here, a restrictive convenant can only be enforced by the beneficiary or his/her legal successors. If the neighbours do not fall into this category there is nothing then can do about you running a business whether they like it or not, as long of course as the business is legit and you have all the necessary permits etc.


These type of covenants are very common in places like London. Originally a landowner would have made greenfield land available for building and in order to preserve his "views" or to manitain an appropriate "standard" (and of course prices) for the new development, put in a restrictive covenant to keep out "rif raff". You have to remeber that in those days, being a "tradesman" carried some negative social connotations - neighbours would not want to be next to a coal dealer, Albert Steptoe etc. They wanted to live alongside the "professional classes"

As originally advised the benefactor of the covenant may well be long since dead and the rationale behind the covenant be lost due to the urbanisation of the area over time. In my experience, these covenants along with ones about hanging washing on the line etc are very rarely enforcable in court as the benefactor would have to show that they were directy and negatively affected by the breach.

In order to put your mind at rest you can buy relatively inexpensive insurance to cover yourself for this.

MegaMiniMouse

Brock_and_Roll wrote: »

Just to be clear here, a restrictive convenant can only be enforced by the beneficiary or his/her legal successors. If the neighbours do not fall into this category there is nothing then can do about you running a business whether they like it or not, as long of course as the business is legit and you have all the necessary permits etc.


These type of covenants are very common in places like London. Originally a landowner would have made greenfield land available for building and in order to preserve his "views" or to manitain an appropriate "standard" (and of course prices) for the new development, put in a restrictive covenant to keep out "rif raff". You have to remeber that in those days, being a "tradesman" carried some negative social connotations - neighbours would not want to be next to a coal dealer, Albert Steptoe etc. They wanted to live alongside the "professional classes"

As originally advised the benefactor of the covenant may well be long since dead and the rationale behind the covenant be lost due to the urbanisation of the area over time. In my experience, these covenants along with ones about hanging washing on the line etc are very rarely enforcable in court as the benefactor would have to show that they were directy and negatively affected by the breach.

In order to put your mind at rest you can buy relatively inexpensive insurance to cover yourself for this.

I guess the restrictive covenant issue is another example of the failure of the 'laws and practices' surrounding property ownership to keep up to date with modern consumer legislation

In what other market place would a seller expect to be able to influence/limit/dictate in perpetuity the future use of the item which was being sold?

In modern times, that is a job for a local authority (and they are very expert indeed at sorting these issues out)

MMM