First Time buyer Question - Restrictive Covenants

poorlittlefish

Morally, I'm not sure it would be fair to ask for a price reduction on the basis that you might, at some point in the future, want to do some work from home. It's not the same as asking for a reduction because of a repair issue; the covenants will still be there even if you buy for a lower price. As the covenants have been made known to you, it's really your decision as to whether or not you feel they're so restrictive that you don't want to proceed.

I deal a lot with leasehold properties, where the terms of the lease prohibit business use. If a leaseholder tries operating, say, a car repair business from the front of their property, then invariably one of the residents is going to complain but we probably have dozens of leaseholders working from home. Let's face it, if someone is just using their spare room to do their accounts or phone calls etc, who's going to know? It's only, as others have said, the likes of vans or a constant stream of visitors that attract attention.

lazer

poorlittlefish wrote: »

Morally, I'm not sure it would be fair to ask for a price reduction on the basis that you might, at some point in the future, want to do some work from home. It's not the same as asking for a reduction because of a repair issue; the covenants will still be there even if you buy for a lower price. As the covenants have been made known to you, it's really your decision as to whether or not you feel they're so restrictive that you don't want to proceed.

I deal a lot with leasehold properties, where the terms of the lease prohibit business use. If a leaseholder tries operating, say, a car repair business from the front of their property, then invariably one of the residents is going to complain but we probably have dozens of leaseholders working from home. Let's face it, if someone is just using their spare room to do their accounts or phone calls etc, who's going to know? It's only, as others have said, the likes of vans or a constant stream of visitors that attract attention.

It is not simply the business use, there is other restrictions, such as you can only plant shrubs in certain areas, fences need to be very low (not very practicly to keep say a dog or children in - 50cm is the limit - although the current back fences are already higher).

The lower price would compansate for the fact I amy have to move again, and the hosue will be harder to re-sell due to covenants.
Remember this is a house in a rural area, not a large developmen

Yorkie1

I tend to agree that renegotiating on the basis that the house may potentially not suit you in the future, is probably a non-starter. There aren't specific repair issues that usually form the basis of lowering the offer. You can always try but I wouldn't expect the seller to be that sympathetic.

If you are not prepared to broach it with the developer then you either buy the house and see what happens in the future - with the attendant risk of having to move - or you walk away, as others have advised.

In my experience, childminding is not a particularly quiet business of minimal impact on neighbours. There are parents' car journeys, and noise in the garden when the children play outside.

Accountancy would depend on whether you had clients coming to the house or not.

The_Palmist

Self employed and being sole trader is different to having an office registered at your home address. I believe you would be in breach of the covenants if you BF gets his company registered at your address.