Breach of restrictive covenant less than 12 months old

Yorkie1

NeverAgain wrote: »

... You need something in writing from them to that effect...

Or you need a buyer who takes a certain view, which could happen in the OP's case.

Yes, I agree; that was the point of my somewhat rhetorical question.

Being realistic, given the fact that the OP has now been asked to provide the proof, and also that the breach is only 7 months old, I suspect that the buyer is unlikely to take a certain view.

And, given that requests for such paperwork appear to be ever increasing according to the professional or frequent conveyancers on here, Betsie might also find herself in similar difficulties in the future despite the passage of time.

Running_Horse

Bluebumble wrote: »

He said he wasn't sure whether he was told of the covenant or not but if he was he didn't remember about it when we came to build the conservatory.

If he wasn't told, I would be asking the solicitors why not. If he was, then he has no one to blame but himself. You wouldn't build an extension without planning permission or building regs.

We viewed a 60s house with a similar covenant, but as the developer no longer existed, and as every house in the road had a conservatory, we took the view it didn't really matter.

Richard_Webster

Quote:
Originally Posted by Slinky
To put your mind at rest, why not go and knock on a few doors where people have conservatories and ask them how their experience with Wimpey was on this issue?

Surely after the development has been completed and they've sold all the houses, Wimpey aren't really going to care what you do. What they don't want you doing is stuff that will affect the sales of houses whilst they are still building.
no dont. dont ask anyone about their conservatory, contact wimpey anonymously, they will tell you the procedure, and as a buyers lawyer I would of course not accept indemnity insurance as the risk of wimpey taking action is too high, and my client will want a conservatory not a cheque for not having one (i,e cost of removal and loss in value to house).

I have never had a negligence claim and I wouldn't start now

Realistically the most likely scenario is the Wimpey will do nothing. If, as TimmyT reasonably says, the risk for a 7 month old conservatory is higher than for an older one, are they actually going to go to the lengths of requiring it to be removed altogether?

They would only do that in circumstances that were fairly unusual,e.g. they have bought field next door and the existence of the conservatory means that the Council would give planning permission for one less plot because of it.

In most cases the Insurer will sit behind the owner's (local) solicitor who will write making offers in the low hundreds for Wimpeys to give a consent. Most likely the insurers might have to pay out a thousand or two for a retrospective consent.

Just for clarity Richard, can you explain how an indemnity policy actually works? I have one for a conservatory/lean-to on my house and although I needed one, I didnt know what it does exactly. Does the insurer undertake to re-imburse the cost of the conservatory if the local council orders you to tear it down? Even if you didnt put it up in the first place?

Policies will vary slightly but typically it wouldn't be the cost of the conservatory, but the loss in value to the house. It would also depend on what the policy was for. If it was for Building Regulations and the conservatory didn't comply then it might be cheaper for the insurer to bear the cost of compliance. If it was Planning then they would consider arguing that permission should be granted - whichever was likely to be the cheapest course for them. If a restrictive covenant, then they would try to buy off the covenant holder to obtain a consent.

Bluebumble

Hi all

Many thanks for your replies, just to give you an update. We called our solicitor first thing this morning and she as pretty useless to be honest. She said oh I will get you an indemnity policy until I pointed out the breach was less than 12 months old, then she said oh I don't know then. Maybe you should contact wimpey and ask for retrospective consent. Duh!

So I contacted wimpey this morning and luckily got through to a very very helpful legal guy who said no problem to retrospective consent (fee of £120 and a letter confirming planning permission and copy of the plans) and we an pick it up today!

We feel very lucky and that we dodged a bullet there. I will definately remember to check all covenants next time!

Thanks again