Covenants??

Yozlem

Hi
We're about to complete buying a house but on the transfer paper signed in 1975 by the transferor and the buyer there are some covenants. One of the clauses reads as follow:

"No building or erection of any kind shall be erected oh the land hereby transferred unless a plan and specification thereof has previously been approved in writing by the transferor or his surveyor and is also in accordance with the regulations of the local or other competent authority and no hut shed caravan house on wheels or other chattel adapted or intended for use as a dwelling shall be erected placed or be permitted to remain on the said land"

I raised my concern with my solicitor and she advised that I contact the transferor or their successors to get a written consent if we intend to have a loft conversion or a conservatory. And I tried to find the person but the only thing I could find that there was a man in his named who died in 1976 around the area.

My concern is: if we buy the house and do some alterations in the future, which we are thinking of doing, and if one of the transferor's successor somehow finds out this, can they act against us because we somehow breach the covenants? Or would this cause a problem if we want to sell the house? I have tried to find theses people but it is not possible to go any further. Please advise me if we should buy the property or shall we not go for it because of this reason? Or are there any other solution?

Thanks for your help

Starjust

I do feel out of my depth on this forum and I'm in no way qualified to respond.
Having said that I'm in exactly the same boat and have recently sought advice from my own solicitor and have done lots of trawling through this forum, including starting a similar thread myself.

We intend to contact the successor to our transferor if and when we build a conservatory on our new place. We expect the consent to cost around £200 but from what I can gather, without the consent it could cause us problems when we come to sell the property. It appears common during a purchase for a solicitor to check covenants haven't been breached and without that permission from the transferor, they have!
With regards to the transferor taking issue if you don't seek permission. From what I've read, after 30-40 years they're unlikely to care or even have a means to find out. I guess there's always a risk though!

It must be a nice little earner for these builders!

I would just like to reiterate, please take all of the above with a pinch of salt

Just to add some more, my solicitor was able to check who the new transferor was on a website that now escapes me, company something, I'll check.

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/

Land_Registry

The issues around covenants, their meaning and enforcement are numerous and can be complex to understand. Starjust has largely hit the key issues on the head as based on their own experience although other posters will doubtless also be able to offer their own thoughts.

The key aspects of any covenant are usually the wording and thereafter their enforceability. Such matters should always be discussed with a legal adviser who should be able to either reassure you or give you some indication as to any likely risks attached to breaking the covenant(s).

Land Registry cannot provide legal advice but naturally has some experience of the issues which are often discussed on such forums and the posts which are then made. Land Registry is responsible for recording the covenants but it does not enforce them.

For example a developer will often impose a number of covenants aimed at restricting the first owners as to what they can change or add to their property and therefore the original development as a whole - they may do this simply to try and preserve the layout etc whilst they go about the business of selling all the plots/houses. If everyone starts building extensions, parking caravans on drives and so on it could 'put off' a new buyer is generally the view taken.

Once they have sold everything their interest is likely to wane naturally over time. The covenants do however remain in place and are usually enforceable as they remain in most cases with the property/title and do not simply fall after a change of ownership.

The key then is to assess who has the benefit and how likely are they to enforce the covenants, ultimately through a court.

Where covenants were applied for the benefit of the developer i.e. the whole development, the benefit is likely to have passed with each plot sale - for example a single development of 150 plots could end up with 150 properties/titles having the benefit of those same covenants.

How likely they are to try and enforce same is something your legal adviser can advise on but other threads refer to the key point to consider such as Have any other properties built extensions, conservatories, sheds etc? - if so then the risk of someone challenging you now may be significantly less than back when the development started.

In your particular case therefore the first part of the covenants may not have any particular bearing but the second part may - reading the covenanting clause and the whole covenant(s) is important and again something your legal adviser should be able to help on.

I hope this helps

Richard_Webster

If you do not attempt to contact the developer and do the work, in most cases nothing will happen and after a year you can get a restrictive covenant indemnity policy.