Restrictive covenant

COLOURBOUNCE

Hi all, I have a friend who is in rented looking to buy asap. His partner runs a business from home, holistic something or other, basically needs peace and quiet and even too much road noise is out of the question. They found at least 4 houses they liked but the restriction on running a business from home has meant they could not proceed. Am I wrong thinking most houses have covenants in place and many people ignore this?

dryhat

Just ignore it.

grifferz

It is a reasonably common covenant clause but not all or even many homes have it as far as I have seen - is your friend maybe looking at properties that are all on the same estate, so more likely to all have the same covenants?

Those that do have it sometimes specify types of business that are prohibited, so may be worth buying the deeds from Land Registry to see the full details.

I think I would rather find another property than ignore it to be honest. There's always more properties out there unless your friend's needs are extremely specific.

I would have thought the main risk is that your friend is going to be operating a business that involves members of the public visiting them. A disgruntled neighbour may be aware of the covenant and cause trouble.

Having said that, is it true that legal action regarding a covenant has to be initiated by the party / one of the parties that the covenant is designed to protect?

I'd be more comfortable ignoring it for a home office-based job that saw no visitors, certainly.