First time buyer - Covenants

ggpeg

I'm a first time buyer and since originally putting in an offer for a property it took over 2 months (nearly 3 months) before the solicitors sent me paperwork.
The paperwork (deeds) when received have now shown up several covenants which have all been breached by the seller.
My solicitor has now offered an II policy which the seller apparently will pay due to the breaches.
My main concerns are:-
Front garden
Conservatory
Lean too
Garden shed
The front garden is not lawned (as per the covenant) and has a hedge (and shrubs) in place with also extended drive to allow turning space. The covenants says it has to be lawned (grass) with no shrubs etc. No permission was sought from Vendor.
Permission of the Vendor has not been sought for the conservatory (building regs not breached), the lean-to or the Garden shed (other temp structures).
Now although an II will cover what costs for correcting if needed it still does not change future events and the reason i am buying the property & the way it is now.
The shed needs replacing, the Lean-to is of need of replacing also. Now if i replace them (as they are not repairable) i will breach the II as soon as i touch them. Is that correct?
Is there anyway around this so I don't have the future "what if" a descendant of the original vendor decides to say permission was not sought?
Its worrying me ill as i am now 3 months in and only in the past 3 weeks this came to light.
The seller's paperwork to their solicitor was ticked to say there was no restriction/covenants or breaches known of, yet within 5 minutes of me reading the paperwork i spotted them.
I have not signed any contracts yet (But obviously costs have already been involved) & I have not set a completion date as i need this all clarifying fully. Every time I ask the solicitor a question it takes 3-4 days to get a reply. Then they only reply with the minimal info which then usually throws other questions up.
Solicitors seem to just say II it, but it does not solve the issue.
I want to keep the drive & front garden the way it is. I wish to keep the conservatory, but replace (as not repairable) the lean-to with a small double glazed porch (pending on planning/building regs etc) and also replace the shed, as it is very old & falling apart.
Apparently the original Vendor is deceased, but it could be still enforced by his immediate descendants?
Is there such a was to remove them? Is there the option that i get my solicitor to contact the sellers solicitor to get them to trace remaining family that could enforce and get retrospective permission & future request that they are not interested in enforcing covenants on the property? But does that mean the II will also become immediately not available as contact has been sought?
Help - advise - someone - please.

Mr G (this is really exhausting me)

ging84

trust your solicitor not internet strangers

Road_Hog

ging84 wrote: »

trust your solicitor not internet strangers

There are people on here who have plenty of experience and give good advice. This sort of feedback can be very useful, for when you go back to your solicitor, armed with the right questions to ask him.


I'll give you an analogy. I've seen a (doctor) consultant (as well as my GP and hospital appointments). Now he is the expert and I'm due to go back to see him in the new year.


However, he didn't explain to me, that the two symptoms are unconnected, they are in fact two separate issues. Also, that the possible operation doesn't actually fix the problem, it just gets rid of the symptoms.


Having done my internet research, I'm in a much better position to ask the relevant questions, not just rely on the qualified information he offers up.

ging84

Road_Hog wrote: »

There are people on here who have plenty of experience and give good advice. This sort of feedback can be very useful, for when you go back to your solicitor, armed with the right questions to ask him.

The problem is if you are not a regular on a forum you have no idea who those people who really do have the good advice are

what you see time and again on this forum and many other forums is people who've been given advice that they do not like or believe ask for second opinions, and when they get the inevitable conflicting advice they unknowingly cherry pick the advice they want to hear, even though it could be from someone with a very casual knowledge of the subject.

You would not go to your doctor and then get your medical advice from strangers in a pub, well you shouldn't do, but again many people do and it doesn't usually help them

vivatifosi

The issue with covenants is that they are very specific, so sometimes generic advice is not helpful.

We have RCs where I am, and an RMC and managing agent that enforces them. In our case, the ones about front gardens are covenants between the householder and the developer for the period in which the estate was being sold by the developer. So in this instance, even if people wanted to enforce them, they would have lapsed, as the last house here has been sold by the developer. Conservatories here, would be a different matter, as consent from the developer is required.

Again, my covenants will be totally different to those on another estate. In fact, there is another housing development immediately next door to ours with totally different covenants.

If you are really worried, get your solicitor to write to the RMC for the estate and ask them how the covenants are enforced and what will happen. They will be the organisation with the deeds and far better placed to advise than we are. In the event that there is say, a transfer by shareholding (some RMCs oversee a share per house, this comes with the house), then your solicitor should already be speaking to them, so this shouldn't be a massive additional burden.