Restrictive Covenants on New Builds

lizzibeff

Reading through our TP1 form last night (before signing), I was a little disappointed to find the three pages of restrictive covenants on the exterior of the house. Basically, we're very limited in what we can do to the front garden, no commercial vehicles (not that this affects us, but imagine being a plumber and buying one of the houses...), can't put up a sky dish, a shed, can't extend/build a conservatory without the permission of the developer!

I'm guessing all these things are quite normal on a new build and I was naive, but this is really putting me off buying.

I've gone back to our solicitor and asked them to speak to the builders solicitor and ask what is the likelihood that requests to build a conservatory/put up a shed/add a swing round to the driveway will be refused. I'm starting to feel like our shiny new house is becoming a little bit tarnished!

Does anyone else have any experience with attempting to get permission from a developer to make external changes to a new build property? Do they just not care anymore once the development is finished?

CLAPTON

lizzibeff wrote: »

Reading through our TP1 form last night (before signing), I was a little disappointed to find the three pages of restrictive covenants on the exterior of the house. Basically, we're very limited in what we can do to the front garden, no commercial vehicles (not that this affects us, but imagine being a plumber and buying one of the houses...), can't put up a sky dish, a shed, can't extend/build a conservatory without the permission of the developer!

I'm guessing all these things are quite normal on a new build and I was naive, but this is really putting me off buying.

I've gone back to our solicitor and asked them to speak to the builders solicitor and ask what is the likelihood that requests to build a conservatory/put up a shed/add a swing round to the driveway will be refused. I'm starting to feel like our shiny new house is becoming a little bit tarnished!

Does anyone else have any experience with attempting to get permission from a developer to make external changes to a new build property? Do they just not care anymore once the development is finished?

you're spending a lot of money and it will be your 'home'

why would you make a decision about that based on individual views of people on other estates with other builders in other
situations


however read the covenants carefully:
would you want a large white van on the next door neighbours driveway?

lord_tyrannus

We have similar covenants accept there's nothing to say we can't put a sky dish up. But we have the commercial vehicle restriction.


We've just moved in and people park commercial vechicles on the estate all the time. I think the convenants are difficult to inforce IE the developer would have to take you to court


You could always ask the sales office to give you permission in writing for anything you needed

lizzibeff

Clapton - I have asked my solicitors to go back and get the facts, but I also see value in anecdotal experience.

I don't necessarily want a large white van next door, but I do, however want the option to be able to extend my home, have sky TV and alter the driveway to accommodate two cars.

okborednow

These covenants appear on my documentation too. When we were going through everything with our solicitor she said the reason these convenants appear is on one development a huge and unsightly satellite dish was put up and because there was nothing prohibiting it there was nothing the developer could do. Our solicitor was confident there'd be no problems with a dish or a shed.

noh

Such covenants are common on new estates.
They are there in an attempt to preserve the look of the estate while the developer is still building and marketing houses.
Most of the covenants on my house had a 10 year lifespan.

bclark

We had the same on the new build that we bought earlier this year, they seem pretty standard.

When we were provided with the list by the developer, on the day we reserved so they were very up front, it was accompanied by a front sheet effectively saying that they accept that its arguable whether they even have the right to enforce them and could you please all take it up amongst yourselves first if you feel one has been breached!

We have just added a conservatory and the process involved us sending a letter outlining our plans to the developers technical team along with a cheque for £120. They then sent us back a single page letter saying it was fine with them, when I spoke to one of them on the phone before we started she admitted to me that they never refuse anything like that and that the only covenants they actively enforce in the early days is anything that changes the appearance of the house from the street.

On the sky dish one imagine that it says you can't have one visible from the highway rather than not at all? We had one like that and yet there are numerous sky dishes visible on our estate.

lizzibeff

bclark wrote: »

We had the same on the new build that we bought earlier this year, they seem pretty standard.

When we were provided with the list by the developer, on the day we reserved so they were very up front, it was accompanied by a front sheet effectively saying that they accept that its arguable whether they even have the right to enforce them and could you please all take it up amongst yourselves first if you feel one has been breached!

We have just added a conservatory and the process involved us sending a letter outlining our plans to the developers technical team along with a cheque for £120. They then sent us back a single page letter saying it was fine with them, when I spoke to one of them on the phone before we started she admitted to me that they never refuse anything like that and that the only covenants they actively enforce in the early days is anything that changes the appearance of the house from the street.

On the sky dish one imagine that it says you can't have one visible from the highway rather than not at all? We had one like that and yet there are numerous sky dishes visible on our estate.

I can't recall the exact wording, but it's something along the lines of not to erect any TV arial or satellite dish anywhere on the property.

bclark

lizzibeff wrote: »

I can't recall the exact wording, but it's something along the lines of not to erect any TV arial or satellite dish anywhere on the property.

I would query that, unless you are in a conservation area then I would be very surprised.

Are there any sky dishes up on the existing houses? Quite often new build developments aren't on the cabled network yet so developers aren't silly enough to enforce something that would mean that people would not be able to get Sky or Virgin.

bclark

Scrootum wrote: »

Making a decent estate look like Chav city with a Sky dish on every house is not really to anyones benefit. (Apart from Chavs).

I see Sky dishes all over most of the houses in really nice areas, surely the view of having a Sky dish as being chavvy is about 20 years out of date?

Hanky_Panky

bclark wrote: »

I would query that, unless you are in a conservation area then I would be very surprised.

The whole of Milton Keynes (all of it!) used to have the same covenant. Not exactly a conservation area