Restrictive Covenants on New Builds

littlesparkles

I asked for permission to extend my drive, put up a shed, dish and conservatory during the buying process. The developer gave permission for all but I haven't put up a shed or a conservatory yet. It just made sense to get the permission from the outset then there was no charge for this. Otherwise the solicitor said the developer might charge for future requests. No harm in asking!

DominicJ_2

Covenants work a bit like this.
The builder builds two houses, A and B, sells them to two tenants, and establishes a covenant.
A and B dont have anything to do with each other, they each have a relationship with the builder.
A and B sell to C and D

this creates further links.
So if D breaches covenant, C must contact A, who must contact the builder, who must contact B who must enforce the covenant on D.
Once someone dies, loses contact, or the builder winds up, the chain breaks and theres no enforcement option.

If its a leasehold, then that may not be the same.
But I've never heard of a covenant being enforced, ever

Derwent

There are some totally bizarre and unenforceable covenants on some land, particularly leaseholds. A friend of mine bought a house that was built on land that belongs to the Methodist church, albeit with a 150 year leasehold, and one of the covenants is that alcohol must not be consumed on the land !

Mobeer

AndyPK wrote: »

so your not allowed an external ariel, or dish.

I bet they haven't even provided fibre connections on the estate!

More likely there is a communal dish and a communal aerial. Fibre optic TV\wifi is underground so won't be restricted.

vivatifosi

patman99 wrote: »

Covenants are only enforceable by the person/company that put them in place. If the company goes bust or the person dies, then the covenant dies to.

Not necessarily. It depends on how the covenants are written in the first place.

Where I live you get a transferable share in the management company and with that share - which has to be transfered as part of the house sale - you agree to the covenants. In turn, those covenants can be enforced here by a) the developer (this no longer happens, they are off site and aren't interested), b) the management company, or c) an affected party who is a party to the deeds (generally a neighbour). Not all parties can enforce every covenant, it depends on each specific clause. I know this as a result of seeking very expensive legal advice from a solicitor whose specialism is covenants.

This is where I live. There are two adjacent estates. One has no covenants, the other has developer only covenants. Ours has by far the most complicated arrangements. This may be unusual, but it isn't impossible.

If anyone is unsure, the best thing they can do is get advice from an experienced solicitor who can look at the specifics for that particular site.

gazter

bclark wrote: »

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?

Yes, we are all much richer now, so the luxury of sky is not reserved for those who dont work.

gooner63_2

Still can't understand....why you would have a anti van covenant.....surely...it shows someone is working....?

princeofpounds

Still can't understand....why you would have a anti van covenant.....surely...it shows someone is working....?

People start running van-based commercial businesses out of their garages. Whilst one white van on a drive isn't a real issue, the following things might be:

- early morning or late night noise from setting up the van for early/late call-outs.
- multiple vans
- vans parked blocking the views from people's windows
- business equipment spilling out of garages onto the drive
- visits from supplier lorries
- staff loitering around
etc.

nannyogg59

We are in the process of buying a house and have just discovered covenants! Prospective house built in 1997, we appear to be the third owner down the line.

On talking to the next door neighbour, she reckons the company that built them had gone bust - I talked to Companies house and researched on the net, and it seems the builder's company is "dormant".

Will those covenants be still active, legal stuff can be a bit daunting? However, reading on here, I don't seem to need to worry too much.

My solicitor also said if they've gone bust not to worry too much, but I haven't asked about the "dormant" thing yet....

Anyone got any comments?

tuftyclub

Similar situation here : I can't "run a garage" from my drive, as the land was bought from a garage owner who still operates locally