Restrictive lease covenants

dericS

I am interested in obtaining some different viewpoints on the following issue:

I am the owner of a lease which gives me the right to live in a property for a certain number of years. The lease contains a number of restrictive covenants. Some of the covenants have not been complied with for years. For example, when I bought the property it had bare wooden floorboards despite the lease stipulating that the property must have coverings on all floors. I have now lived in the property for almost 9 years and the floors have remained bare all this time without complaint from the freeholder or any of the other occupants of the building (I usually walk around in socks as am very conscious of the potential for noise).

My question is, after all these years does the landlord have any grounds to suddenly now enforce such covenants given the length of time which some of them have not been enforced? There has been no change in my circumstances to warrant a material change in their attitude other than the fact that we are in dispute over noise emanating from the other flat in the property which also happens to belong to the freeholder.

G_M

dericS wrote: »

My question is, after all these years does the landlord have any grounds to suddenly now enforce such covenants given the length of time which some of them have not been enforced?
Yes. The lease.

There is a stretch of straight road leading to my house. I am in the habit of driving along this road at around 50 mph despite the speed limit being 30.

I have been dong this for 15 years, and neither the police, nor neighbours have ever commented, complained, or taken action.

After all these years do the police have any grounds to suddenly now enforce such speed limit given the length of time which it has not been enforced?

dericS

Good analogy G_M thank you for your input. I was hoping that there may be something similar to the 'adverse possession' property principle, whereby an individual after 12 years may acquire possession of a property under certain conditions. I had hoped that this might stretch to include 'regulations' imposed by the lease but not enforced by the landlord. Your example makes it clear that this is not the case.

Thanks again.

G_M

OK - I'll come clean. My post was not actually 100% accurate. Although I have been driving at that speed for 15 years, there has been one complaint. My next neighbour but one got upset for some reason about the fact that I hit his dog. Not while driving, you understand, but after I parked and got out. The dog had been chasing the car for the last few hundred yards (I have to say it's a bl**dy good runner - if it was mine I'd enter it into one of those dog race things or maybe hire it out to the local Hunt - the one that doesn't chase foxes with dogs you know.... :shhh: shhh!). Anyway, the dog was yapping so loud as I drove along I could barely hear the end of 'The Archers' and missed whether Clarrie got the change right in the village shop so it deserved a right kicking. Anyway the neighbour apparantly disagreed and reckoned if I'd be sticking to the speed limit there'd have been less wind noise and i'd have caught the end of the Archers above the yapping of the dog.

Sorry about the half-truth, but I reckon one neighbour complaint doesn't alter the adice I gave you too much?

stator

Criminal matters aren't really relevant anywho.

martindow

G_M wrote: »

I could barely hear the end of 'The Archers' and missed whether Clarrie got the change right in the village shop

Clarrie would be OK but if Susan was serving she would be so busy spouting rubbish you would be lucky to get any change at all.