Newbuild covenants

wwl

novanic wrote: »

Yes, but don't feel we should have to.

But as you have the option to park in the garage, you can just park outside and see what happens. Worst case if there is an issue, move it to the garage (for a while at least).
I suspect the developer may care more than neighbours, so after all houses are sold, chances are nobody will care.

novanic

chris_m wrote: »

Which will probably get the response, "OK, we'll sell it to someone else then."

Exactly! that seems to be the response we have had from the off! they are so complacent.

wwl

"...fine, I'll keep the van in the garage, and park the ugly eyesore of a wreck I'm restoring, and a trailer full of junk out the front then..."

novanic

wwl wrote: »

"...fine, I'll keep the van in the garage, and park the ugly eyesore of a wreck I'm restoring, and a trailer full of junk out the front then..."

Lol, exactly :T

bearcat16

We have a similar covenant on out estate, and it's totally inflexible. We asked the solicitor if it could be negotiated and the answer was no, never, not under any circumstance.

The fact is, these are widely ignored. I can see several vans on driveways just from my window. Most of the time it's ok.

HOWEVER if a neighbor complains you will have no choice but to comply, because long after the developer has finished, these covenants are tied to the land. You have no defence.

Some covenants are pretty reasonable, like no keeping of animals except domestic pets, no parking of boats on the estate etc.

I had a little chuckle at your response to the suggestion to park it in the garage , "don't feel I should have to" lol

And an even bigger chuckle at someone suggestion that you take a "do you want me to buy this house or not?" attitude. That will get you nowhere.

They will not alter the covenants, so my advice is to stay friendly with your neighbors!

Riggyman

Just park the van on the road, but not on your drive?

chris_m

bearcat16 wrote: »

Some covenants are pretty reasonable, like ... no parking of boats on the estate etc.

Wonder if that still applies when it's rained a bit hard and they just float in of their own accord from where the nearest river used to be?
:rotfl:

ManuelG

bearcat16 wrote: »

Some covenants are pretty reasonable, like... no parking of boats on the estate etc.

I've got one of those, which always amused me given I couldn't be more landlocked when on this island!

As for the OP, their solicitor appears to have given excellent advice. As already said chances are it won't be an issue, but the solicitor can't say absolutely it won't. Common sense tells me nobody will care about a Corsa van, either - will people even notice it's a van?

However, given the OP appears to be rather concerned about this, and doesn't want to use their garage in the worst case scenario, I'd suggest this house is not the house for them and they should seek one out without covenants...

wwl

bearcat16 wrote: »

HOWEVER if a neighbor complains you will have no choice but to comply,

But they would have to pay to take it to court to actually enforce it. If there are unsold houses the developer might take action, but when everything is sold, they are unlikely to be interested and it will be down to individuals.