Restrictive Covenant Removal Council Cost

mff369

Hi,
I am in a bit of a dilemma. I have obtained planning permission on a plot (pair of semi's) with the option to buy, only to find out now that there is a restrictive covenant on the land.
My solicitor said that i need negotiate with benefactor of the covenant to get it removed.I have spoken to another solicitor and they said that i could take out an Indemnity Insurance policy.(of which i have had a quote)
If i do this then i have breached the covenant which is unlawful, but if i contact the benefactor they could refuse or hold me to ransom.

I think the benefactor is the council.Does anyone know what they would charge to remove covenant? The covenant dates back to 1950 and states that the land should be garden to the property that i am looking to buy the end of the garden off of.
The second solicitor said that the houses would sell even with the Insurance policy, although i think it would scare some buyer's off.

Alter_ego

Surely it's the council that granted planning permission?

noh

Alter_ego wrote: »

Surely it's the council that granted planning permission?

Planning consent has no regard of any covenants.

Cash-Cows

Alter_ego wrote: »

Surely it's the council that granted planning permission?

Land ownership and restrictive covenants are not planning considerations.

Alter_ego

noh wrote: »

Planning consent has no regard of any covenants.

Yes but it would be reasonable to assume the council wouldn't grant planning if they didn't want the land built on.

noh

Alter_ego wrote: »

Yes but it would be reasonable to assume the council wouldn't grant planning if they didn't want the land built on.

No.
The existence of a covenant is irrelevant as far as planning is concerned. They could not refuse planning permission because of the covenant.

Alter_ego

noh wrote: »

No.
The existence of a covenant is irrelevant as far as planning is concerned. They could not refuse planning permission because of the covenant.

So they'd have to let you build then enforce their own covenant? The press would love that.

wwl

But could the granting of PP be regarded as invalidating any claim to enforce the covenant.

PasturesNew

My house is built on land that had a restrictive covenant against building. My original sale/covenant was put in place 30-40 years ago. It started life as the garden of two bungalows.

I bought mine, even though the restrictive covenant exists. I have an Indemnity Policy. I am happy with that. Solicitor didn't see it as a problem either. Here there have been a dozen houses built on the land, all have the same original restrictive covenant. Nobody else's solicitor had a problem else they'd have all had to be retained/rented by the builders.

Each one's different .... so it's just about who put the covenant in place, why you think it was put there .... I suspect whoever originally sold this land and put the covenant in place is long, long, dead....

stator

How long ago was the covenant put in place? If it was more than a few decades ago then the council may not care about it. Housing policies were a lot different in the 1950s and today the council are under pressure to allow more houses to be built.

Check if other houses in the same area have covenants and if they have been broken and never enforced.

But at the end of the day it is your choice. If you contact the council about the covenant and they refuse to remove it you project will be completely dead.
If you ignore the covenant and take out the insurance policy you can go ahead with it. I'm sure someone will buy the house but check with estate agents to see what sort of price you think you could get.

Why did the person who owns the land not tell you about this?

Richard_Webster

An insurer will only give an indemnity policy if it is fairl;y sure there is little chance of it being enforced.

Anyoner who knows about these things knows that a Council's estate department and its Planners do not always talk to each other about everything. But you can't be sure. The Council's Estates Dept ma just be waiting for the land to chnage hands before worting to point out that it can't be built on without their consent.

Does the Council have its own Estates Dept? A council such as Southampton which has owned lots of land has always had a group of charetered surveyors working for it ready to find ways of maximising the Council's income from its land etc- nut not all Councils have had so much land in their ownership so they may not have anyone who will beactively looking for such opportunities. Do soejm homework about your local set up. However just because you conclude that they don't seem to have anyone working for them looking after their land and property doesn't mean that an insurer will look at it like that.

The insurer will also want to know if the Council has retained Land in the vicinity capable of being benefitted by the covenant - if it hasn't then perhaps the Council cannot enforce it. However if the Council sold off other neighbouringland then it is possible that the buyers of that land have the benfit of the covenant.

In a typical situation where such covenants exist and a builder applies for planning permission some of the neighbours will try to use the covenants as a reason for planning not being granted. This is totally irrelevant of course but insurers know that if a neighbour has failed to stop planning he will then trawl around for other ways of stopping the building and may see if he can enforce the covenants. If nobody objected on the spurious covenant grounds then an insurer will be more inclined to agree a policy but where a Council is involved they may feel it is a special case - Councils do not get dissolved like some developer companies.

If you do have to negotiate withe Council they will want between a third and a half of the increase in value referable to the planniing permission.