Garage built over High Voltage cables and in breach of restrictive covenant.

CharlieGirl

We have viewed a house with a view to making an offer but the Estate Agent intimated that there was a problem with High Voltage cables that cross the land. A sub station is sited down the lane.Yesterday we downloaded the Land Registry title deeds and now read that there is a restrictive covenant on building over the HV cables. Subsequently a plan of the power distribution cables shows that the main cable supplying houses down the road runs directly under a garage that was built by the vendor’s father many years ago.

Obviously a massive negotiation on price would be in order but would an indemnity insurance, taken out by a solicitor if we decide to buy, cover redress by the Electricity Company should they require emergency access to the cable at anytime? The costs may be astronomical bearing in mind they would charge around £50,000 to reroute a HV cable.

Thank you for any thoughts.

Davesnave

CharlieGirl wrote: »

Obviously a massive negotiation on price would be in order

Not 'obviously' without knowing what sort of garage it is and the cost/feasibility of demolition/re-building.

davidmcn

CharlieGirl wrote: »

The costs may be astronomical bearing in mind they would charge around £50,000 to reroute a HV cable.

It's not going to be rerouted. Considering the likely costs of them digging up the cable at all, I doubt shifting a garage out the way would add much.

ProDave

The danger here would appear to be at some point in the future, they may need access to the cables and so may demand the garage removed.

So value the house as if it had no garage, and any indemnity insurance needs to cover the cost of demolishing the garage if required.

Then until or if that happens, carry on using the garage.

AnotherJoe

CharlieGirl wrote: »

Obviously a massive negotiation on price would be in order but would an indemnity insurance, taken out by a solicitor if we decide to buy, cover redress by the Electricity Company should they require emergency access to the cable at anytime? The costs may be astronomical bearing in mind they would charge around £50,000 to reroute a HV cable.

Thank you for any thoughts.

More likely is, garage may have to be demolished. Could a replacement garage be built anywhere else and if not / if so, what would the drop in value / cost to demolish/rebuild be ?

And if thats the only place a garage could be, would you want the house if it didn't have a garage.


Also, bear in mind, a future buyer of this house will likely have a similar issue. Would you want that hassle when selling ?

sal_III

The indemnity insurance will cover the cost of removing the offending structure, if the issue is raised you will still end up without a garage.

I would either pull out of the sale or re-evaluate the price of the property as if there is no garage.

CharlieGirl

Thank you to all the contributors, all great points that you have raised. We will consider them all and have a rethink.