Should I Buy house with breach of restrictive covenant?

duncan44444

Hi,
I'm currently in the process of buying a house and the only thing holding it up is a restrictive covenant on the garage which cannot be converted into a habitable room, however it has seemingly been converted into a dining room without planning permission.
My solicitor is advising me to get an indemnity policy to protect me if the council tries to take action but i'm wondering if it is worth taking, how much it will affect the saleability of the house in the future and if it should put me off the property?
Any advise on this would be appreciated.

bouicca21

When was it converted?

AdrianC

The lack of PP (and BR?) would be more of a concern, tbh. When was it converted? What evidence is there of that? What does the apparent quality of the work look like?

How old is the property? Who has the benefit of the covenant?

duncan44444

The sellers informed me it was converted before they moved in 2013 so at least 6 years old?
The build quality looks sound and a full survey of the house came back structurally sound. The property was built in the mid 80's and how do I find out the benefit of the covenant?

SmashedAvacado

3 issues

1. Planning
2. Building regs
3. The RC

Council involved in 1 and 2. Some other owner involved in 3. Who has the benefit of the RC?

AdrianC

duncan44444 wrote: »

The sellers informed me it was converted before they moved in 2013 so at least 6 years old?

So there's no possible comeback for lack of PP or BR

how do I find out the benefit of the covenant?

The same LR entry that says that the covenant exists...

80s build, presumably on an estate development of some kind? So it'll be the original developer, usually to keep it looking consistent until they've sold every house on the development. Since they're long since off-site, they won't give the first toss.

Silvertabby

AdrianC wrote: »

80s build, presumably on an estate development of some kind? So it'll be the original developer, usually to keep it looking consistent until they've sold every house on the development. Since they're long since off-site, they won't give the first toss.

Beat me to it. We bought in the early 1990s and couldn't do anything that changed the outward appearance of the house or front garden for at least 5 years (ie, by which time the developers would have sold all properties and be long gone).

OP - have any of the neighbours converted their garages?

ADD: Nephew bought a new build a couple of years ago and couldn't fit a Sky dish. When he asked why, he was told that the developers didn't want the estate to look like a council estate. Of course, this may not be true....

duncan44444

Thank you AdrianC & Silvertabby,
The house was built as part of a large estate in the 80's and other houses have also converted their garages into habitable rooms with planning permission.
Are you both suggesting I just apply for the planning permission and remove the restrictive covenant after purchasing then?

Silvertabby

duncan44444 wrote: »

Thank you AdrianC & Silvertabby,
The house was built as part of a large estate in the 80's and other houses have also converted their garages into habitable rooms with planning permission.
Are you both suggesting I just apply for the planning permission and remove the restrictive covenant after purchasing then?

Don't know, I'm afraid. One for your solicitor to answer?

davidmcn

duncan44444 wrote: »

Are you both suggesting I just apply for the planning permission and remove the restrictive covenant after purchasing then?

I don't think anybody's suggesting that, and it would be daft to do so if you've already got indemnity insurance (as any contact with the council, or whoever's got the benefit of the RC, about the issue will invalidate the insurance). Talk to your solicitor.

AdrianC

duncan44444 wrote: »

Are you both suggesting I just apply for the planning permission and remove the restrictive covenant after purchasing then?

No, I wouldn't even bother doing either of those.