Removing covenant

ashpan

I have purchased the freehold of a house that had a restrictive covenant about building another property on my land
How do I challenge this, is it held by the builders or land registry and how do I find out if it’s enfirceable
It’s 20 years old and I’ve been told there’s more than enough room to build plus won’t affect value if nearby properties.
What night this cost and how long could it take?

AdrianC

The covenant says who the beneficiary is. 20yrs isn't that long - it shouldn't be that hard to trace the beneficiary or their successor, and negotiate removal with them.

Slinky

Isn't there a copy of the covenant in the documents you had from your purchase?

SmashedAvacado

You offer to buy them out of it. If they agree, you can agree a deed of release and then register that at the Land Registry which will remove the covenant. They will expect you to pay them for the release. Your strongest argument to keep the cost down is to tell them that they'll get nothing if you wait 20 years. Wheras if they release you now, they will get something. They will argue that giving you the release is valuable to you and as such, they should get a part of that.

ashpan

Smashed avocado other than the length of time I’ve lived here being 20 years I’m not sure if the significance re the beneficiaries getting nothing, could you clarify please, many thanks. Also what’s a typical £ from being released from a covenant and time taken?

SmashedAvacado

sorry i misread your first post - the covenant will continue to exist for as long as it is enforceable. Some have a time limit within the covenant. if yours doesnt, then the 20 year period makes not a lot of difference. What you need to know if the land which benefits from it - so go back to the deeds containing the covenant and work out what land they owned then.

The beneficiaries get nothing if you don't buy them out. If you do buy them out, they get a windfall. Knowing who has the benefit is important. There are other factors - the covenant has to protect something of value - like the amenity of the area? does it do that?

ashpan

There was a bit of a hoo-ha when the land was sold to housing developers so the council slapped a woodland tree preservation order in the whole development! I guess it could be argued that another house on my (1/3 acre) plot may affect the general amenity so the owners may well be able to say no?

G_M

ashpan wrote: »

There was a bit of a hoo-ha when the land was sold to housing developers so the council slapped a woodland tree preservation order in the whole development! I guess it could be argued that another house on my (1/3 acre) plot may affect the general amenity so the owners may well be able to say no?

You are just speculating.

As smashedAvacado said, you need to refer to the original covenant, see exactly what it says, and identify who the current beneficiary is.

In most cases, the LR property Title will refer to "a Conveyance dated xx/xx/xxxx between X & Y which contains a covenant prohibiting......". You then need to read the relevant conveyance. If the LR has a copy of this, it will say "copy filed" and for £7 you can apply for a paper copy using form OC2.

ashpan

the covenant is owned by Bryant Homes, house builders as far as i can tell so i guess i need to ask them for a price to remove it? currently there is a housing shortage in my area so im hoping it will be ok
theres also a bit of confusion about who owns a 2-4ft wide strip of land between mine and neighbours property - even on the plans its not entirely clear - both builders and land registry, im hoping someone from the land registry can comment on this?

G_M

ashpan wrote: »

the covenant is owned by Bryant Homes, house builders as far as i can tell so i guess i need to ask them for a price to remove it? currently there is a housing shortage in my area so im hoping it will be ok
Unless you are planning to sell the land to Bryant, I don't see why they would be influenced by the housing shortage.


the housing shortage might help you get Planning Consent, but that's a different topic.....



theres also a bit of confusion about who owns a 2-4ft wide strip of land between mine and neighbours property - even on the plans its not entirely clear - both builders and land registry, im hoping someone from the land registry can comment on this?

Do a Land Registry 'map enquiry' to identify ALL the registered Titles in the specific area:


https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/eservices/FindAProperty/view/MapEnquiryInit.do;jsessionid=UcEscNQTCV9HS9MWKi6htoGld5wNmkXQnwoAA5l_.b46504c9:frontend-web-0