Restrictive Covenants

50Twuncle

Lookiing at my deeds (I have the original from 1951) - it appears to restrict what I can build on to the side of my house - can a 70 year old covenant really hold up nowadays  ?

I want to add an extension - consisting a kitchen extension and a wetroom (for disabled access) plus a possible downstairs bedroom/study..

I was aware of this when I bought the property 20 years ago - but thought nothing of it - but things change

TELLIT01

Who applied the covenant?  Our deeds say we can't extract sand and gravel from our garden for commercial purposes.  We don't have any plans to try, but the covenant was put on the deeds by the original builder in 1939.  I very much doubt that anybody involved in that business is now around to enforce the covenant.

Do a search on "how to remove a covenant on a property".  There is quite a bit of info out there.  Just make sure you are looking at links relevant to UK property.

50Twuncle

My covenant talks about the building line - but I live in a corner property so have two building lines !

Who actually checks that covenants are still being followed ?

Not the council.....

50Twuncle

OK Assuming that the covenant can be forgotten - the limits on single story extension heights confuse me - 4 metres beiing the liniit - does that not mean that a pitched roof is impossible ?

I dont want a flat roof full stop - I want a pitched tiled roof !

DevilDamo

Not knowing the legalities on covenants on their own, some are written to state “unless seeking Planning approval” so do check the specific wording.

4m is high for a single storey roof and yes... a pitched roof. How would you struggle to not meet that bearing in mind ‘normal’ eaves levels are set at approx. 2.3m above ground level therefore giving you approx. 1.7m to get your roof pitch in?

50Twuncle

I forgot to say that the ground level to the rear of our house drops away considerably - approx 4 feet - making the necessary height more than 4 metres !

societys_child

Don't be silly.

GDB2222

50Twuncle said:

I forgot to say that the ground level to the rear of our house drops away considerably - approx 4 feet - making the necessary height more than 4 metres !

Build the ground up a bit?
Will you be getting planning permission, or doing this as permitted development? And will you have an architect?

DevilDamo

50Twuncle said:

I forgot to say that the ground level to the rear of our house drops away considerably - approx 4 feet - making the necessary height more than 4 metres !

You may find the height is measured from the highest natural ground level, which is next to the proposed building. This is how the overall height is measured for outbuildings under PD.

Instead of worrying about having to meet the PD guideline for height (assuming you meet the rest of the PD criteria), if you do end up needing more height... why not just apply for formal Planning? Single storey extensions normally go through 99% of the time.

kdotdotdotdot

In theory, the covenant is valid until hell freezes over.  In reality, after all this time, who is going control it if the people who created the covenant are no longer around?