BELLWAY - commercial van prohibited ?

AdrianC · 10 July 2020 at 12:14PM

He has a sign-written commercial vehicle, but you weren't going to let a covenant preventing sign-written commercial vehicles stop you moving in...?

Why did you hire an "incompetent" solicitor? Let me guess - the developer "recommended" them?

HanPop · 10 July 2020 at 12:17PM

No not at all I didn’t use a ‘Recommended solicitor’. We had one solicitor then our house sale fell through and when we managed to sell our property again that solicitor had retired and so we had to use another solicitor of theirs who was incompetent and we were stuck as we could not afford to pay solicitors fees twice.

It was not a deal breaker because if needs be the vehicle can be left at a depot, I just want to know if it can be enforced.

AdrianC · 10 July 2020 at 12:21PM

HanPop said:

I just want to know if it can be enforced.

Yes, it can. Depending on the exact wording, and if the actual beneficiary want to.

HanPop · 10 July 2020 at 12:28PM

Ok thanks. I will get the exact wording. I know that Bellway has not handed over to the management company yet but when it does we will all be ‘directors’.
There are many work vans on this estate (although all on their drives) so many people would be affected if this was enforced.

Seems strange to me that someone would be bothered looking into our drive at a car sized vehicle that does not affect them whatsoever but each to their own. Would be much worse if we had an awful rusty old car!

NeilCr · 10 July 2020 at 12:56PM

HanPop said:

Ok thanks. I will get the exact wording. I know that Bellway has not handed over to the management company yet but when it does we will all be ‘directors’.
There are many work vans on this estate (although all on their drives) so many people would be affected if this was enforced.
Seems strange to me that someone would be bothered looking into our drive at a car sized vehicle that does not affect them whatsoever but each to their own. Would be much worse if we had an awful rusty old car!

You might be okay if there are a lot of vans there, already. Given the development is nearly finished the developer may well keep a low profile and leave it to the management company when it takes over.

We aren't a big estate and all the parking is in a car park with a very limited number of spaces on the road and only one visitor parking space. So everyone is aware of the tightness of the parking and, I am afraid, commercial vehicles stick out like a sore thumb.

You'll all have a stake in the management company but there will likely be a few directors voted in who will take day to day decisions on behalf of all of you. If you have the time you might like to be one of those as it gives you an insight of what's going on and some control. Your neighbour, across the way, may have similar aspirations, of course.

Bottom line is that Adrian is right. It most likely can be enforced if the will is there

Brock_and_Roll · 10 July 2020 at 1:06PM

In the unlikely event of me ever buying a new home on an estate, I would most definitely purchase a Only Fools 3-wheeler or perhaps a hearse just for amusement value!

Petriix · 10 July 2020 at 1:12PM

For a covenant to be enforceable the benefiting party would have to be able to prove a tangible loss. Mostly the other property owners on an estate are not actually beneficiaries of any covenants. People can complain all they like but are unlikely to have any legal grounds to enforce any such covenant.

bob_the_dinosaur · 10 July 2020 at 1:22PM

If it was me, I would make a point of trying to become a director and then table a motion
allowing commercial vehicles as long as they are in line with the definition of a car derived van under Schedule 6 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (maximum laden weight 2 tonnes)
or in plain English- little post office type van good, transit and bigger- bad

HanPop · 10 July 2020 at 1:33PM

Thanks for all of your replies to me, maybe I should get quite involved when the management company takes over! Apologies for hijacking the original thread.

bexybest · 10 July 2020 at 4:40PM

There's loads of new build estates round near me (and I used to live on one) - most probably all with similar covenants. However there is one site that has about 20 vans parking on the main road outside the estate. Builders are long gone but I suspect they have a particularly onerous management company who enforce the covenants!