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Council imposed restrictive covenants from 1983
Goochy321
Posts: 3 Newbie
We currently own a house near a University where 99% of homes now sell to investors looking for a buy to let.
Having lived here for 25 years we decided last March to put our house on the market and move to another area of the city with more of a community.
Here we are 16 months later having accepted an offer from an investor on our house and securing an offer on our dream home - surveys have been done, searches being processed and solicitors instructed. Now comes the brick wall - our buyer's solicitor has discovered 2 restrictive covenants from 1983 on our property the second of which means the house can only be sold as a single family dwelling!
The council are refusing to lift the covenant & allow our buyer his HMO license so he has pulled out leaving our family devastated.
Advice please on where we go from here? Our current solicitor is a conveyancing solicitor and doesn't want to take on the fight for us so we're on our own currently!
Having lived here for 25 years we decided last March to put our house on the market and move to another area of the city with more of a community.
Here we are 16 months later having accepted an offer from an investor on our house and securing an offer on our dream home - surveys have been done, searches being processed and solicitors instructed. Now comes the brick wall - our buyer's solicitor has discovered 2 restrictive covenants from 1983 on our property the second of which means the house can only be sold as a single family dwelling!
The council are refusing to lift the covenant & allow our buyer his HMO license so he has pulled out leaving our family devastated.
Advice please on where we go from here? Our current solicitor is a conveyancing solicitor and doesn't want to take on the fight for us so we're on our own currently!
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Comments
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Sounds reasonable, is it just your house that has the covenant?"You've been reading SOS when it's just your clock reading 5:05 "0
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Get a someone to buy it as a single family dwelling and then let them fight to do the HMO bit? Or find someone else that has done the sale you wanted where there was the same convenant which was ignored? This might be an expensive battle though.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Debt Free Wannabe, Old Style Money Saving and Pensions boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
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But, of course, you knew those covenants were there from when you purchased, right...?Goochy321 said:
Now comes the brick wall - our buyer's solicitor has discovered 2 restrictive covenants from 1983 on our property the second of which means the house can only be sold as a single family dwelling!
They haven't changed since 1983.
You've lived there since the mid 1990s. They predated your ownership.
Sure, you may have forgotten about them. Sure, your solicitor on purchasing may not have brought them fully to your attention. But they did exist...The council are refusing to lift the covenant
Such is their prerogative as beneficiary of the covenant. You have no right to force them to review their decision.& allow our buyer his HMO license
Even if the covenant wasn't there, there's no guarantee he would have got an HMO licence.so he has pulled out leaving our family devastated.
Find a buyer who wants to use it as a single family dwelling, not an HMO.
Advice please on where we go from here?
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As far as I'm aware ours is the only house locally with this covenant (God only knows why?)
Yes the covenant did exist when I bought the house but was never brought to my attention.
It's nigh on impossible to find a buyer who would want to use it as a single family dwelling- our Estate agent has covered this area for 12 years and cannot remember one sale going through as a family home so where does that leave us?
What about in the future when my husband and I need to downsize to a bungalow or similar the covenant is still going to exist.0 -
Reduce the price.Goochy321 said:
It's nigh on impossible to find a buyer who would want to use it as a single family dwelling- our Estate agent has covered this area for 12 years and cannot remember one sale going through as a family home so where does that leave us?2 -
What area is this ?0
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Norwich NR5 postcode area0
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Lots of councils have been implementing Article 4 planning restrictions to try and limit the number of HMOs, especially the councils of student towns and cities. It looks like Norwich is one that considered the idea, but didn't go ahead for some reason.Goochy321 said:Norwich NR5 postcode area
https://www.zebrainvest.co.uk/investment-areas/norwichs-student-market-pbsa-hmos-article-4/ (just for information, no endorsement of the site intended)
I guess against that backdrop they are likely to want to keep covenants in place where they already exist.....0 -
That is not to say you can't challenge the restrictive covenants !
If you can apply for a HMO licence yourself or prove the high number of hmo,s in the area means that adding another one will make no difference to the area.
Maybe speak to a solicitor or planning specialist.0 -
Surely your conveyancer at the time would have had to inform you? Have you still got your paperwork from when you purchased the property?0
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