RESTRICTIVE COVENANT NO FENCE, HEDGE OR WALL ADVISE

tom1231

Hello, we have bought a property with the below covenant:

"Not to build any walls  fences or other structures nor allow any 

hedge  to  grow  on  the  Property  between  any  building  on  the 

Property and the Road."

My question is, what is hedge...? If I plant a few trees in a line is this allowed? As there is nothing against putting a tree in the front garden or if I have tall plants to make a barrier is that allowed? if so how tall?! 

My concern is that we are horribly overlooked at the front of our property into our lounge but anyone walking passed so I want to make a barrier but do not want to get sued! What are my options? Would love to hear from anyone who may have dealt with something similar!

diego_94

How old is the house and who benefits from the covenent? Its likely something like that was put in when the house was built to keep all houses looking the same. If its an old the chances of the old developer coming back to try and reinforce are practically nil.

user1977

And the worst case scenario is being ordered to remove the hedge.

Assuming it's part of a larger development, what (if anything) have other houses done?

marcia_

 We had a similar covenant on our new build. I got permission off the developer to put a fence up. 

 If an old house there might not be any developer to object 

JGB1955

Our development is now 30+ years old.  Doubt *Lovell Homes still exist and nobody cares anyway (although I DO get cross about caravans parked on driveways...!)

EDIT *apparently they DO still exist!

Section62

tom1231 said:

My question is, what is hedge...? If I plant a few trees in a line is this allowed? As there is nothing against putting a tree in the front garden or if I have tall plants to make a barrier is that allowed? if so how tall?! 

My concern is that we are horribly overlooked at the front of our property into our lounge but anyone walking passed so I want to make a barrier but do not want to get sued! What are my options? Would love to hear from anyone who may have dealt with something similar!

If the hedge is close to the footway then the height you'll need to let it grow to for privacy will almost certainly lead to complaints, unless the neighbours have similar hedges.

More to the point, unless you plant a rapid-growing species like leylandii, the time it will take the hedge to grow to a useful privacy height is probably much longer than it will take you to get used to the lack of privacy.

Hedges also take up space horizontally - you'll need to plant it sufficiently far back from the footway that it won't encroach and hinder pedestrians (and sightlines).  Plant it too close to the house and it will block some of the light in the downstairs rooms.

Section62

marcia_ said:

 

 If an old house there might not be any developer to object 

Sometimes the covenants are for the benefit of others, not just the developer though....

jonnydeppiwish!

Are you in a corner plot / side of a road entrance? It may be there for safety reasons

theoretica

A shrubbery! Or pampas grass... But work out how tall you would need the plants to be.  Do your neighbours all have bare front gardens? 

I have voile curtains in just the lower half of my windows for exactly that reason.

MysteryMe

Have you actually checked to see how much can be seen from the pavement?  It may not be as bad as you fear.  Often unless the light is on or there is direct sunlight into the room people can't see you as clearly as you can seem them looking out.

WeAreGhosts

According to my deeds I can't have anything growing over 4ft, which is ridiculous, really. When I moved in the next door neighbour got sniffy about the existing shrubs saying they need to be chopped - even though they don't affect him at all - and, knowing he had the same covenants (which benefit the owners, not the developer), I pointed to his own 10ft hedge and said "what about that, then?", he soon shut up.

Have a look at what everyone else has, chances are most of them forgot about the covenants long ago.