Leasehold covenant restrictions

Nuggy96

Hi MSE,

I have a leasehold property in Salford, with the freeholders being Cube Homes Ltd. There's a restriction in the lease regarding building a fence around the front of the property (attached below). We're wanting to build a metal fence around our driveway and front garden, which I assume breaks this clause. I rang the freeholders but they were unsure, apart from the fact they stated that we would have to pay a £75 admin fee to get consent. 

Can anyone advise, firstly whether I need consent and secondly whether the charge is reasonable?

Thanks,

Sandtree

So you are wondering if a fence counts as a fence?

Section62

Nuggy96 said:

Can anyone advise, firstly whether I need consent and secondly whether the charge is reasonable?

You may also need planning consent in addition to any freeholder consent.

I would check the planning situation first, before paying the freeholder £75.

canaldumidi

Sandtree said:

So you are wondering if a fence counts as a fence?

Perhaps the confusion lies with whether "around our driveway and front garden, " is or is not "between the front face of the building and the highway"?

As for the admin fee, £75 does not seem excessive.

eddddy

In the past, tribunals have agreed that £50 + vat per hour is a reasonable rate for freeholders to charge for admin tasks. (Plus any out-of-pocket expenses.)

It seems reasonable that your freeholder might spend 1 or 1.5 hours looking at your application, writing a reply, etc. So £75 is probably reasonable.


The law says that the freeholder cannot unreasonably refuse your request. Reasonable grounds for refusal would typically be that it's detrimental to other leaseholders, or to the freeholder.

So, for example, the freeholder might say that the fence spoils the open-plan 'look and feel' of the area, which is detrimental to other leaseholders - and therefore refuse consent.


(But what I've said only relates to freeholder consent. As above, there many be planning issues as well.)

Nuggy96

canaldumidi said:

Sandtree said:

So you are wondering if a fence counts as a fence?

Perhaps the confusion lies with whether "around our driveway and front garden, " is or is not "between the front face of the building and the highway"?

As for the admin fee, £75 does not seem excessive.

Yes I guess bit of both. Thank you for the comment re the pricing of the admin fee as well Section62 said:

Nuggy96 said:

Can anyone advise, firstly whether I need consent and secondly whether the charge is reasonable?

You may also need planning consent in addition to any freeholder consent.

I would check the planning situation first, before paying the freeholder £75.

Perfect, thanks. Hopefully don't need planning permission as the fence we're hoping to get is lower than 1m. 

Section62

Nuggy96 said:

Perfect, thanks. Hopefully don't need planning permission as the fence we're hoping to get is lower than 1m.

You still ned to check the situation with planning, even with a fence lower than 1m.  Permitted development rights are sometimes removed from new built properties, and there may be specific conditions attached to the consent prohibiting fences/walls/hedges etc to maintain the 'open plan' design of the development.

Covenants applied by developers sometimes mirror restrictions imposed on them by the planning authority.