Covenant, commercial vehicle (truck), developer no more?

slewis1972

Hi

Just received title documents of a house we are wishing to purchase. Originally build by Wilcon Homes Southern who don't seem to be trading.

In the covenant, it says no commercial vehicle. Road is not adopted and it's only a very small estate, less than 10 homes.

Now, I have a commercial vehicle, Navara truck. Yet I don't use it for commercial work. It's pure use is like any other vehicle, going to and from work ( I work in IT ). 

Thoughts on any grief I may get?
I do know someone who lives in one of the other houses, is it worth asking them?

Thanks in advance.

Jonboy_1984

This particular covenant is typically to preserve the look/appeal of the estate whilst the developers are still selling houses.

It is unlikely to be enforced very far down the line after the first sale of the property.

 Is the property freehold, and how is the private road maintained? Do you have off street parking for it?


Might just be worth sharing the wording of the covenant so it can be confirmed only the developer could enforce it.

ThisIsWeird

As Jonboy says.

Something I hadn't originally appreciated, is that such covenants can usually only be enforced by the composer - in most cases, the builder/developer. And the example you've given is typically there to keep the estate looking as attractive as possible whilst it's completed and sold. After that, I suspect most'll have little interest in becoming involved, at least not unless they are still active in the area, and wish to maintain the sense of being a concerned, caring builder, willing to uphold ongoing standards on behalf of their customers.

A completely different issue, tho', is the attitude of your new neighbours... A Navara is hardly a 'white van' or what many folk would call a commercial truck; in fact the highly-polished examples I tend to see parked in the drives of new estates seem to be considered status symbols as much as a Range Rover would be   A fellow I know around here drives a company Ford Ranger, and I've never seen luxury like it!

I suspect, therefore, that you won't generally have a problem with this, and I suspect more strongly that, even if you did, no-one could enforce it. My in-law's previous estate (Persimmons) had such a covenant prohibiting comms and caravans being parked out t'front of 'ouse. New neighb moved in, after previously asking their to-be neighbs about caravans and being told 'no', and proceeded to park their mother of a 'van outside their house. This was on the first wee side drive as you entered the estate, and was a particularly 'nice' setup which faced the main road and clearly designed to be an attractive enticement to the larger estate - stone pillars and pretty trees in the well-tended grassy area fronting the road, sort of thing, and I had to agree that the 'van really stood out and was !!!!!!. Mil and other neighb's soon found out that they couldn't enforce the covenant. Not even their Legal Protection would take it on. I presume that was because as Jonboy says.

Neighbourly peer-pressure finally did the trick - a 'representative' of the estate approached them and laid out their concerns. But they could, seemingly, have refused.

So, what to do?! No idea. It's very thoughtful of you to consider asking a neighb or two, and I've little doubt that when they find a thoughtful fellow on their doorstep, they'll be pleased and relieved. But, what if they grimace and make it clear they wouldn't be happy with a 'Vara? What then?

Your conveyancer would be the person to ask about the legalities of the covenant, in case it's worded differently to what we expect, but I imagine it'll be like most - cannot be enforced (unless the builder/developer acts), but neighbourly attitude is something else.

Does it look and fell like a particularly twee estate?!

Section62

slewis1972 said:

Hi

Just received title documents of a house we are wishing to purchase. Originally build by Wilcon Homes Southern who don't seem to be trading.

In the covenant, it says no commercial vehicle. Road is not adopted and it's only a very small estate, less than 10 homes.

Now, I have a commercial vehicle, Navara truck. Yet I don't use it for commercial work. It's pure use is like any other vehicle, going to and from work ( I work in IT ). 

Thoughts on any grief I may get?
I do know someone who lives in one of the other houses, is it worth asking them?

Thanks in advance.

If the company is Wilcon Homes Southern Ltd then the company is still active with officers appointed as recently as August 2022.  It exists as a legal entity which could/should protect its assets and rights, even though it isn't currently trading.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00617656

They are part of the Taylor Wimpey organisation and their registered address is the TW head office. (also shared by another 44 companies related to property/estate management etc)

The amount of grief you may get will depend on how you get on with the neighbours.  If Wilcon don't know you are parking a commercial-type vehicle on the property they won't take action. It is unlikely they will proactively go looking for commercial vehicles parked in breach of covenants, possibly with the exception of if they are responsible for the unadopted road and the road is being damaged by being used by commercial vehicles.  However, even if the neighbours don't have a separate right to enforce the covenant, you can't stop them nagging Wilcon into doing something about a breach if the neighbour takes against you.

The road being unadopted is the greater issue IMV - if it is owned and managed by a company which isn't trading then you may have problems getting it fixed. You need to find out exactly what the situation is.

slewis1972

Thanks for all the advice. Attached is a screenshot of covenant. Hopefully that helps.

RelievedSheff

The estate we are on has a similar covenant but it only lasts 5 years. 

Regardless of that there are loads of commercial vehicles and caravans. No one enforces it despite the developers still being on site building. 

Ours prohibits commercial vehicles,  boats and caravans. 

We have a motorhome on the drive. Although with our drive set up on our road no one can see it from their houses.

RedFraggle

Is it a commercial vehicle if it's not used for commercial purposes?
A signwritten van is very different 

user1977

RedFraggle said:

Is it a commercial vehicle if it's not used for commercial purposes?

Indeed, I would say it's just a private vehicle. An absurdly overgrown one, perhaps, but I don't see any rules against those.

Section62

ThisIsWeird said:

Something I hadn't originally appreciated, is that such covenants can usually only be enforced by the composer - in most cases, the builder/developer. And the example you've given is typically there to keep the estate looking as attractive as possible whilst it's completed and sold. After that, I suspect most'll have little interest in becoming involved, at least not unless they are still active in the area, and wish to maintain the sense of being a concerned, caring builder, willing to uphold ongoing standards on behalf of their customers.

The OP's example demonstrates the danger of assuming that is why covenants are used and that nobody (other than the developer) can enforce them.

The words "...and separately with every other person who is now the owner of any part of the estate..." certainly opens the door to the possibility neighbour(s) could take action.

Whether or not that happens, and whether an action would be successful, would be pure guesswork.

If I've guessed which development this is correctly then it looks like the kind of place where a neighbour could take issue with someone else's vehicle, and the access road/driveway appears to be the type which might become a significant maintenance problem if there aren't formal arrangements in place.

Section62

user1977 said:

RedFraggle said:

Is it a commercial vehicle if it's not used for commercial purposes?

Indeed, I would say it's just a private vehicle. An absurdly overgrown one, perhaps, but I don't see any rules against those.

Cases I've been involved in have ended up with the vehicle taxation class being the deciding factor.  The Navara is classed as a light goods vehicle, light goods vehicles are deemed 'commercial' regardless of ownership.

But the OP could always try arguing it is a 'private' vehicle, or sell it (or park elsewhere) if it became an issue.

propertyrental

I've no idea why so many respondents have claimed that only the developer can enforce, without first reading the covenant.

Nor why they assume the covenant was only put in place to help the developer sell the remaining properties.

Covenants could (often are) put in place to protect the general environment for the benefit of other residents, and as Section62 points out above, in this case other property owners can enforce if they choose.

Whether they so choose is up to them.