Works completed that look to have breached restrictive covenant

Gezmc1

Good afternoon,

I was hoping for some guidance on the following situation please. My son bought a property and has renovated this, converting the garage into a liveable bedroom (done to regs and planning - as in a Conservation area). He wanted to check something to do with his assigned car parking space, but whilst checking the title register he found the following: "not to build or permit to build on the property or make any alterations or additions affecting the structure construction or external appearance of any buildings or boundary walls which shall at anytime be erected on the property....without explicit consent of the company and the local planning authority."

The covenant is from 1989 and I can't find any trace of said company or the directors who signed the covenant. 

He spoke with his original solicitor who confirmed this has breached the covenant. Is this anything he needs to worry about? Or anything he should now do as a result of the breach?

Many thanks in advance.

Section62

Gezmc1 said:

I was hoping for some guidance on the following situation please. My son bought a property and has renovated this, converting the garage into a liveable bedroom (done to regs and planning - as in a Conservation area). He wanted to check something to do with his assigned car parking space, but whilst checking the title register he found the following: "not to build or permit to build on the property or make any alterations or additions affecting the structure construction or external appearance of any buildings or boundary walls which shall at anytime be erected on the property....without explicit consent of the company and the local planning authority."

The covenant is from 1989 and I can't find any trace of said company or the directors who signed the covenant. 

He spoke with his original solicitor who confirmed this has breached the covenant. Is this anything he needs to worry about? Or anything he should now do as a result of the breach?

Given this is now after the event then it is likely to be best not to track down the company and instead be willing to pay for an indemnity policy when he comes to sell the property.  The right indemnity policy would help indemnify the buyer from action taken by the company if they ever find out about the conversion.

(That does assume he got the appropriate planning consent though, rather than this being a case where 'permitted development' covered the work. Since you mention the conservation area I assume you mean the former)

Gezmc1

Thank you for your reply. I have confirmed that whilst planning was consulted, the work was actually completed under permitted development rules. As the local authority stated planning wasn't needed. Apologies for confusion there. Does this make a difference?

Section62

Gezmc1 said:

Thank you for your reply. I have confirmed that whilst planning was consulted, the work was actually completed under permitted development rules. As the local authority stated planning wasn't needed. Apologies for confusion there. Does this make a difference?

It was the "...without explicit consent of the company and the local planning authority" part.

If it was PD and there had been no need to ask the local planning authority then the "explicit consent" of the "local planning authority" wouldn't have been obtained either.  (PD (without the Prior approval process) isn't explicit planning consent)

A small detail, but one a future buyer's solicitor might get exercised over.  As the LPA have been consulted and said explict consent wasn't required, that obligation appears to have been reasonably complied with. (but make sure he knows to keep a copy of the planning correspondence with his house stuff)

Titus_Wadd

There's a slim chance the company might still exist or give a damn.  Otherwise he should keep his head down and don't upset any of the neighbours who might tell tales on him...assuming they can find the company and know about the covenant.

Gezmc1

I see, thanks very much for the guidance and your time.

My Sons Conveyancer has just raised concerns around the neighbours (quiet cul-de-sac with 5 other properties) too being able to enforce the Covenant. Is this likely/[possible in your experience? They haven't voiced any concerns as of yet. I assume they would have to instruct a Conveyancer to even obtain this information

CSI_Yorkshire

Gezmc1 said:

I assume they would have to instruct a Conveyancer to even obtain this information

No, they would just need to read their/his deeds and notice the covenant.  Not likely, but not difficult.

user1977

And like your son, they ought to have been told about the covenant at the time they bought the property - though that didn't appear to work for your son for some reason.

stuhse

But the neighbour's can't enforce the covenant even if they know about it, only 'the company'  can.   It is a clause often put in by developers to prevent unwanted works being carried out whilst they sell the rest of the houses in the development (probably the cul-de-sac in this case).  Once they have sold them all they would have no reason to be interested.  

Section62

stuhse said:

But the neighbour's can't enforce the covenant even if they know about it, only 'the company'  can.   It is a clause often put in by developers to prevent unwanted works being carried out whilst they sell the rest of the houses in the development (probably the cul-de-sac in this case).  Once they have sold them all they would have no reason to be interested.  

Not necessarily correct.  It depends what the covenants say.  If the conveyancer is raising this as a possibility then the question is whether the conveyancer has read the whole document and knows, or is just asking a question out loud.

All beneficiaries of a covenant can potentially enforce it, not just the developer.

Also, developers don't just impose covenants while they are selling other properties.  With some covenants they will continue to be interested in enforcing (or may be obliged to enforce) long after the development has been completed.

simon_or

Gezmc1 said:

Good afternoon,

I was hoping for some guidance on the following situation please. My son bought a property and has renovated this, converting the garage into a liveable bedroom (done to regs and planning - as in a Conservation area). He wanted to check something to do with his assigned car parking space, but whilst checking the title register he found the following: "not to build or permit to build on the property or make any alterations or additions affecting the structure construction or external appearance of any buildings or boundary walls which shall at anytime be erected on the property....without explicit consent of the company and the local planning authority."

The covenant is from 1989 and I can't find any trace of said company or the directors who signed the covenant. 

He spoke with his original solicitor who confirmed this has breached the covenant. Is this anything he needs to worry about? Or anything he should now do as a result of the breach?

Many thanks in advance.

You'd have to have a seriously disgruntled neighbour to kick up a fuss about an internal garage conversion.

Have a walkabout the estate and check if you can spot any other garage conversions, I'd be surprised if there were none at all for a well established estate.