Restrictive Covenants

PRDMKT

I am having a seriously unfortunate time moving home, had to pull out of one due to undisclosed issues, then we got gazumped and now we've got some insane restrictive covenants appear.

We're looking at a bungalow to renovate, however, there are some restrictive covenants in place such as:

3ft Wire fence in the rear garden must be maintained and not replaced, currently breached- this one particularly annoys me as it would severely compromise the privacy of the property
1ft Chain-link fence in the front garden must be maintained and not replaced, currently breached.
No plants, trees or shrubs taller than 2ft in the front garden
Not to change the external of the property
etc...

Has anyone had any luck overturning these? how often are they enforced, the property is not 30y/o

appreciate any and all advice, 

elsien

Who would be enforcing the covenant, are they still around and do you think after this length of time they would still care?

PRDMKT

My understanding is that the covenant beneficiary is a regional developer, they are still active, but other bungalows, albeit not many have made changes that would be in breach.

My concern as we look to flip the property is that we will have clear issues at resale,

BikingBud

Are you looking to move into it or flip it. 

You mention both and the impact of the covenants may be more concerning if you are looking to flip without correcting and will depend upon how a conveyancer advises their client, this will likely increase your costs.

If buying to keep then you could go with it and see what happens in the longer term.

propertyrental

It's likely the developer put them in place to maintain the uniformity of the development. If te developer is still active/on site they might enforce.

It's also possible neighbouring properties also have the benefit (and therefore enforcement rights) of the covenants.

But if others have breached without repercussions, enforcement is unlikely. But just as you have concerns, so might your buyer when you flip.

Only with the agreement of the developer could the covenants be removed.

PRDMKT

BikingBud said:

Are you looking to move into it or flip it. 

You mention both and the impact of the covenants may be more concerning if you are looking to flip without correcting and will depend upon how a conveyancer advises their client, this will likely increase your costs.

If buying to keep then you could go with it and see what happens in the longer term.

Move into and flip it over a 5 year period

PRDMKT

propertyrental said:

It's likely the developer put them in place to maintain the uniformity of the development. If te developer is still active/on site they might enforce.

It's also possible neighbouring properties also have the benefit (and therefore enforcement rights) of the covenants.

But if others have breached without repercussions, enforcement is unlikely. But just as you have concerns, so might your buyer when you flip.

Only with the agreement of the developer could the covenants be removed.

Going to try this and see if I can get a letter headed email permitting us to make the changes we want. I have read online though that it's unlikely that these covenants would ever be enforced as the developer has now completed the site (30 year old development). This being said, I don't like to take chances and like to cover myself where possible,

newsgroupmonkey_

Is there any reason why you couldn't reinstate the wire fence and then put a proper fence in front of it?
We used to have exactly this in our old house.

chanz4

my old house said no sky dishes, they didnt care

user1977

PRDMKT said:

I am having a seriously unfortunate time moving home, had to pull out of one due to undisclosed issues, then we got gazumped and now we've got some insane restrictive covenants appear.

We're looking at a bungalow to renovate, however, there are some restrictive covenants in place such as:

3ft Wire fence in the rear garden must be maintained and not replaced, currently breached- this one particularly annoys me as it would severely compromise the privacy of the property
1ft Chain-link fence in the front garden must be maintained and not replaced, currently breached.
No plants, trees or shrubs taller than 2ft in the front garden
Not to change the external of the property
etc...

Sorry, not clear what your concern is - do you mean there are past breaches which are incapable of being remedied by you?

Section62

PRDMKT said:

3ft Wire fence in the rear garden must be maintained and not replaced, currently breached- this one particularly annoys me as it would severely compromise the privacy of the property
1ft Chain-link fence in the front garden must be maintained and not replaced, currently breached.
No plants, trees or shrubs taller than 2ft in the front garden
Not to change the external of the property
etc...

Have you checked these aren't linked to planning restrictions?  They are typical of 'open plan' development, which the council might be able to enforce through the planning process in addition to any enforcement the developer (and/or others) may be able to do via covenants.

It is easy for folks to say "nobody will enforce them after 30 years", but proving it is something altogether different.

As user1977 alludes to, the simple solution is to alter the property to remedy the breaches.  That way when you sell there won't be a problem with extant breaches.  But the situation would remain that a prospective buyer might be put off by the restrictions on what they can do with the garden in future.