Confusion with title deeds covenants.

brickmortar

We have recently put an offer on a lovely bungalow which got accepted.
Before appointing a solicitor or spending any money we wanted to have a look at the restrictive covenants on the title deeds as we intend to extend the bungalow vertically and a single storey extension.
The property has only changed hands twice:
1. As a land sold by vendor to a buyer in 1920, which I believe was a bigger land than it currently is.
2. As a bungalow by a builder to the buyer, which was then passed on to an heir.

The following two covenants seem to have come from the original title deeds of 1920 and are confusing and I wonder if they would cause any concerns for extension.

2. That no building should at any time thereafter be 
erected on any part of the land thereby conveyed 
coloured green or brown on the said plan.

4. That no building or erection should be placed 
either above or below the surface of the land lying 
within a distance of 10 feet on the North South and 
West boundaries of the land of the Vendor lying 
between King Lane aforesaid and Field Numbered 
779 on the said plan except with the consent in 
writing of the Vendor his heirs or assigns owner or 
owners for the time being of such land.

The title plan has just the current plot of land marked in red border and none that is coloured in green or brown.
Neither the property nor the immediate neighbour's properties touch the King lane nor there is any field 779 marked in title plan.

Has anyone come across similar covenants in their title deed or any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks 

TheJP

Has any other properties in the area been extended? I doubt 100 year old covenants would be enforced as the original vendors are long gone and i doubt it would have been passed onto anyone as there is no value.

Green_hopeful

So when you go on the land registry online you can search for other documents. I think it’s under Document View but it’s ages since I have used it. It might be under request official copies but obviously you don’t want the current title and plan. Anyways it should be available on the land registry website and will probably be £3. You can then get the original documents hopefully. The vendors solicitor might have copies of the documents anyway. It might say in the title document you have whether there is a copy on that title or another title if the covenants affect a larger area of land. We have restrictive covenants on large areas around us and they are enforced by the local land owner. We are required to pay for permission to extend. I suspect that is quite rare. 

daveyjp

TheJP said:

Has any other properties in the area been extended? I doubt 100 year old covenants would be enforced as the original vendors are long gone and i doubt it would have been passed onto anyone as there is no value.

Covenants pass with the land, so as far as solicitors are concerned they are still relevant.

A friend looked at a bungalow on a large plot in an exclusive area and began looking at a redevelopment  The covenant states there can only ever be one single dwelling on the land, this was put on in the 1920s and the original owner of the land is long gone, but she does have many living relatives.

The process to get this overturned was so potentially lengthy and expensive they withdrew from the purchase.

OP you may find the lane and field number on old maps via this link.

https://maps.nls.uk/

brickmortar

TheJP said:

Has any other properties in the area been extended? I doubt 100 year old covenants would be enforced as the original vendors are long gone and i doubt it would have been passed onto anyone as there is no value.

Other buildings in the area have been extended, but I do not know about the covenants on those.
It is just my belief that the covenants have been passed on from 1920 deed and not the 1950 sale though I am not sure. It is just so as the 1950 sale was from builder to buyer.

user1977

Do the 1920 covenants relate to a larger piece of ground than just this house plot?

brickmortar

Green_hopeful said:

So when you go on the land registry online you can search for other documents. I think it’s under Document View but it’s ages since I have used it. It might be under request official copies but obviously you don’t want the current title and plan. Anyways it should be available on the land registry website and will probably be £3. You can then get the original documents hopefully. The vendors solicitor might have copies of the documents anyway. It might say in the title document you have whether there is a copy on that title or another title if the covenants affect a larger area of land. We have restrictive covenants on large areas around us and they are enforced by the local land owner. We are required to pay for permission to extend. I suspect that is quite rare. 

Thanks, I will try to find this out. The website is a bit confusing.
When I searched with the postcode for the property, I only found 2 documents, title deeds and title plans for this property.
There also seems a missing entry for when the land changed hands from the second owner to builder. 
As you suggest, it might be in some other documents so I might have to work out the documents.
The vendor's solicitor might have the documents but they won't respond until I appoint a solicitor and I was trying to understand as much before I appoint a solicitor.

brickmortar

user1977 said:

Do the 1920 covenants relate to a larger piece of ground than just this house plot?

That is what I think as the King lane mentioned does not touch this nor immediate neighbouring properties.
Although can not be sure until I purchase the neighbouring title deeds for neighbouring properties.

brickmortar

daveyjp said:

TheJP said:

Has any other properties in the area been extended? I doubt 100 year old covenants would be enforced as the original vendors are long gone and i doubt it would have been passed onto anyone as there is no value.

Covenants pass with the land, so as far as solicitors are concerned they are still relevant.

A friend looked at a bungalow on a large plot in an exclusive area and began looking at a redevelopment  The covenant states there can only ever be one single dwelling on the land, this was put on in the 1920s and the original owner of the land is long gone, but she does have many living relatives.

The process to get this overturned was so potentially lengthy and expensive they withdrew from the purchase.

OP you may find the lane and field number on old maps via this link.

Thanks, any particular map that I should look for that would give the details for West Yorkshire?

HHarry

We purchased a bungalow 3 years ago which had a number of restrictive covenants, including that the property couldn’t be extended without the original landowners permission (a farmer who sold a field in the mid-70’s).

 Suprisingly only one property in our cul-de-sac of 30 had been extended, so there wasn’t really a precedent.

 Our conveyancer felt the covenant was still valid, and could be enforced by the original beneficiary, whoever currently owned the land, or by any of the neighbours subjected to the same covenant.  I wasn’t convinced - it appeared to be worded such that only the original landowner could enforce it, and they had died.  It was 50 years old so was probably lost in the mists of time.  And I’ve never believed that the Neighbours could enforce it - they are subject to, not beneficiaries of, the covenants.

 Anyway I cracked on and all has been fine.  We’re 2 years down the line and apparently the remedy gets less severe the longer it takes to raise a claim - if the breach has been public for over 12 months with no objection then it can’t be that important.

 It is also possibly to get an indemnity policy which should cover costs the costs of legal action, penalties, loss of value, etc if you weren’t so lucky.

daveyjp

brickmortar said:

daveyjp said:

TheJP said:

Has any other properties in the area been extended? I doubt 100 year old covenants would be enforced as the original vendors are long gone and i doubt it would have been passed onto anyone as there is no value.

Covenants pass with the land, so as far as solicitors are concerned they are still relevant.

A friend looked at a bungalow on a large plot in an exclusive area and began looking at a redevelopment  The covenant states there can only ever be one single dwelling on the land, this was put on in the 1920s and the original owner of the land is long gone, but she does have many living relatives.

The process to get this overturned was so potentially lengthy and expensive they withdrew from the purchase.

OP you may find the lane and field number on old maps via this link.

Thanks, any particular map that I should look for that would give the details for West Yorkshire?

Just use the "find maps with marker"  go to the area you are looking to place the marker and the maps available will be listed on the right hand side.  You can filter and I'd start with OS maps as they go back to about 1870.