166 thoughts on “Restrictive covenants on property”
We are currently in the process of purchasing a property. The deeds we have date back to 1960 and contain outdated terms and conditions. The house was last purchased by the seller in 2011. Should there be a deed from 2011 with updated covenants. Additionally, there is a restriction stating that no vehicles are allowed on the property? My solicitor has advised that we will need to apply for a permit after completing our registration documents to show ownership of the property. Is it correct? If so, 1. Who is eligible to apply for a permit for the driveway? Is it exclusively the owner, or can any neighbour apply? 2. Is the permit periodic or perpetual? If periodic, how often must one apply for it? 3. What is the usual cost associated with obtaining this type of permit? 4. Is there a possibility that the permit might be denied?
Without understanding the restrictive covenant itself, the title deeds and what the permit is required for or who grants it, we would not be able to say.
What we can provide on our website is general guidance and in respect of what you have written, we can say that once a restrictive covenant is correctly registered or otherwise applies to land, it does not generally come to an end on a subsequent sale and does not need to be “renewed” or “updated” per se.
There may also be other considerations to take account of, such as whether or not prescriptive rights have been acquired, the restriction itself is obsolete and the nature of what you are actually purchasing (e.g. freehold, leasehold and whose land we are talking about.)
We own outright a freehold property built on Duchy of Cornwall land. All properties were built with wood window frames and doors. Many residents would now like to replace rotting wood products with suitably designed (acceptable in many Conservation Areas) upvc products. The current restrictive covenant bans the fitting of upvc. We have been in discussion with the Duchy, and they refuse to relax the restriction, citing the embodied carbon as being damaging to the environment. We have offered to offset the carbon, as the Duchy have been doing for years, again to no avail. Should we crowdfund a legal challenge with the Lands Tribunal?
It sounds like a frustrating situation for you but something that would be of interest to a lawyer.
Restrictive covenants can become obsolete over time due to changes in the nature and character of an area, for example.
We cannot advise you what to do on our our website, even if there was an immediate answer that we could provide. We can only provide general guidance which should not be a considered a substitution for proper legal advice.
However, it strikes us that fundamentally, what amenity value is being protected as against the changing attitudes of people to move towards more sustainable accommodation, if not the “need” to do this for the benefit of all. With any restrictive covenant, a consideration of what it was intended to protect against at the time it was granted is first and foremost what is necessary. If it can be said that the need for that protection has fallen away (who would buy a property with no double glazing?) there may be scope to mount a challenge.
We are in the final stages of buying a house. However we received our final searches yesterday and we noticed the following:
‘The Local Authority Search refers to an enforcement notice that has been issued for the property. Please see additional details below: This relates to the use of the garage as storage. The enforcement notice is historical in nature and dates from 19 October 1973. Due to the historical nature together with confirmation that the notice was complied with, we confirm that we have no concerns about this. We understand that the integral garage at the property continues to be a garage. The above-mentioned Planning Permission enforcement notice suggests that within the planning consent for the property that there is a planning permission condition requiring the garage to remain as such. Please be aware of this.’
We would like to convert the garage and everyone else in the row already has, is this going to be an issue or is this something that we could apply for and get changed easily as it is an old condition?
We are sorry but we cannot provide specific advice on our website. We can only provide general guidance and this should not be considered a substitution for full legal advice.
If you have concerns about specific points regarding your proposed purchase, you really should not be shy about asking your conveyancing solicitor. This is what they are there for.
Whether or not your solicitor is able to help you is another point you will need to discuss with them. It sounds as though your query is whether or not a planning application to convert the garage would be successful. This is not something a conveyancing solicitor would ordinarily be able to advise upon, but you should definitely ask, just in case.
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We are currently in the process of purchasing a property. The deeds we have date back to 1960 and contain outdated terms and conditions.
The house was last purchased by the seller in 2011. Should there be a deed from 2011 with updated covenants.
Additionally, there is a restriction stating that no vehicles are allowed on the property?
My solicitor has advised that we will need to apply for a permit after completing our registration documents to show ownership of the property.
Is it correct? If so,
1. Who is eligible to apply for a permit for the driveway? Is it exclusively the owner, or can any neighbour apply?
2. Is the permit periodic or perpetual? If periodic, how often must one apply for it?
3. What is the usual cost associated with obtaining this type of permit?
4. Is there a possibility that the permit might be denied?
Thank you for your comment.
Without understanding the restrictive covenant itself, the title deeds and what the permit is required for or who grants it, we would not be able to say.
What we can provide on our website is general guidance and in respect of what you have written, we can say that once a restrictive covenant is correctly registered or otherwise applies to land, it does not generally come to an end on a subsequent sale and does not need to be “renewed” or “updated” per se.
There may also be other considerations to take account of, such as whether or not prescriptive rights have been acquired, the restriction itself is obsolete and the nature of what you are actually purchasing (e.g. freehold, leasehold and whose land we are talking about.)
We own outright a freehold property built on Duchy of Cornwall land. All properties were built with wood window frames and doors. Many residents would now like to replace rotting wood products with suitably designed (acceptable in many Conservation Areas) upvc products. The current restrictive covenant bans the fitting of upvc. We have been in discussion with the Duchy, and they refuse to relax the restriction, citing the embodied carbon as being damaging to the environment. We have offered to offset the carbon, as the Duchy have been doing for years, again to no avail. Should we crowdfund a legal challenge with the Lands Tribunal?
Thank you for your comment.
It sounds like a frustrating situation for you but something that would be of interest to a lawyer.
Restrictive covenants can become obsolete over time due to changes in the nature and character of an area, for example.
We cannot advise you what to do on our our website, even if there was an immediate answer that we could provide. We can only provide general guidance which should not be a considered a substitution for proper legal advice.
However, it strikes us that fundamentally, what amenity value is being protected as against the changing attitudes of people to move towards more sustainable accommodation, if not the “need” to do this for the benefit of all. With any restrictive covenant, a consideration of what it was intended to protect against at the time it was granted is first and foremost what is necessary. If it can be said that the need for that protection has fallen away (who would buy a property with no double glazing?) there may be scope to mount a challenge.
We are in the final stages of buying a house. However we received our final searches yesterday and we noticed the following:
‘The Local Authority Search refers to an enforcement notice that has been issued for the property. Please see additional details below:
This relates to the use of the garage as storage. The enforcement notice is historical in nature and dates from 19 October 1973.
Due to the historical nature together with confirmation that the notice was complied with, we confirm that we have no concerns about this.
We understand that the integral garage at the property continues to be a garage. The above-mentioned Planning Permission enforcement notice suggests that within the planning consent for the property that there is a planning permission condition requiring the garage to remain as such. Please be aware of this.’
We would like to convert the garage and everyone else in the row already has, is this going to be an issue or is this something that we could apply for and get changed easily as it is an old condition?
Thank you for your comment.
We are sorry but we cannot provide specific advice on our website. We can only provide general guidance and this should not be considered a substitution for full legal advice.
If you have concerns about specific points regarding your proposed purchase, you really should not be shy about asking your conveyancing solicitor. This is what they are there for.
Whether or not your solicitor is able to help you is another point you will need to discuss with them. It sounds as though your query is whether or not a planning application to convert the garage would be successful. This is not something a conveyancing solicitor would ordinarily be able to advise upon, but you should definitely ask, just in case.