[Misc] How enforceable are conditions in a property's Title Deeds?

[Billy the Fish]

Maybe snobbery but does affect house prices in a negative way

 

[Creaky]

Caravans in a residential street are an eyesore and give a bad impression of the road so i suspect the developer didn’t want any parked there if he was hoping for middle class buyers. Difficult to enforce if the builder is no longer around - you might be able to take it to the councils planning dept and complain that this is not permitted on the deeds. I wouldn’t be pleased as it certainly won’t help with house prices in your road

In the situation we were in the Council weren’t in the least bit interested - there is a covenant on each of the plots along our road restricting the number of ‘dwellings’ on each to one. Our neighbour applied for planning permission to build a second one on their plot - the covenant wasn’t even considered as a valid objection to the application.

When we consulted our solicitors we were advised that taking any legal action would be a waste of time and money as we would have to demonstrate that the covenant was a key factor when deciding to buy and that without the covenant there would have been a significant difference in the price offered for the property. Even if we could show that it wouldn’t prevent the building taking place but would be the basis for a claim for damages.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

How old are the properties?
We had something similar but it was only valid for the first 10 years - I wondered if it had anything to do with NHBC cover ?

 

[BN9 BHA]

There's something a bit wrong about these types of rules.

No commercial vehicles please, we don't want those awful tradesmen on our street. Modern day snobbery

Maybe snobbery but does affect house prices in a negative way

I read a story about a heating engineer that wanted to buy a house on a new development , he found out he wouldn't be allowed to park his van on the drive of the new property.
He decided not to buy there as his van would have been well away from the new house.

He said it's strange how the tradesmen that built the homes are not encouraged to buy on the development, or not wanted.

I wouldn't want to leave a van full of expensive tools parked overnight, well away from my house, when I have got a driveway.

 

[dazzer6666]

I read a story about a heating engineer that wanted to buy a house on a new development , he found out he wouldn't be allowed to park his van on the drive of the new property.
He decided not to buy there as his van would have been well away from the new house.

He said it's strange how the tradesmen that built the homes are not encouraged to buy on the development, or not wanted.

I wouldn't want to leave a van full of expensive tools parked overnight, well away from my house, when I have got a driveway.

Virtually all new-build estates will have similar covenants (as above, the developers do it because they don't want anything to spoil the 'look' as they are trying to sell them).......they soon start getting ignored though and there is very little that can be done to enforce it in later years.

 

[GT49er]

If you can trace the original owners who sold the land to the builders in the first place, they do have some rights, including, I understand, the right to re-possess in some cases - trouble is, the estate/farm/market garden or whatever that originally owned the land probably doesn't exist any more.

 

[portlock seagull]

There's something a bit wrong about these types of rules.

No commercial vehicles please, we don't want those awful tradesmen on our street. Modern day snobbery

Nope, just rather not have an ‘artic’ parked up in a residential street causing problems at certain times of the day. Evidently said driver feels similarly in our neighbourhood because often leaves it near our house and yet lives 10min walk away! Cheeky sod. It is selfish, another family nearby have a coach (yes, a coach,) and a massive motor boat on a trailer parked on the road and it causes no end of problems during rush hour. True, their bungalow driveway is too small, not surprisingly, to accommodate these vehicles (and their 4 cars!) but come on, they cause a load of congestion problems each and every day because they’re essentially commercial vehicles. And what’s wrong with keeping a boat in a marina?! It is selfish, it does cause problems but unfortunately theirs always one fruit loop in every neighbourhood. Thankfully no one else does this

 

[AIT76]

I’m pretty sure house sellers are legally required to declare compliance with covenants so might be some leverage there. Either that or sorry to hear your fence, van, chicken run etc got damaged but probably not worth pursuing as shouldn’t have been there anyway...

Indeed. When I moved last, there was a 50yr old covenant saying no wooden structures in gardens and that the front must be kept 75% grass. Not one property in the road had complied over time, but I was still forced to buy an indemnity insurance policy for £104 to ensure that the sale went ahead, although the solicitor himself admitted that the likelihood of a claim being made or that the covenant was enforceable were both zero!

 

[hoveboyslim]

Indeed. When I moved last, there was a 50yr old covenant saying no wooden structures in gardens and that the front must be kept 75% grass. Not one property in the road had complied over time, but I was still forced to buy an indemnity insurance policy for £104 to ensure that the sale went ahead, although the solicitor himself admitted that the likelihood of a claim being made or that the covenant was enforceable were both zero!

My house was built in 1924 and we are not permitted to have on any part of the property, any steam engine, steam roller or any other type of steam machinery, whatsoever. We haven't let on that we have a very powerful steam iron in the house!!

More importantly it says you cannot build outside the existing curtilage of the house, but some have. It's not big issue, as you say, an indemnity insurance covers quite a few eventualities. As a neighbour you would have to prove you have suffered loss in some shape and form. Good luck with that!

 

[btnbelle]

If you have legal cover with your house insurance, they have experts that will give you advice.

It is likely they will ask you to talk with your neighbour first. If they think you have a strong case and feel legal action is required then they also cover the legal costs. If you don't have cover, maybe another neighbour might?

 

[Pinkie Brown]

Years ago when purchasing a property in Worthing, the deeds stated; as the land was once used for arable farming, that was permitted, but the keeping of poultry was strictly forbidden. It was also pointed out by my conveyancer; the shed was technically illegal as it could be construed as being a henhouse. The way the letter was worded: (in professional terms) Whilst meaningless & probably unenforceable nonsense, she was legally bound to bring these conditions to my attention.

Had I broken the terms of the poultry covenant, I suspect the neighbours would have had a stronger case against me rather than having a van in the driveway. Like others, I don't fancy the OP's chances if he is a freeholder.

 

[Lush]

Don't forget too that if you want to sell, you have to declare any disputes with neighbours to any prospective buyers.

 

[Audax]

Indeed. When I moved last, there was a 50yr old covenant saying no wooden structures in gardens and that the front must be kept 75% grass. Not one property in the road had complied over time, but I was still forced to buy an indemnity insurance policy for £104 to ensure that the sale went ahead, although the solicitor himself admitted that the likelihood of a claim being made or that the covenant was enforceable were both zero!

Which is peanuts really when compared against the overall amount of money changing hands.

We've got similar where we are. Covenants clearly stipulate things like not allowed the change the colour of the front door (ours had been, before we bought), not allowed to do loft conversion (there's some properties in the area that have), and a few other similar things. In our case, it's a little more convoluted as the estate is still managed by trust due to the council refusing to take on some of the local shared features (ie, they don't want to take on the risk of costs associated with certain things like pruning hedges and maintaining banked land so it doesn't collapse). As such, the original developer still has representation (although I've been told by one of the trustees that the developers have no interest in the area). We pay a small amount each year (£39 this year, was £25 last year IIRC) towards the yearly maintenance fund as well as maintaining an emergency fund in case the banking does need repair.

If we stay here long enough, probably will want to do some work in the loft in time. Even if it's only to properly seal it and build in proper storage space. Probably technically against the covenant, as sealing to make it a usable internal space likely counts as a conversion (even without any windows), but IMO the covenant can go jump given how cheap the insurance is (and we all know it's only that cheap because claims are so few and far between that the only thing the companies need to cover in terms of costs are their admin costs - it's otherwise pure profit).

 

[Blue3]

I am not allowed to keep pigs or brew beer! No mention of keeping sheep or making of cider

 

[timseagull]

We’re not allowed to keep pigs either....