To think home covenants are beyond ridiculous!

[Inconvenientcovenant29]

I know I am being unreasonable and I only think they are ridiculous because the covenant is stopping me putting any kind of boundary line up at the front of my house!

I would really like an ankle height fence around both sides of my drive way and grass area but the covenant says no! I would prefer it to be higher if I could to stop postman just walking straight across the drive even if they don’t have anything for my house and to stop my neighbour cycling down the middle of my drive because he doesn’t want to scratch his precious car by just walking the bike to the end of the drive and then riding off (it makes me so angry)

We did put plants down as a tester to stop them reversing off from our drive.. but the plants have died as I’m rubbish at keeping plants alive and I am reluctant to move them as it will start up again.

Is there any kind of breaking a covenant or just creating something which works as a loop hole. I like the sound of those chain link fencing with the poles but I guess they would complain about them.

Genuine question - what happens if you do something like that that breaks the covenant? Who enforces it and what punishment can you?

I know someone who's house had a covenant that they couldn't park their caravan on their own driveway, but they could never explain what would happen if they did it.

Sorry can't help just posting to help boost

We weren’t allowed to have fanlights. In a townhouse. So you had to have a large window open or none. We changed our windows as did all of our neighbours. Nothing happened.

...the house we're now selling has a convenant from 1930's which demands owners/occupiers not to BURN SAND. Not that I am desperate to break it, but the fact that people have to confirm in writing that they will not BURN SAND in 2023 makes me all giggly, itchy and angry.

Fake plants in pots.

We are not allowed to keep pigs or operate a steam laundry.

Put a line of lavender instead of the ankle high fence. Place in to allow growth both sides. It’ll stop the postman walking across the grass and smell nice but not break covenant

Is it a new build? How long ago was it built? They put them in to try to keep the development all looking the same but I can’t imagine it would be enforced, especially if the development is now a number of years old. Maybe if they are still building or marketing properties in the development but otherwise I doubt they’d care. I’m no legal expert though!

Not allowed to brew beer or raise pigs as we are on the land previously owned by an old brewery. Our house is freehold and mortgage free

I tried to buy a house that had a flying freehold I think, it was a massive detached house that had split into 2 semis and one bedroom slightly overhang the other property in some way.

This sparked off a chain of events about how mortgageable the house was because certain paperwork wasn’t in order; we ended up pulling out.

BUT who the heck thinks 1 half of a semi is going to be knocked down independently!!

That’s so disappointing. 😔 Keeping pigs and operating a steam laundry is on my top 5 of things I look for when purchasing a property.

@Chypre similar here. My 1930s house had a covenant that we couldn't make bricks or become a brewery. Both bizarre as it's a normal 1930s semi.

on a serious note, I understand you can apply for a deviation for a covenant.

I brew my own at home! How would they know? 🤔

OP it depends who is the beneficiary of the covenant. Is it a housing developer? The only person who can enforce it is the beneficiary so it may well be that that person or company no longer exists and you can put up your fence. Alternatively you could do it and you may get asked to remove it, but you'd be no worse off than you are now.

Also genuine question, why does it bother you if people walk across your drive? Are they damaging it? Sounds a bit little England to me but then I live in a terrace with 3ft between me and the pavement on a road next to a tube (and love people watching when I am meant to be wfh!).

Also wouldn’t an ankle height fence be both a trip hazard and likely something they’d just step over anyway?

Funnily enough I know a house that used to be a semi but the other half was demonlished to expand the retail space next door

Tbf I think it was from when these were all council houses. My in-laws house was built at same time in same area but was always owner occupied and doesn’t have the brewing covenant

In the house I grew up in we weren't allowed to keep alcohol, nor could anywhere sell it for consumption on the premises (one shop could sell it!). It wasn't adhered to!

I see. I find all these historical laws and stuff quite interesting

One of my fav threads on here was funny covenants on peoples houses! Hope you can figure something out Op

Flying freeholds are an absolute nightmare sometimes

In your case I'd imagine the only punishment for breaking the covenant would be having to remove the fence you've installed if someone complains.

The houses where I live were built in the 70s and have various restrictions such as not paving the entire frontage, not storing caravans etc. Most houses now have fully paved front gardens for additional parking and there are a few caravans dotted around.

You can get insurance for breaking a covenant. My friend built a conservatory and only found out she shouldn't have when she tried to sell. She just paid for an insurance policy for the new owner.

I used to work in an office with paper mortgage deeds and yes they were interesting

I have a relative who isn't allowed to mine on their land.. makes you wonder whats down there!

Our 1930s semi has covenant which states we can't run a medical business from there and specifically states dentistry which is quite funny seeing as Mr Hopper is a dentist 🤣 I guess I can kind of see that one making sense as lots of GP's and dentists are running in former domestic houses here in UK but I still find covenants on domestic properties odd.

I second the poster who said about putting lavender or other spreading perennials in they basically look after themselves bar a bit of watering after a very hot day