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Legal matters

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Original poster

Tenancy agreement. Is this legal?

17 replies

CeliaStewart · 10/10/2021 01:31

Background: A property developer is trying to build a student block near me. The roads in the area are already saturated with vehicles. and there are massive problems with parking and traffic flow.

So… the planning application states the following. Is this a legal clause in a tenancy agreement?

"The applicant proposes that the tenancy agreement would include a clause prohibiting students from bringing a car within 1km of the site."

Can a tenancy agreement prohbit the tenant's (lawful) behaviour outside the rental premises?

And, how would have any possibility of being enforced?

OP posts:

Percypigg · 10/10/2021 01:49

I would imagine that it is legal. It's up to the tenant whether or not they want to live there and accept the terms.

It could be enforced in a number of ways I think eg S106 agreement + a restricted or controlled parking zone around the new development. So, anyone residing on one of the properties would not be eligible for a permit from the council.

Do you currently have to buy a permit if you live in the area? If not, I would contact the council and ask if there are plans to introduce a controlled parking zone.

I'm no expert, just thinking logically.

HirplesWithHaggis · 10/10/2021 01:54

Would "bringing a car" include booking a taxi?

SinoohXaenaHide · 10/10/2021 02:13

I had friends who lived in a development which had a condition in the lease agreement that no vehicle could be registered to an owner/keeper at that address. Sounds similar.

The clause is there to assuage concerns that the development with exacerbate the parking troubles. Enforcement would rely on other residents shopping the offending car driver to their landlord.

HoneyDewMel · 10/10/2021 02:13

Yes it's legal

ProfessorSlocombe · 10/10/2021 12:11

It's only "legal" if it can survive a challenge in the courts.

I would be interested in the mechanisms of enforcement, myself. There's not much in the posted wording that would withstand scrutiny. Starting with the word "bring" as a PP has noted. But then what is their remedy ? They can't just summarily evict someone they believe has contravened this directive can they ?

It also places an (expensive) onus on the management company to monitor all car and residence movements (with no discussions of the underlying legalities) within 1km of the address.

Personally it reads like a crock of shit designed to allow complicit planning officials to tell protesters to shut up.

In a world where it's up to victims to stop being victims in order to soothe the acts of the aggressor, it seems quite sensible though.

Underbox · 10/10/2021 12:41

My DD just moved in to student halls and her tenancy agreement contains a clause stating that none of the students are allowed to bring a car to the town. If they are found to have a brought a car and are parking it anywhere in the town, their tenancy agreement will be deemed to have been broken and they will be served notice to leave.

So, yes a tenancy agreement can prohibit a tenant's lawful behaviour outside the rental premises.

purplesequins · 10/10/2021 12:48

not sure about legal, but where I used to live in se london some developments were 'no car' and unless you had a very good reason you (i.e. disability) you wouldn't be able to register a car for a car parking permit in the area.

SE13Mummy · 10/10/2021 12:56

Quite apart from the legal side of things, it seems impractical to build student accommodation and not allow students to bring cars within 1km. How will they get their belongings there? What about the safety of lone students returning late at night? If what it means is that vehicles can only be near the block for un/loading then surely that should be specified rather than a vague and impractical restriction.

MurielSpriggs · 10/10/2021 12:58

In practice it's unenforceable, even if the landlord wanted to enforce it, and why would they? Once planning permission is granted they really will not give two hoots if a student has a car parked three streets away, and they will certainly not go to the time and expense that would be needed to establish the fact, or want to annoy their paying customers, by somehow "disciplining" them

butterflyze · 10/10/2021 13:01

The clause is only there to appease the planning department at the council, who might otherwise turn it down if there is insufficient parking. I very much doubt that it would ever be enforced by the landlord.

Original poster

CeliaStewart · 10/10/2021 16:38

Thanks all. There have been a few of these student developments in the past in the same area; one of them coincidentally has cars parked all along the pavement in front of theblock... only in term time, strangely!
It does seem a joke and that the council is complicit.

OP posts:

ProfessorSlocombe · 10/10/2021 17:13

@Underbox

My DD just moved in to student halls and her tenancy agreement contains a clause stating that none of the students are allowed to bring a car to the town. If they are found to have a brought a car and are parking it anywhere in the town, their tenancy agreement will be deemed to have been broken and they will be served notice to leave. So, yes a tenancy agreement can prohibit a tenant's lawful behaviour outside the rental premises.

Just because something states something don't necessarily make it so.

Courts can (and will) only uphold lawful contracts, so ...

So, yes a tenancy agreement can prohibit a tenant's lawful behaviour outside the rental premises.

doesn't necessarily follow.

Original poster

CeliaStewart · 10/10/2021 19:37

They can't just summarily evict someone they believe has contravened this directive can they ?

The procedure they would have to go through to evict a tenant (even if they wanted to) and the improbability of it being upheld by a judge has been outlined to the Council, but still they keep approving student accommodation without parking, relying on promises like this.

OP posts:

MurielSpriggs · 11/10/2021 00:00

@CeliaStewart

They can't just summarily evict someone they believe has contravened this directive can they ?

In that case the only way to stop it would be an appeal to the Secretary of State, or judicial review. Depends on how much you value your parking!

Original poster

CeliaStewart · 11/10/2021 00:45

In that case the only way to stop it would be an appeal to the Secretary of State

As I understand it, only the applicant can appeal a planning decision, if it goes against them. Interested parties aren't allowed to appeal. (?)

Judicial review would be beyond my means unfortunately.

OP posts:

vastgrandupgrade · 11/10/2021 21:38

Is it free for all parking? If so, you would might have more success getting parking restrictions put in place than stopping the development. Around here it’s all residents’ parking or limited waiting, and the student blocks don’t qualify for resident’s permits. Unrestricted street parking is a fair distance away and not really an area you might want to leave a car unattended for long. So effectively they are banned from bringing cars.

In reality, it is mostly foreign students living in those blocks as they are expensive. And they tend not to have cars anyway. The homegrown students live in shared houses and they are the main cause of the parking problems!

Original poster

CeliaStewart · 12/10/2021 01:12

If so, you would might have more success getting parking restrictions put in place than stopping the development.

That's been tried, not enough residents voted for it. People that didn't vote were counted as a "No".
"

OP posts:

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