Selling house my new build house - restrictive covenants on types of vehicle that can be parked on drive

[Charliescar]

So, I would really love some advice.
We are very near exchange and our buyer has said they will not buy our house unless they can park a motorbike on the drive.
It is a new build house , the management company has now taken over from developers.
There is a restrictive covenant saying nothing but a fully taxed and roadworthy car can be parked on the part of the property designated for car parking . They are seeking assurance that parking motorbike will be ok .
Has anyone experienced this???? Has anyone successfuly changed a covenant like this quickly!!!
Or is there something else we can do to get our sale going again!! We need to exchange very soon😨😨

This post was edited by MNHQ

I thought these things were mostly to prevent enormous, ugly caravans and campervans being parked on every other drive, rather than motorbikes?

What does your solicitor say?

Never heard of a motorbike not being able to be parked. Thought it was to stop white vans, caravans etc to be parked? The only way of knowing is to contact the managing agent (presume leasehold) and ask for more details and written assurances that this will be okay.

She says it just for the developers to stop caravans !!! We know this as most people do ! We seem to have super cautious buyers 🙄
They are in their 50’s. Their solicitor seems a bit over zealous 🙄
We are calling our management company tomorrow to see what they say.
We have a garage too , so not sure why they are so worried

This post was edited by MNHQ

Not allowed to park a hovercraft on mine

Talk to your solicitor before you call the management company.

It’s likely to take months to formally change the covenant, and they will charge you for it.

A common approach to dealing with restrictive covenants that cause problems is to take out indemnity insurance. But you cannot take this out if you have alerted the people with the benefit of the covenant (ie the management company) that your buyers want to breach it.

So take proper advice before calling them.

Thanks Pale Pink that’s very good info. We have sent an email to the management company only asking if we are allowed . Not can we change the covenants. We will speak to our solicitor tomorrow and find out about indemnity insurance . Do you know if this is a costly thing and is it quick thing to sort out ? This sale is a nightmare ! 😫😫

Indemnity is v cheap. Mine was about £20

Not allowed to park a hovercraft on mine

I know, our helicopter has been v problematic

How does the indemnity insurance work in this situation?

The problem with restrictive covenants such as these is that it's not just the management company who has the benefit of them, each person on the development covenants with the other not to do the things stated in the original transfer, so it's not as simple as getting the management company to release the covenant (which they would be highly unlikely to do anyway), you effectively need everyone with the benefit of it to agree.

As for the indemnity insurance, I've not heard it used in situations like this.

Are your buyers not under as much pressure to proceed as you are? If they are then I would hold your nerve (which I appreciate is very hard in your situation) and hope they see sense. It's mad the things we get hung up on in a property transaction that suddenly feel like absolute non-issues 2 months later.

Good luck!

No , they are not in a hurry to proceed!

This post was edited by MNHQ

Why would they not garage a motorbike, aren't they fairly nickable? Personally I can't see it a problem, we have a covenant but ours says what you can't park rather than what you can. So no large vans, caravans, mobile homes, boats or trailers.

If you can only park a taxed car on the drive... does that mean you can’t park an electric car on the drive as you don’t tax them?

You could remind them no broomsticks are allowed.
No dm /mil visits!
Brilliant!

Could they insert a paving slab elsewhere in the front garden for motorbike parking - which is what I do, mine's on the edge of the grass, not the parking area. .

Ariela- we have said this , but no they want it in writing

I'd agree with others that your solicitor should be advising you on this.

My understanding is that by emailing the management company to ask if motorbike parking is allowed, you've unfortunately removed the option of indemnity insurance, since they will likely be considered as having been 'notified' now.

Whilst it may seem petty asking about motorbike parking, there is a wider potential issue here. You're right, that it's likely that no-one will ever complain about them parking a motorbike on the drive, so it may seem an unreasonable request. However - if they do that and then subsequently fall out with one of the neighbours over something totally unrelated. The neighbour may have a form of petty recourse by attempting to enforce the "taxed car" only covenent against them.

With regards to the comment on electric cars, an electric car still requires a car tax - it's just not cargeable.