Covenants and right-of-way driveway

[Tooearlyforsquats]

We are sale agreed on our ‘forever home’ - we’re in our forties with kids and have moved around a lot in the past and never want to move again.

House is a hundred years old on 0.8 acres. Previous owner was going to demolish and build a big mega glass mansion.

Solicitor has immediately flagged covenant and right of way.

Covenant says only single dwelling allowed (this not in itself bad as its in a lovely area with big plots and if everyone has similar covenants then it stops intensive development). But would we be able to extend? The irony is also that instead of doing a big muckety muck double extension, we were thinking of putting a garden office/guest suite up in the corner of the plot, which would be almost invisible and block no views (very secluded site), but we might then be more likely to get permission for the extension? (Permission from beneficiaries of covenant, local authority planning permission already granted).

Also, the driveway runs along the back of the property beside us, although completely separated by hedge/fence etc, and it turns out they own it and we just have right of way? Apparently this is very common in the area, but wouldn’t this be a nightmare for maintenance?

Apparently the area (the very naice bit of a very unposh region) is riddled with covenants and rights of way, so solicitor seems very chill as does DH but if there are horror stories or things I should be asking I’d like to know! It’s the biggest purchase I’ve ever made and the house already needs work! But if we walked away from this we’d likely find another in the area with exact same issues, and we definitely want this dream location.

Or what questions should I be asking?

Oh and the previous owner has now moved to london as wife wanted to settle there which is why they’re not building but mu suspicious mind is wondering if they got the planning and then somehow found out the covenant beneficiary was opposed?

I would be concerned about the driveway. Anything with a private road, shared drive etc etc can be a source of many problems, including maintenance, you might have a right of way but is there a right of parking etc.

I wouldn't assume that the covenant beneficiary would grant permission for another building, however small.

You could never park on the drive as it’s too narrow.

Yes I agree. I also really want to know how old the covenant is and made by whom. There’s a large shed-room in the corner and a separate garage building, so already three buildings on it! But is there such a thing as precedent?

Oh, but there’s plenty of parking on the land itself.

I'd be very wary of shared driveways. I had one once. Note once, it's irrelevant if you believe you can't park there it's too narrow because if someone does it what exactly will you do? Ours had a clear style of bricks to divide where we had right of way and we had so many problems and once you start to have problems you have to deal with people you really should be getting on with and it's only then you realise you've signed up for something that essentially allows someone else to control how you feel.
And even if these neighbours are fine how do you know the next ones are.
Definitely something to think about before you go steaming ahead.

Oh yes and then there's if it snows who grits it and if there are pot holes. Definitely lots to think about. I personally would never enter into such a situation again.

The reason there’s a garage and a shed is that the covenant says only a single dwelling is allowed. Garages and sheds aren’t dwellings . You should be fine with a garden office, and also fine with an extension as it’s not an additional dwelling.

It’s been put in place to stop a developer buying the land and building multiple houses on it. It’s quite normal.

My only concern would be what appeals process there is if you feel the holders of the covenant refuse permission to do something you feel is reasonable. They could easily use it as a stick to beat you with if you fall out with them.

Meh, we have a shared drive way, although it’s not atypical, several houses lead off it, so more like a private road. We pay an amount each year to the upkeep, and the neighbours who own it maintain it just fine. It’s in our covenant that we have right of way and in theirs they need to grant access and maintain it, snd that we all have to pay an equal share.

OP, if the covenant says single dwelling (and no other restrictions) then that won't stop you extending or even knocking down and rebuilding as you'll still have one dwelling. What you can't do is knock down and put 2 houses on the same plot (well, not without investigating covenant release/indemnity insurance).

I'd rather have a right of access lane than a shared driveway. The right granted to you (assuming it's been properly granted) should refer to who has the obligation to maintain and what the cost splits are. If the land is currently in reasonable maintenance then there's nothing on the face of it to mean that it won't continue to be maintained. You can't guarantee you don't end up with someone dreadful buying the house with the right of way but you can't guarantee that you won't end up with nightmare neighbours either.

We have a right of way over land we don’t own to our house and then onwards to our fields. It’s a bridleway. The upper part is not owned by anyone. The council used to maintain it as a road but for 70 years have refused to do so and are adamant they don’t own it. Land registry agrees. Old photos show the old steamroller resurfacing it! We just have a right to drive over it and decided to maintain it. In our own interests!

Another house owns the next section of bridleway adjacent to our garden and we own half of the next section which is adjacent to our fields. It’s just what you find in country areas. Our house and land hugely outweigh any slight inconvenience. We get a bit of grit for snow clearance if we need it.

As it’s beyond the hedge of the Nextdoor neighbour, they probably won’t care about it. The covenants don’t sound onerous.

We own a driveway that our neighbours have right of access over and honestly, it’s fine. Neither of us are permitted to obstruct it and they are contractually obliged to pay half of upkeep (though there’s not much upkeep needed on a driveway only used by two households). Like your area, it’s common here, where houses have been built at different times as different plots were sold and built on, rather than a more modern planned development.

To clarify, it’s not remotely shared, it’s just to our house, the people I assume it belongs to have their own fancy driveway on the other side of their acre plot. It’s bizarre that the driveway doesn’t belong to the plot.

This is all very helpful thanks!

I will reward you by coming back with a DIAGRAM after my zoom meeting

The thing is that if they own it, they have the right to use it so to that extent it is shared as you can't exclude them from it. I would also imagine that unless clearly stated to the contrary, they also have the right to grant right of access to other parties. They could also, unless clearly stated otherwise, rip out their fancy driveway and start to use the driveway to your plot.

Plenty to think about!

If the owner neither needs nor uses the driveway OP, in your shoes I would be asking my solicitor to find out if you can buy it from them.

Regarding the covenants; you really need to see the exact wording. You can download the title register from the land registry website for £3. I would also buy next doors (the land owners) at the same time to check what their covenants say about the rights of way on their land.

Yes lots! And I’d far rather think about it all at this stage! Right, diagram.

Also, the Garden Law forum posters are really knowledgeable - GL ROW Form

Diagram hopefully attached

The owner could choose to make it a shared access route to their guest house. I agree with previous PP, see if the owner would sell it. If not, then why not?

I wonder why the land owner didn't just widen the existing driveway rather than build another which meanders around half of their garden? But I'm sure they had their reasons.

I agree with savvy7 that they may want it as access for the guest house, although if the drive is narrow, as you suggest in your OP Tooearlyforsquats, it may be that they would find it difficult turning a car in and out.

You could mitigate/sweeten the purchase offer with the offer of a ROW to the vendor. At the very least there is no harm in asking. All they can do is say no

In principle a cast iron ROW as the drive wouldn't worry me - all my family live in an area where that sort of arrangement is normal and everyone just gets on with it. But your solicitor needs to check that they cannot withdraw the ROW.

In due course they might agree to sell, anyway.

Interesting that your land already has a shed and a garage. And the neighbours have a garden room. Check with your solicitor on the definition of 'dwelling'. It might mean a proper house / bungalow with its own address. There may be no difficulty with a home office that happens to have its own WC etc....

MN is very very averse to any form of shared land, shared access, ROW, and in crowded suburban areas where people have more vans than parking etc, they can be an issue. But in your sort of set up, people tend to get in with it without difficulty, having done the due diligence.

Just to be clear it’s not absolutely certain that the neighbours own it! We agreed it very recently, our solicitor got copy of title deeds this week and told us the outline of covenant/ ROW.

He’s gone off to investigate with vendors’ solicitor and I have just composed list of questions with much help from you all for him. He seems very on it, specialises in property law. There’s a chance we can swing it before stamp duty relief ends, everybody involved seems able to move at speed. Previous buyers pulled out but allegedly through lack of funds (but obviously this makes me suspicious). It could be an amazing opportunity, but I’m so scared of buying at haste and repenting at leisure.

What’s interesting is that vendor had planned to return from london, knock down existing house and build a very, very large three story house that would definitely divide tastes. Doubling size of house and making it half again taller. And although two local neighbours objected, they weren’t the ones to the side of us who ‘might’ (probably) own the driveway. Planning permission was granted and still valid.

raining, yes, apparently it’s very common in this area where it was originally all ‘big’ houses with gardens sold off a hundred years ago. Solicitor has said that we are very much more than likely to run into similar issues on any other purchase in the area.

Is there anything else I can find out through google?

So the planning permission and the covenants are not related - the Council won't get into legal matters.

I would be cautious about believing anyone about why previous sales fell through. Do your own research and don't trust anyone! Any advice that your solicitor gives you make sure is backed up in writing.

Can you tell I've been previously burned!

@savvy7 Yes I have figured that out - now I want to know did he actually not proceed to build mansion because the covenant said he couldn’t!

Have you been negatively affected by this kind of situation before?