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Original poster

Covenants

112 replies

hummingbird12 · 03/02/2025 19:45

We are 6 months in to purchasing our next home. Our buyers are ready to proceed to completion but we have received the contract today for our onward purchase with some, what we think, ridiculous covenants.

The house is part of a larger piece of land so we are just buying the house and the garden and they're keeping the rest. We only found out last week the vendors won't pay the fee to split the title deed so we have to fork out an extra £1200 in solicitor fees for our solicitor to do it. We didn't know they owned the land next door until the searches came back.

They built another house on the other side 20 years ago or so and we are buying the bungalow their late mother lived in so the vendors will be our only neighbours. They have put in place some covenants and would like other thoughts...

  • no business's (I used to have a photography business and recently have thought about setting it up again) & no air bnb's etc
  • no alterations such as extensions whether permanent or temporary or Not allowed to change the fence without asking their permission. Unless they decide to build on the retained land on which case they wouldn't withhold permission for the fence.
  • no chickens. The house behind owns chickens and it's semi rural so not unusual. Not something we want right away but have talked about it.
  • no pets other than one dog or cat (our solicitor has already crossed this out before sending to us but thought it was extremely cheeky they even put it in there.) we own a spaniel and are considering another dog for security due to location.

Am I unreasonable to think they are being CF's? The house is detached. We are respectful people and wouldn't do anything inconsiderate. We were planning on extending. Only a 3x6m single storey. Why on earth should we have to ask their permission for any of these things? Has anyone got any advice or been in this situation? We've already responded to the solicitor and said we reject these but we loved the house and now potentially have to start from scratch after 6 months 😞

OP posts:
Original poster
hummingbird12 · 04/02/2025 13:41

I'm annoyed we didn't push back more on this!!
We were under the impression it was for us to pay. We didn't realise until after we agreed they should have really been paying it

OP posts:
SatinHeart · 04/02/2025 13:44

housethatbuiltme · 04/02/2025 11:45

The house we where buying had an ancient covenant on it from the local reverend nearly 150 years ago... we were not allowed to turn it into a brothel.

Well there goes my plans lol.

I didn't realize you could refuse them, I don't know who we would have been accountable too (other than the police) if we decided to open a 'house of ill repute' anyway as the person who instigated the rule it is LONG dead.

Ours has something similar, we also aren't allowed to "sell spiritous liquor" from the property...

Blankscreen · 04/02/2025 15:04

I would imagine they have an increased bill from their lawyer too.
£1,200 is not going to be enough for both solicitors to deal with a TP1.

It's actually very cheap from your lawyer.

SoapySponge · 04/02/2025 15:42

I can live with "no chickens". The others would be deal breakers for me, I'm afraid.

Gekko21 · 04/02/2025 15:57

This would be simple for me. It's a no to all of them. These are not historic covenants but new covenants that the seller is trying to establish. I assume that once they are on your deeds, they would exist in perpetuity and would get passed down to subsequent buyers. So it would likely affect your ability to resell.

Sorry if I've misunderstood all of that as I did skim read the thread a little bit.

mumda · 04/02/2025 16:04

hummingbird12 · 03/02/2025 21:51

We are really frustrated that this is the first we have heard of this.
They've also put in the contract that they want right of way over our land for service connections should they build on the neighbouring land 😂

Show quote history

Run.

Cos they're cheeky twats.

Feckedupbundle · 04/02/2025 16:12

I would walk away. Even if you get them to row back on the covenants,do you really want to live next door to people who are intent on controlling everything that you do to and in your own home?
My old neighbours had a field with a covenant on it from the original owner,stating no permanent buildings. 50 years later,they wanted to put a retirement mobile type home on it. The descendants of the original owner fought tooth and nail to stop it,even though,in law,a mobile home is not classed as a permanent structure.
The court battle went on for years, it was really bitter,with the protagonists living in the same village,and involved threats and physical violence.At one point,and it was no where near the end,the costs to my neighbour were £30k+ purely in court and solicitors fees.
In the end,they sold the land back to the descendants and moved far away from the village that they'd been born in and lived in all their lives. I'd never accept a covenant that restricted my right to do as I please on my own property.

WithManyTot · 04/02/2025 20:00

For the title split, I'd just walk away...for each of the other four points, in turn, I'd trot, jog, run and then sprint

WhenTheyComeForYou · 04/02/2025 21:15

You need to check if your mortgage lender allows covenants - ours didn’t.

Smallwins · 04/02/2025 21:33

Have a read of the gardenlaw forum for an idea of the havoc restrictive covenants can cause.
We lived in a house that was sold off a larger plot of land (we were 1 owner down the line from original split) and the neighbour acted like he still owned our land. When we didn't comply with his requests we ended up having to go through courts. Our solicitors bill was about 50k- the majority of which had to be paid back to us by the neighbour as we won. But there was never a guarantee we would get fees back and we were in fortunate situation we had the money to pay out, would have had to drop it (let him win) if we didn't have a large amount set aside for a rainy day

LuluBlakey1 · 04/02/2025 21:42

They obviously intend to either sell the other land to a developer or to develop it themselves.
I wouldn't want to have these people in control of anything I could do with my own property.
This could cause you a lot of misery and money in costs now and in the future, including when you come to sell.

Feelingstrange2 · 04/02/2025 21:44

Pull out and tell them to jog on

Feelingstrange2 · 04/02/2025 21:45

Pull out and tell them to jog on

GladAllOver · 04/02/2025 22:25

If you are still thinking of accepting these covenants you must first consult your mortgage company, because it will reduce the value of the property below their original assessed value.
If you default on the loan they may not be able to get it back by selling the property. They might think you have deceived them by making a material change to the value.

Original poster
hummingbird12 · 04/02/2025 22:25

Smallwins · 04/02/2025 21:33

Have a read of the gardenlaw forum for an idea of the havoc restrictive covenants can cause.
We lived in a house that was sold off a larger plot of land (we were 1 owner down the line from original split) and the neighbour acted like he still owned our land. When we didn't comply with his requests we ended up having to go through courts. Our solicitors bill was about 50k- the majority of which had to be paid back to us by the neighbour as we won. But there was never a guarantee we would get fees back and we were in fortunate situation we had the money to pay out, would have had to drop it (let him win) if we didn't have a large amount set aside for a rainy day

Could I ask what the requests were that took you to court?

OP posts:
MinnieGirl · 14/02/2025 07:35

What happened OP? Have you pulled out?

LindaDawn · 14/02/2025 09:14

My initial thoughts are to refuse these covenants, you don’t want to have problems when you try to sell on.

TiredCatLady · 14/02/2025 09:28

hummingbird12 · 03/02/2025 21:51

We are really frustrated that this is the first we have heard of this.
They've also put in the contract that they want right of way over our land for service connections should they build on the neighbouring land 😂

Show quote history

The no modifications is unreasonable, the others are ridiculous but this in the contract is, to me at least, a dealbreaker.

If they do get permission to build on the adjacent land (and you seem to suggest it would be multiple properties), and with changes to planning that could be quite likely then not only would you have the disruption, mess and noise from it happening next door but it would also be happening on YOUR land. Utilities aren’t always the most organised people. Your garden or driveway (no diagram so can’t tell which it would be) could be dug up three or four separate times for different utilities to be put in and it might be anything from a week to a month at a time. It might require particular conduits or inspection hatches in case of sewerage and restrict what you can do with that area in future.
Any problems and it’s your land they’re coming back to dig up.
This would have me running away screaming.

Whatisthisbs · 14/02/2025 09:33

I'm not a property owner, nor do I pretend to know anything about the rules and regulations that go with it. What I do know is that you should be allowed to live your life without restrictions placed by average Joe next door. I'd push back against every single one of those ridiculous covenants - but if they do drop them, you'll have no idea what fresh hell they may inflict once you've moved in. Please come back and update us OP

Original poster
hummingbird12 · 14/02/2025 09:56

Hi everyone,
Thanks for your replies!
We have pulled out YET!

So after we received the document outlining all these covenants, We pushed back and gave a detailed response to each one why it is unreasonable and why we couldn't accept it.

We then, as advised by our solicitor asked that they add two covenants in our favour on the retained land regarding no business use. Mainly so they don't build an abattoir or use it as a scrap yard for example.

We received an email from their solicitor via ours last Friday at 7pm stating "the vendors will not accept any covenants on the retained land the property will now be remarketed"

Obviously this was a surprise. We called the estate agent as he'd told us 30 mins prior they had said we can store our belongs in the garage a few days before the move if we wish so it was strange.

Anyway, it has transpired the vendors had no idea about the covenants on the document. They hadn't even seen it prior to being sent to us. Their solicitor had also threatened re marketing without their knowledge or say so. The solicitor has actually got a screw loose. We've heard since of numerous horror stories from other people that have used him.

I've just received a call from the estate agent stating the vendors have sent a revised document with the covenants with some amendments after reviewing it last night, to their solicitor.
Knowing their solicitor we won't receive that today but I hope we do. If they refuse all our amendments we will be pulling out Monday morning. We simply cannot buy this house with these in place. I will be so so sad because we do love it but we are almost tripling our mortgage and it wouldn't be worth it.
So keeping our fingers crossed they've seen sense away from their crazy solicitor!
Will update once we know more

OP posts:
Gekko21 · 14/02/2025 10:19

That's mental. You'd think that the vendor would change solicitor based on all that. I hope you get a resolution.

friendlycat · 14/02/2025 10:19

That's just bonkers. The solicitor acts for the vendor!

AnSolas · 14/02/2025 10:21

Wow
If you are still talking tell the estate agent to tell the seller that a condition from now on is they employ a different solicitor. You should not be running up a bill because a solicitor cant take instruction.

Anyway good luck

Original poster
hummingbird12 · 14/02/2025 16:09

AnSolas · 14/02/2025 10:21

Wow
If you are still talking tell the estate agent to tell the seller that a condition from now on is they employ a different solicitor. You should not be running up a bill because a solicitor cant take instruction.

Anyway good luck

Can they do this at this stage?
The solicitor could potentially have jeopardised this whole thing!! Madness

Just had an email from our solicitor basically stating we are still waiting for responses to our enquiries.
They've stated in the contract we are to cover their legal fees 😂😂

Never once has this been mentioned. If I don't laugh I will cry I suppose

Covenants
OP posts:
HellsBalls · 14/02/2025 16:25

I’d have walked away by now.