Freehold property no pets rules

[Afolnerd]

We have found a house we love and had our offer accepted. 4 bed townhouse, semi detached. Freehold, completely enclosed garden.
It is in an estate build in the 90’s 30ish houses and 4 small blocks of flats/maisonettes. The grounds are maintained by a company and we have to pay a small fee towards it, (less than £200 a year)

Everything seemed to be going along fine until I got the searches back today and there seems to be a complete ban on pets.

We have a tortoise who lives outside in the summer months. I have emailed our solicitor and told him that this is a deal breaker for us. If he can’t come then we won’t be continuing with the purchase, he replied immediately stating he would get on to the other side and try and get permission.
But typically I got this information at 4.30 on a Friday and I’m not going to get any information for days.

Is this actually enforceable, can they dictate if we have pets or not? I understand in the flats but in a self contained house?

We don’t want to lose the house but if we have to choose we will pick him as he is part of the family.

Hurrah! I look forward to a photo of Albus smugly in his new home.

I did ponder how enforceable that covenant was.

I love a happy ending. ❤️🐢❤️🏡

Glad to hear all is well and I hope Albus settles into his new abode quickly.

My mum lived in a flat with a similar restriction. Her neighbours, both on the Board for the estate adopted a local stray. Everybody there knew and nobody said a word.

It really depends on what the freehold title/deed says rather than just the estate rules. Some developments still enforce restrictive covenants on freehold houses (including pet bans), but how strictly enforceable they are can vary and sometimes they’re negotiable or loosely applied. Your solicitor is the best person to confirm what actually binds you legally definitely don’t rely only on the management company wording at this stage.