subject: What Are Property Covenants and Why Should I Care? [print this page] What Are Property Covenants and Why Should I Care?
PROPERTY COVENANTS - They can be split into Restrictive Covenants and Positive Covenants.
But what are they?
Properties are often subject to legal restrictions or obligations. But how many home owners have had a conveyancer fail to tell them that their property is subject to them until you get a knock on the door and find out the hard way. That depends on the quality of the conveyancing service that was paid for.
These so called restrictions are usually in the form of "restrictive covenants" and the so called obligations are usually in the form of "positive covenants".
Covenants are imposed when part only of a larger area of land is sold, in an attempt to protected the remaining land from the sold land's future use. So when a Developer first sells his area of land via individual house plots, he will impose covenants on each house to benefit and protect the neighbours and vice versa, so all houses have the same or similar covenants.
The following are some examples of common "restrictive covenants" (i.e restriction not to do something)that residential properties are often subject to:-
not to allow a property to be used for trade or business purposes
not to cause a nuisance or annoyance to owners of neighbouring properties (an annoyance
tightens up the law that we are all subject to anyway)
not to build any extension on the property or make any external alterations to it
not to allow chickens or pigs onto the land
not to allow commercial vehicles to park outside the proeprty
The following are some examples of common "positive covenants" (i.e obligations to positively do something):-
to maintain or contribute to the maintenance of a shared driveway
to maintain certain boundary walls or fences
to keep shared pipes or wires in good repair
A breach of a "restrictive covenant" or a failure to comply with a "positive covenant" can have legal consequences, such as a legal injunction and ultimately an aware of financial damages (i.e money payout).
The person who imposed the covenant (or their successors in land ownership) can take action against the land burdened with the obligation. Well, that is the theory whether it is a restrictive or positive covenant.
A breach of a covenant can not only cause a dispute with those who are in a position to enforce the covenant but can also lead to difficulties on a future sale of the property. The solicitor acting for prospective buyers will want any breaches rectified before the purchase completes. This may prove impossible or very costly.
In the above example of a restrictive covenant against building, if work is undertaken without the consent from say the neighbours (who have the benefit of the covenant), those neighbours may have the legal right to require any extension to be demolished.
Alternatively "Title Legal Indemnity insurance" may be available - see my other articles.
Consequently, choose your conveyancer carefully when buying property so you know what covenants you could have on your title deeds, as the above examples and any others affecting your property could prevent your planned use of the property.
