New build, Covenant likely to be enforced.
Discussion
I have been looking at a property to rent (coach house) on a new build estate. I have been picked from the owner as favourite 
The property is absolutely perfect for my needs, however the only issue is, being a new build there is a covenant saying no "sign written vans"
The owner has spoken to the developers (building still ongoing) and they stated, as long as the van is tidy (not pike spec rust bucket with scrap metal written all over it) they are very unlikely to take action.
The owner also said that next door has a sign written van.
Does anyone know of anyone who has had action taken for this? Would it be a case of having to be taken to court and an injunction placed? (i.e. very expensive)
I guess if the worse happened and someone complained i would either have to remove the decals, or possibly find a large cover to place over it?
The property has a drive infront of the garage so its not like its parked outside someones living room window. Its a Transit Custom, which in my view is much better looking than a 15 year old rusting people carrier.
So do we think i would get away with this? Or anyone know anyone who has been taken to court over this?
Cheers
The property is absolutely perfect for my needs, however the only issue is, being a new build there is a covenant saying no "sign written vans"
The owner has spoken to the developers (building still ongoing) and they stated, as long as the van is tidy (not pike spec rust bucket with scrap metal written all over it) they are very unlikely to take action.
The owner also said that next door has a sign written van.
Does anyone know of anyone who has had action taken for this? Would it be a case of having to be taken to court and an injunction placed? (i.e. very expensive)
I guess if the worse happened and someone complained i would either have to remove the decals, or possibly find a large cover to place over it?
The property has a drive infront of the garage so its not like its parked outside someones living room window. Its a Transit Custom, which in my view is much better looking than a 15 year old rusting people carrier.
So do we think i would get away with this? Or anyone know anyone who has been taken to court over this?
Cheers
R1 Indy said:
So do we think i would get away with this?
The only people who can enforce the covenant are the owners of the benefit of it - the developers of the estate, in this case.And they've said they're unlikely to.
However, that might be swayed if the neighbours start throwing a tizzy about it. But you've already been told next door are also in breach of the convenant.
B'sides, they can't take you to court - they can only take the property owner to court. And he's got an easy get-out. Give you your notice.
My personal opinion is on new developments its good to have covenants regarding the house,drive and garden so basically you have to keep then the same colour,condition etc for say 10 years so everything looks clean and tidy like it was to start with.I cannot see a problem with sign written vans,satellite dishes etc where its quite common for people to need them for their job,lifestyle or leisure.
On the other hand why have covenants if they are not going to be strictly inforced as you know the facts when you rent or buy.
On the other hand why have covenants if they are not going to be strictly inforced as you know the facts when you rent or buy.
shovelheadrob said:
It says on our deeds that we cannot park a caravan on our drive, so on the occasions where I need to (setting off at silly o'clock in the morning & the storage place where I keep it can't be accessed before 08.00) I park on my neighbours drive!
Maybe i can offer to swap drive with neighbour so we are both legit 
Interesting that its only the landlord who is liable, however if i did find that someone was complaining i think i would look for a solution rather than letting things get legal.
Regarding magnetic signs, I'm wondering if its possible to get some magnetic blanking signs to plonk on over night, and how much of a hassle this would be?
They do enforce them in a slow market because they did on the estate I live on, it wasn't just sign written vans it was any van, a neighbour got a letter threatening court action to enforce the covenant so he had his garage doors changed so it'd fit in the garage.
Once the builders have sold the last house nobody will enforce it, certainly not the council because it'd set a precedent so they'd have to enforce it everywhere.
The only other incident I heard about was a neighbour dispute over a caravan but when he looked into enforcing it the solicitor told him it could run into the 10s of thousands so he dropped it
Once the builders have sold the last house nobody will enforce it, certainly not the council because it'd set a precedent so they'd have to enforce it everywhere.
The only other incident I heard about was a neighbour dispute over a caravan but when he looked into enforcing it the solicitor told him it could run into the 10s of thousands so he dropped it
R1 Indy said:
Its a Transit Custom, which in my view is much better looking than a 15 year old rusting people carrier.
I think the same.I'd rather sit and look at a clean, tidy LWB Transit all day that an absolute turd of a Zafira.
Surely a ban on absolute nails parking outside houses would be better, wether that be vans, cars or whatever else. Not sure I'd feel the same when they ask me to shift my turd of a 3 series though.
Banning satellite dishes doesn't make sense to me either. They're that common place now I doubt anyone even notices them.
justanother5tar said:
I think the same.
I'd rather sit and look at a clean, tidy LWB Transit all day that an absolute turd of a Zafira.
Surely a ban on absolute nails parking outside houses would be better, wether that be vans, cars or whatever else. Not sure I'd feel the same when they ask me to shift my turd of a 3 series though.
Banning satellite dishes doesn't make sense to me either. They're that common place now I doubt anyone even notices them.
One develop I lived on your needed permission from the developer to put a dish on, they would only allow one sky dish. It's to stop some foreign types with 3 polsat dish etc.I'd rather sit and look at a clean, tidy LWB Transit all day that an absolute turd of a Zafira.
Surely a ban on absolute nails parking outside houses would be better, wether that be vans, cars or whatever else. Not sure I'd feel the same when they ask me to shift my turd of a 3 series though.
Banning satellite dishes doesn't make sense to me either. They're that common place now I doubt anyone even notices them.
I think all developments should have satellite compounds much tidier.
As for vans each to their own I would rather look at a tidy Zafira than a ruff as bumholes old 3 series
I left my race car outside my Dads house whilst the wheels were getting re-done and he received a letter saying it was upsetting the co-proprietors of the estate and it needs to be moved as per the Deed of Conditions because it's causing a nuisance to neighbouring properties and affecting the amenity of the estate.
I'd get it in writing if they say it's unlikely to be an issue but all it takes is one person to moan and that's it. They have the covenant on their side.
I'd get it in writing if they say it's unlikely to be an issue but all it takes is one person to moan and that's it. They have the covenant on their side.
shovelheadrob said:
It says on our deeds that we cannot park a caravan on our drive, so on the occasions where I need to (setting off at silly o'clock in the morning & the storage place where I keep it can't be accessed before 08.00) I park on my neighbours drive!
Do you actually do that or do I need a whoosh?I got the builders to enforce one on a neighbour once. Basically a badly designed road system and a lazy neighbour who bought a house with allocated parking but no drive. He thought it was OK to park in such a way as to make my drive very hard to use.
It got into a silly stand off with the council and police refusing to help because the builders hadn't finished the road to an acceptable standard and therefore the council wouldn't adopt it.
I was very lucky in my digging and got the home phone number of someone pretty high up in the building company. It was a national firm.
Amazing what a cheery phone call at half eight on a Sunday morning can achieve. The neighbour was hand delivered a letter and moved his car straight away. The following week road gamg came and finished the road off to an acceptable standard so the adoption process could continue.
The covenant they enforced was a catch-all clause about not causing nuisance to neighbours. It was 16 years ago, but from memory there were others about loud music, allowing the house to be used as a drug den and not running prozzies out of it. As a single chap at the time and had they been high class hookers I'd not have enforced the latter covenant!
To the OP, I'm sure your van is fine, but the rules are there to keep places nice and to stop situations like the one I was told about recently.
A newish estate with no covenants apparently and a fish merchant moves in. Hosing his van out, stinking the place out, parking up a "fleet" of vans on weekends/holidays.
It wasn't very nice for the neighbours and let's just say he wasn't a very nice person. Polite requests by the guy who told me the story, were met with eff off, etc etc.
It's an extreme case I know and I'm not suggesting you are like that but you have to consider why someone's choice of employment should impact on the lives of neighbours.
Work vans have put me off buying. We found a house online in a kind of "T" shaped cul-de-sac. It looked fine but the street view shot showed a clutch of white vans parked in the road, on a pavement and on a drive near the house. Google Earth showed a similar picture so we took a drive to the street which was littered with transits all belonging to the same builder. It just looked like a world of hassle which we avoided.
As suggested, magnetic signs, but if you keep your van single time nice and it's not terribly old and you don't block pathways, drives or narrow roads with it, and can't see anyone having a problem.
I think the rules are there to stop the fish merchants of this world and the businessmen who for whatever reason don't have a yard or compound.
To me a van which is new clean and clearly belongs to the driver is an indication of a decent hard working neighbour. Company vans, and rough wagons don't.
The problem is another example of how s
t house builders are. Fair enough to have a no-van/caravan/boat rule, but they should provide an appropriate parking compound for residents. Hell they could even make money out of it and enforce a van-only rule.
Hope it works out OK OP.
It got into a silly stand off with the council and police refusing to help because the builders hadn't finished the road to an acceptable standard and therefore the council wouldn't adopt it.
I was very lucky in my digging and got the home phone number of someone pretty high up in the building company. It was a national firm.
Amazing what a cheery phone call at half eight on a Sunday morning can achieve. The neighbour was hand delivered a letter and moved his car straight away. The following week road gamg came and finished the road off to an acceptable standard so the adoption process could continue.
The covenant they enforced was a catch-all clause about not causing nuisance to neighbours. It was 16 years ago, but from memory there were others about loud music, allowing the house to be used as a drug den and not running prozzies out of it. As a single chap at the time and had they been high class hookers I'd not have enforced the latter covenant!
To the OP, I'm sure your van is fine, but the rules are there to keep places nice and to stop situations like the one I was told about recently.
A newish estate with no covenants apparently and a fish merchant moves in. Hosing his van out, stinking the place out, parking up a "fleet" of vans on weekends/holidays.
It wasn't very nice for the neighbours and let's just say he wasn't a very nice person. Polite requests by the guy who told me the story, were met with eff off, etc etc.
It's an extreme case I know and I'm not suggesting you are like that but you have to consider why someone's choice of employment should impact on the lives of neighbours.
Work vans have put me off buying. We found a house online in a kind of "T" shaped cul-de-sac. It looked fine but the street view shot showed a clutch of white vans parked in the road, on a pavement and on a drive near the house. Google Earth showed a similar picture so we took a drive to the street which was littered with transits all belonging to the same builder. It just looked like a world of hassle which we avoided.
As suggested, magnetic signs, but if you keep your van single time nice and it's not terribly old and you don't block pathways, drives or narrow roads with it, and can't see anyone having a problem.
I think the rules are there to stop the fish merchants of this world and the businessmen who for whatever reason don't have a yard or compound.
To me a van which is new clean and clearly belongs to the driver is an indication of a decent hard working neighbour. Company vans, and rough wagons don't.
The problem is another example of how s
t house builders are. Fair enough to have a no-van/caravan/boat rule, but they should provide an appropriate parking compound for residents. Hell they could even make money out of it and enforce a van-only rule.Hope it works out OK OP.
wildcat45 said:
The problem is another example of how s
t house builders are. Fair enough to have a no-van/caravan/boat rule, but they should provide an appropriate parking compound for residents. Hell they could even make money out of it and enforce a van-only rule.Hope it works out OK OP.
t. Stupid comment from someone with no understanding of how planning and development works.yes we can provide a compound (if planners will allow it which they probably won't), so space for 20 vehicles on a 20 unit site, so each buyer has to pay £10k more for their house.
If you have that sort of issue, just buy an appropriate property, if you cant afford one then compromise, but don't b
h about it. No one forces anyone to buy a new house.wildcat45 said:
To the OP, I'm sure your van is fine, but the rules are there to keep places nice and to stop situations like the one I was told about recently.
It's an extreme case I know and I'm not suggesting you are like that but you have to consider why someone's choice of employment should impact on the lives of neighbours.
Work vans have put me off buying.
On a far simpler level, I occasionally used to borrow a mate's LWB high-top Sprinter. Bright yellow...It's an extreme case I know and I'm not suggesting you are like that but you have to consider why someone's choice of employment should impact on the lives of neighbours.
Work vans have put me off buying.
If I parked it up on the road at my place overnight, I was always VERY careful not to park it outside other the front of people's houses. Outside my place, it really cut the light out of the living room, and gave everything a mild yellow cast. And we had a reasonable-size front garden.
wildcat45 said:
The problem is another example of how st house builders are.
Very simple. If you think a house builder is st house builders are.t, don't buy a house from them. There are always plenty of alternatives...Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff