covenants and your rights

Whilst the developer may have managed to have gained planning approval, this may not mean that they have the legal right to build.

When land is sold for development, it is not unusual for the vendor to impose a number of restrictions on the purchaser. These restrictions are commonly referred to as Restrictive Covenants. Subject to the covenants being correctly termed, these restrictions remain with the land until the courts release them. The benefit of the covenants, again subject to the correct wording, pass to the subsequent owners of the vendors other land. This means YOU (if you are one of those land owners) have the rights to legally challenge the developers' plans; this is COMPLETELY unrelated to the planning permission process and is, in fact, legally a more powerful instrument. There are numerous guides online about this process.  A good layman's guide can be found here.

BUT, if you choose not to enforce your rights, then you lose them, thus making it harder to enforce them in the future.  The time to act is NOW, not when your neighbour also applies for planning permission for a large block of flats.

Within the CHASRO area there are numerous estates which were sold with restrictions. CHASRO has been setup to provide an organisation for all our members to collect and share this information. If you live within the CHASRO area

join us to find out how these developments may impact you when your neighbours want to develop!

 Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice - Please seek legal advice for your specific situation from a qualified professional.