development

Restrictive covenants work to prevent or restrict use of land and are agreements between landowners preventing a specific use of the land, for the benefit of another. They can become a problem if the land you are seeking to purchase or use for development is subject to a covenant as it can prevent development and the fact you have planning permission does not mean covenants can be disregarded. Along with the cost associated with trying to get them removed many covenants require consent from a landowner who may need to be traced causing delays and transactions to slow down. [...]

The Supreme Court has recently sent a warning to developers who knowingly breach restrictions on land where there are other options available. In this case the developer owned a plot of undeveloped land which had a restriction for it only to be used as a car park. The neighbouring property with the benefit of this restriction had planned to create a wheelchair path around the edge of its gardens. The developer built 13 affordable houses on the land in order to comply with a planning condition for a nearby high-end development in breach of the restriction. After the housing [...]