Covenant restricting trade

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Additionally, Jonathan, your right of way over your neighbour's driveway is a right to pass and repass not a right to park, so if you or your visitors stop on the driveway you are, technically, committing a trespass if the owner of the driveway suffers a loss. Trespass is a civil matter (maybe not so civil in the case of your neighbours). The remedy for the land-owner is to sue the trespasser for damages (difficult to quantify in this situation) but they could also try for an injunction to prevent a continuation of the nuisance caused by an occasional blocked driveway. They definitely has right on their side here.

The only person who can enforce the covenant is the person who imposed it. Is there any evidence that this person is known and able to enforce it - i.e. is he/she dead and are successors known?

If it were me, I'd think about taking down the roadside notice and tell all the customers that you still sell the stuff but that they should not park on the driveway if collecting eggs or honey. I would not respond to the solicitor's letter or discuss it with the neighbours if they are dyed-in-the-wool a*******s and you think that conciliation might be a waste if time.

CVB
 
The only person who can enforce the covenant is the person who imposed it. Is there any evidence that this person is known and able to enforce it - i.e. is he/she dead and are successors known?

CVB

That's not strictly true .. a negative (restrictive) covenant usually passes in title to the next owner if the property is sold or annexed. Covenants can also be enforced by interested parties - even if they don't own the property upon which the covenant is burdened. For instance, you live alongside the same road as a property that is covered by a covenant restricting business.. Whilst you may not have title to the covenant, if the operation of a business had a measurable impact on you .. and it would normally require a measurable loss or a trespass - then you could seek to enforce the covenant even if the owner of the property with the covenant in the title did not.

Complicated and very ancient law - but it's there for people to protect their reasonable rights and the courts will always uphold what are considered to be reasonable rights.

As you point out .. parking in the lane may also be an infringement of the covenant in the OP's case and would be considered trespass in the eyes of the law. Whether you could bring a sucessful civil prosecution in that circumstance is a bit debateable but it would contribute to grounds for an injunction.

I still think the best plan would be to talk to the neighbours and see if an amicable agreement could be reached. Legal talk is cheap .. Legal action gets expensive.
 
That's not strictly true .. a negative (restrictive) covenant usually passes in title to the next owner if the property is sold or annexed. Covenants can also be enforced by interested parties - even if they don't own the property upon which the covenant is burdened. For instance, you live alongside the same road as a property that is covered by a covenant restricting business.. Whilst you may not have title to the covenant, if the operation of a business had a measurable impact on you .. and it would normally require a measurable loss or a trespass - then you could seek to enforce the covenant even if the owner of the property with the covenant in the title did not.

Complicated and very ancient law - but it's there for people to protect their reasonable rights and the courts will always uphold what are considered to be reasonable rights.

As you point out .. parking in the lane may also be an infringement of the covenant in the OP's case and would be considered trespass in the eyes of the law.

Not my area of expertise, I had partners/staff to deal with boring things, though I did pass exams in land law and conveyancing way back when dinosaurs roamed the land. Nobody ever offered to pay me to take on a dispute over restrictive covenants, but as I recall, most covenants are expressed to bind the purchaser and his successors in title. It's who can enforce a covenant that's more difficult.

Twenty years ago I was acting pro bono for a community association (well, I lived and worked in that community, so it was self-interest that encouraged my generosity) trying to stop an old tram-shed from being turned into a pub by a brewery. There was a covenant imposed banning the sale of alcohol on the land when it was sold by the Brudenell family (Lord Cardigan's lot) for development. My conveyancing colleague was of the opinion that we might have a chance of enforcing the covenant if we could get the descendants of the family to object, but the neighbours would have no chance.

We saw them off by defeating their application for a liquor license. The vicar, the MP and councillors from both the Labour and the Conservative party all turned up to give evidence, and the following week the Lib Dems, invisible and silent at the hearing, if they were there, claimed credit in their newsletter.

Parking in the lane would not be considered a proper use of the right of way, and the neighbour would almost certainly be granted an injunction preventing it. As to its use by customers on foot, if there were a constant stream, it may be considered an abuse of the right. A few a day may not be unreasonable. The right of way is something wholly separate from the restrictive covenant.

I've been involved in a lot of neighbour disputes, both as a solicitor and as a mediator. Save where one party has psychological problems, there's usually something that caused the problem to kick off in the first place, something unrelated to the matter being argued over, but which has caused bad blood between the parties. The OP reminds me of so many that I've seen in these cases, unwilling to give ground and accusing the other of being unreasonable.
 
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Not my area of expertise, I had partners/staff to deal with boring things, though I did pass exams in land law and conveyancing way back when dinosaurs roamed the land. Nobody ever offered to pay me to take on a dispute over restrictive covenants, but as I recall, most covenants are expressed to bind the purchaser and his successors in title. It's who can enforce a covenant that's more difficult.

Twenty years ago I was acting pro bono for a community association (well, I lived and worked in that community, so it was self-interest that encouraged my generosity) trying to stop an old tram-shed from being turned into a pub by a brewery. There was a covenant banning the sale of alcohol on the land when it was sold by the Brudenell family for development. My conveyancing colleague was of the opinion that we might have a chance of enforcing the covenant if we could get the descendants of the family to object, but mere neighbours would have no chance.

We saw them off by defeating their application for a liquor license. The vicar, the MP and counsellors from both the Labour and the Conservative party all turned up to give evidence, and the following week the Lib Dem's, invisible and silent at the hearing, claimed credit in their newsletter.

More than one way to skin a cat then ? Not unusual for the silent bystanders to claim a victory though when someone else has won the day ! Human nature I think ..
 
at the hall where we lived we had a drive way which we allowed access to a:rules: old peoples home, and we had to shut the drive way once a year to keep the rights to owning the drive way, as if it went on for so many years without denied access we could loose ownership of the drive and they could get a access order placed on the deeds
 
I don't have arguments with neighbours - they are reasonable people.. and not many of them .

If I had a right of way issue as the OP has, I would make a peace offering - say 5% of my honey production in bottles or a cash equivalent..every year...And agree to keep disturbance to a minimum with signs etc..
 
I take it you're new to the location?
I'd look up the listing, either at the LPA or English Heritage?

We have immunity from listing, (really pi55ed off some of the busybodies) lol.

Some people just cannot be placated and these people fall into that category.

Most important thing is not to let both solicitors communicate,

Once you've done that it's a blank checkbook!!!!:sifone:

However, if you reply in person to a solicitors letter, perhaps asking questions, (one at a time would be best) your neighbour will be paying for each letter received and the subsequent replies. That'll pi55 on their bonfire. :winner1st:
 
I don't have arguments with neighbours - they are reasonable people.. and not many of them .

If I had a right of way issue as the OP has, I would make a peace offering - say 5% of my honey production in bottles or a cash equivalent..every year...And agree to keep disturbance to a minimum with signs etc..

5% of your honey production... that is about the margin of profit most Beefarmer's get after HMRC and all the other parasites have had their cake and icing!

Having this sort of neighbor dispute has probably wiped 25% of the sale value of your ( and their) property.
Some people !!

Chons da
 
5% of your honey production... that is about the margin of profit most Beefarmer's get after HMRC and all the other parasites have had their cake and icing!

Having this sort of neighbor dispute has probably wiped 25% of the sale value of your ( and their) property.
Some people !!

Chons da

I assume the OP is a hobby beekeeper.

And as you correctly point out, disputes with neighbours HAVE to be reported in searches when selling properties.. So a small payment each year is preferable - as you rightly point out - to a big reduction in price when you come to sell..
 
I assume the OP is a hobby beekeeper.

And as you correctly point out, disputes with neighbours HAVE to be reported in searches when selling properties.. So a small payment each year is preferable - as you rightly point out - to a big reduction in price when you come to sell..

Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer!
 

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