Campervan parking at home

[Mikey RV]

You should have stayed in Devon.

 

[gus-lopez]

You should have stayed in Devon.

& that is where all mine on post #25 occurred

 

[DT]

Been through this, if it states motor caravan then no. Now if any normal neighbour could afford to pursue this then they must be minted. After a complaint from a neighbour and letter from the developer I decided to use secure storage. We have our MH on the drive for a day or two before a trip and a little longer upon return for cleaning etc. when we next move to another property “covenant document please” will be my first words.

 

[Abacist]

Don't really see that clause as fully enforceable by the developers tbh.

Covenants are legally enforceable - trust me! My father got the covenant enforced on his neighbour who thought my parents would sit and take having their caravan blotting out their view and light from their new house!

 

[Simon Meadwell]

We had a new house on estate still being developed when we moved in with covenants re carsvans etc. Parked my high top transit on the drive and in the cul de sac nobody bothered.

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[Nanniemate]

Buyer beware .its was not hidden when I bought mine quite clear in the buyers pack.

It's about the only thing the developers were upfront about.

I would strongly recommend professional snaggers if considering a new build

 

[lorger]

We’ve recently moved house, we did check the burdens (Scotland) first as house is only 20 years old. There was no mention of motorhome although it did mention caravan, trailer and boat, our solicitor pointed it out as she knew we had a mh so we enquired about storage just in case. She also said she’d be confident of winning any complaint even though our new neighbour is a solicitor too. The reason she was confident is they have to prove it’s causing them a burden such as blocking view or light, thankfully they can only see our MH if standing in their driveway and we don’t block any windows, the neighbour on the other side has complimented us on our van. Also as far as I understand it it can only be your direct neighbour that can complain about a burden, I may be wrong but that’s how I understood it.
We also searched google street view over the last 10 years, it shows a boat and trailer 2 doors down and about 3 vans in a 25 house estate.
The last thing id want to do is annoy the neighbours, as others have said if anyone complained without a genuine reason I’d just park it on the street, we’re in a quiet cul de sac so van would be safe until they dropped the complaint. If it was a genuine complaint then I’d look for an amicable solution.

 

[Simon Meadwell]

Buyer beware .its was not hidden when I bought mine quite clear in the buyers pack.

It's about the only thing the developers were upfront about.

I would strongly recommend professional snaggers if considering a new build

I did my own snagging got everything done including a new roof.
Trick is to verbally tell them and email them all faults. Nextdoor but one got nothing done even mortar snots on window cills not cleaned off.

 

[Nanniemate]

I did my own snagging got everything done including a new roof.
Trick is to verbally tell them and email them all faults. Nextdoor but one got nothing done even mortar snots on window cills not cleaned off.

It rook eight years to get the snags done .I didn't let it go as others did .

Charles Church may have flown planes but the developers of the same name wear cowboy boots

 

[Simon Meadwell]

It rook eight years to get the snags done .I didn't let it go as others did .

Charles Church may have flown planes but the developers of the same name wear cowboy boots

i have my own roofing company. A new site built on British Aerospace in Woodford high end mainly around £750k upwards built by redrow . Im never off the site carryingout remrdial work all that should of been snagged. Now the builder wont entertain any repairs.
Even at them prices the work is shoddy.

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[Nanniemate]

i have my own roofing company. A new site built on British Aerospace in Woodford high end mainly around £750k upwards built by redrow . Im never off the site carryingout remrdial work all that should of been snagged. Now the builder wont entertain any repairs.
Even at them prices the work is shoddy.

I did enjoy it when a colleague pulled out of a purchase in Wimbledon because of my issues. That was nearly a million they didn't get from her.

I believe she made it clear that it was due to the issues with my property

 

[SpeedyDux]

There is a similar restrictive covenant on my house. I got the usual cut-and-paste generic advice with caveats, after I asked the solicitors who did my conveyancing if it applied to a campervan and whether it was enforceable, and who had the right to enforce it. Not exactly helpful.

So I did my own research. Research that is specific to the title to my house, and the exact wording of the relevant restrictive covenant. Not to be relied on by other Funsters. I came to some conclusions:

The covenant in my case was badly drafted, the wording is defective, and quite likely to be unenforceable by anyone, unless a Judge could be persuaded to rectify the wording to operate as intended by the original builders. That seemed less likely but could not be ruled out.

If that wording was amended, my neighbours could enforce it and obtain an injunction and damages if I did keep my MH on my drive.

There was nothing to stop me parking it on the street in front of my own house. Or the house of any complaining neighbour.

Even though in theory you can apply to get a restrictive covenant discharged or varied by the Land Tribunal or HM Land Registry, on grounds that it is obsolete and unnecessary, in practice this is very difficult and unlikely to succeed.

The lazy and risk-averse assumption on the part of many lawyers that the word "caravan" in a restrictive covenant must have the same meaning as that provided by the wide definition in section 13 of The Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, is open to challenge. The counter-argument being that the 1960 Act is a specific Planning control Act, with a narrow ambit, and not intended by Parliament to be used in relation to covenants in titles to land which are basically a private matter. There is one reported tax case in support of this argument. Otherwise the point seems to have escaped any reported case in the High Court, that would be an authority that I might rely on. It is still up for grabs (not a legal term, obvs).

I did canvass my neighbours and none of the owner-occupiers seemed to have any objection anyway. Some of the neighbouring properties are BTLs and I assumed that the landlords would not care, and the tenants have no legal standing to take me to court.

10 years later my PVC sits on my drive. Nobody has complained. It hasn't put anyone off buying a house nearby. 3 have changed owners during that period.

 

[Minxy]

We bought a new bungalow in 2006 with the intention of moving there when our place sold (didn't happen so we we rented it out). Anyway, as we were wanting to move there we checked before putting down the reservation fee so knew it had a covenant on about caravans not being parked in front of the property line (it was basically bought off plan with only basic foundations built), as most properties had side drives this wasn't a problem. However ... when we got further into it we discovered that they couldn't confirm that our drive was classed as behind the property line due to it being in the centre of the end of the cul-de-sac, it therefore could be argued that the drive was 'in front' of the bungalow depending on which part you regarded as the front, as the entrance door was looking across the side drive of the adjacent property we naturally regarded it as a 'side' entrance and thus the side facing the drive was the front. Due to this we decided to play safe and paid for a fence to be put up at the far side of the drive thus encompassing it and moving the property line to that fence due to it being 'installed' by the builders prior to us completing on it, if we'd done it afterwards it wouldn't have 'moved' the property line. Had we known from the offset that we weren't going to move there we wouldn't have bothered paying for the fence as there'd have been no need as no-one would be bothered now but at the time at least it solved the issue.

 

[Phill D]

There is a similar restrictive covenant on my house. I got the usual cut-and-paste generic advice with caveats, after I asked the solicitors who did my conveyancing if it applied to a campervan and whether it was enforceable, and who had the right to enforce it. Not exactly helpful.

So I did my own research. Research that is specific to the title to my house, and the exact wording of the relevant restrictive covenant. Not to be relied on by other Funsters. I came to some conclusions:

The covenant in my case was badly drafted, the wording is defective, and quite likely to be unenforceable by anyone, unless a Judge could be persuaded to rectify the wording to operate as intended by the original builders. That seemed less likely but could not be ruled out.

If that wording was amended, my neighbours could enforce it and obtain an injunction and damages if I did keep my MH on my drive.

There was nothing to stop me parking it on the street in front of my own house. Or the house of any complaining neighbour.

Even though in theory you can apply to get a restrictive covenant discharged or varied by the Land Tribunal or HM Land Registry, on grounds that it is obsolete and unnecessary, in practice this is very difficult and unlikely to succeed.

The lazy and risk-averse assumption on the part of many lawyers that the word "caravan" in a restrictive covenant must have the same meaning as that provided by the wide definition in section 13 of The Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, is open to challenge. The counter-argument being that the 1960 Act is a specific Planning control Act, with a narrow ambit, and not intended by Parliament to be used in relation to covenants in titles to land which are basically a private matter. There is one reported tax case in support of this argument. Otherwise the point seems to have escaped any reported case in the High Court, that would be an authority that I might rely on. It is still up for grabs (not a legal term, obvs).

I did canvass my neighbours and none of the owner-occupiers seemed to have any objection anyway. Some of the neighbouring properties are BTLs and I assumed that the landlords would not care, and the tenants have no legal standing to take me to court.

10 years later my PVC sits on my drive. Nobody has complained. It hasn't put anyone off buying a house nearby. 3 have changed owners during that period.

I think the key seems to be canvas neighbours.
Fortunately we did a self build on a private lane and have no such difficulties.

 

[Tigger-Tim]

Good evening. I wonder if anyone on hear has an informed view on the following.
We've bought a brand new house on a development on the Midlands. We have a small car and an AS Kingham.
Looking through the development documents regarding parking in the driveway of my house they state ' No caravan, or house on wheels, or boat, or yacht trailer shall be parked or permitted to stand on the property.'
I am hoping that as the paragraph doesn't not specifically refer to "motorhome' or "campervan" that l will be allowed to park accordingly. I have never in my 10 years of campervan heard them referred to as "House on Wheels" so l am hopeful that title would not include motorhome or campervan and is aimed at something else ie Sheppard's hut or even any such vehicle without independent power?
I want to test the water through MHF before checking with the developers first.
Any thoughts?

Ours is similar. But it also bans aerials and satellite dishes, so pretty much everyone is in breach.

Look to see who can enforce the covenant - and ask yourself if they are likely to care.

I've had my van two years now, and nobody has complained.

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[Dorwyn]

Not quite the same covenant but I was paying a lot of money for an office in central Portsmouth, which had developed concrete rot. I managed to duck out of the threatened fr&I lease cost of a quarter mill by giving up the tenancy, and decided to run a smaller business from home. Had an extension built which cost just a years rent, neighbours complained it was against the covenants. Planning authorities marched into the office like the Gestapo. I had to make someone redundant to fit the council's requirements. Actually, she worked from her home as a freelancer which suited her better. The covenant was forgotten in all of this. Happy days!

 

[poisondwarf]

If you had asked your solicitor he would probably tell you it’s not allowed. Probably it is only likely to be enforced whilst the estate is being built to keep it looking tidy and attractive to house buyers. If your neighbours object if you spoil their view or block out light they will be on to the developer to force you to move it away.

Exactly this.
My daughter bought a brand new house on a new estate that had similar covenant (I think that's that right word) no vans, no commercial vehicles, no caravans, no motorhomes, NO SECOND VEHICLE, no parking on the road.

You should see that estate now!

The estate had been finished for about 5 years. Obviously most families have a second vehicle, caravans are parked on driveways, vans are parked half on pavement and half on the road.

The point is that no one cares about the covenant that is in all of their contracts.
Everyone has moved on with their lives.

 

[Captain Birdseye]

Good evening. I wonder if anyone on hear has an informed view on the following.
We've bought a brand new house on a development on the Midlands. We have a small car and an AS Kingham.
Looking through the development documents regarding parking in the driveway of my house they state ' No caravan, or house on wheels, or boat, or yacht trailer shall be parked or permitted to stand on the property.'
I am hoping that as the paragraph doesn't not specifically refer to "motorhome' or "campervan" that l will be allowed to park accordingly. I have never in my 10 years of campervan heard them referred to as "House on Wheels" so l am hopeful that title would not include motorhome or campervan and is aimed at something else ie Sheppard's hut or even any such vehicle without independent power?
I want to test the water through MHF before checking with the developers first.
Any thoughts?

A motorhome is registered in law as a Motor Caravan. Look at your V5.
The covenant does ban it.
If your solicitor doing the conveyance for you when you bought the property did not inform you of the covenant then you may be able to take action against him/her.

 

[varaizian]

I’d be careful about what you ask. Let sleeping (houses) lie.

We have always live by the principle “don’t ask questions that you might not like the answer to” and it generally works.

 

[SueLH]

We aren’t supposed to have them in front of the building line as I recall but we have our Ducato based campervan down the side of the house behind big gates - might be worth looking in detail at the covenant

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[BouncyBoatFolk]

Brand new house eh, I'll bet you have a long list [or could have] of snagging issues!!
Park the van and then wait and see the outcome, if it is the developers you'll have a direct line to send your list of snags to.
Mike.

 

[DrDeath]

Suggestions re personal liberty are verging on European Court of Human Rights!!
Which is nowt to do with the B word!!

 

[Platelet]

i have my own roofing company. A new site built on British Aerospace in Woodford high end mainly around £750k upwards built by redrow . Im never off the site carryingout remrdial work all that should of been snagged. Now the builder wont entertain any repairs.
Even at them prices the work is shoddy.

It’s a pity the Vulcan isn’t running out of there anymore, it would keep you in business with loose Slates/tiles

 

[The general]

I’d be careful about what you ask. Let sleeping (houses) lie.

Good advice , it’s a covenant different ‘ restrictions ‘ ? I have heard of crazy things like geese ! not allowed

 

[Kelvin Barnett]

Good evening. I wonder if anyone on hear has an informed view on the following.
We've bought a brand new house on a development on the Midlands. We have a small car and an AS Kingham.
Looking through the development documents regarding parking in the driveway of my house they state ' No caravan, or house on wheels, or boat, or yacht trailer shall be parked or permitted to stand on the property.'
I am hoping that as the paragraph doesn't not specifically refer to "motorhome' or "campervan" that l will be allowed to park accordingly. I have never in my 10 years of campervan heard them referred to as "House on Wheels" so l am hopeful that title would not include motorhome or campervan and is aimed at something else ie Sheppard's hut or even any such vehicle without independent power?
I want to test the water through MHF before checking with the developers first.
Any thoughts?

We had the same when we bought our Motorhome, but as it taxed and insured it’s been there 8 yrs, we’ve been here 16 yrs. work vehicles were also included, must be 6 in our development, besides you could be using it to go to the shops, know people that use it as an everyday vehicle

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[Peregrinator]

Good evening. I wonder if anyone on hear has an informed view on the following.
We've bought a brand new house on a development on the Midlands. We have a small car and an AS Kingham.
Looking through the development documents regarding parking in the driveway of my house they state ' No caravan, or house on wheels, or boat, or yacht trailer shall be parked or permitted to stand on the property.'
I am hoping that as the paragraph doesn't not specifically refer to "motorhome' or "campervan" that l will be allowed to park accordingly. I have never in my 10 years of campervan heard them referred to as "House on Wheels" so l am hopeful that title would not include motorhome or campervan and is aimed at something else ie Sheppard's hut or even any such vehicle without independent power?
I want to test the water through MHF before checking with the developers first.
Any thoughts?

Static Vans/homes are house on wheels

 

[sylvester1954]

My development is "no caravans, no work vans, no commercial vehicles". So we've slipped through the net.

I'd take legal advice. House on wheels sounds like it has the intent of covering motorhomes.

Thank you. Some excellent responses on here.

My hope is that the categories listed each one is towed or static and without independent propulsion hence potentially allowing camper and/motorhomes to slip through. Some have said check the V5 and that is a 'motor caravan ' not a caravan , and we all know that is a difference, splitting hairs l know. Of course l will obey if the developer does approach me, ideally we will be back on the road for 3 months before then.
The suggestion by some restrictions will all disappear into the ether once the developer has completed is a possibility of course.

 

[Bcollinson]

If you had asked your solicitor he would probably tell you it’s not allowed. Probably it is only likely to be enforced whilst the estate is being built to keep it looking tidy and attractive to house buyers. If your neighbours object if you spoil their view or block out light they will be on to the developer to force you to move it away.

I agree. They just want to keep it tidy till they sell all the houses. Might not even be a council thing just a covenant between the owner and the developer.

 

[Teetime]

We’ve had new homes in last 15 years. 1 st I asked neighbours and nobody was bothere and 2 years ago we moved to a different part of the country and this covenant was in the deeds
‘Not to park leave or deposit or allow to be parked left or deposited on any part of the Property orthePrivate Drive/Forecourt or Visitor ParkingSpaces any caravan or other house on wheels or boat (except in each case for temporary periods) or any commercial vehicle trailer commercial’
As it states except temporary periods. I’ve had mine parked up with no comeback. As yet

 

[varaizian]

Ou

We’ve had new homes in last 15 years. 1 st I asked neighbours and nobody was bothere and 2 years ago we moved to a different part of the country and this covenant was in the deeds
‘Not to park leave or deposit or allow to be parked left or deposited on any part of the Property orthePrivate Drive/Forecourt or Visitor ParkingSpaces any caravan or other house on wheels or boat (except in each case for temporary periods) or any commercial vehicle trailer commercial’
As it states except temporary periods. I’ve had mine parked up with no comeback. As yet

r son lives on an estate in Cornwall that has open front garden space and a covenant that it must stay that way. He grew tired of other peoples kids taking liberties and fenced it in. Several close neighbours have asked for the details of the fencer, who did a really good job, because they want to do likewise.

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