Can I park a Motorhome on my drive?

[IanW18]

Before purchasing a motorhome, I have been reviewing the lease agreement for my property. I'm not seeking legal advice, just guidance if you have encountered a similar clause.:

With the object and intent of achieving uniformity of siting design and external appearance on the Estate not to erect or maintain or suffer to be erected or maintained on such part of the Property as is situate between the front and any side building line of the said dwellinghouse and the abutting road or roads any building erection or structure whatsoever whether movable or immovable (other than a porch of and to the said dwellinghouse which shall not protrude more than four feet in front of the said building line) or any gate gatepost wall fence hedge or other partition (particularly not to park any caravan or other house on wheels or movable dwelling or boat either thereon or on the footpath or driveway to the dwellinghouse) and such part of the Property shall at all times during the Term be left open and unbuilt upon and laid out as a garden (but predominantly as a lawn) and kept in a neat and tidy condition and free from...

Does this appear unlikely I can park a motorhome on our drive?

 

[Fdhadi]

Are there any white vans parked on the estate as these were generally included in any covenant.

 

[Puddleduck]

It's not just Leasehold, it applies to Freeholds as well.

We live in a Freehold house built in 1897
The land belonged to a large estate before it was developed.

Our Freehold has clauses that says we are not permitted to:

• Set up any form of butchery business (Not even an on-line one!)
• Not permitted to butcher animals (not even in the privacy of our own living room!)
• Not permitted to sell alcohol or set up any business involving the sale of alcohol.
• Dry washing outside on Sundays.

Our Durham house also said we couldn't have a bingo hall, gambling establishment, sell alcoholic drink or use the property for any immoral purposes.

It had been a Methodist Chapel and school.

 

[Revolvor]

Thank you for your responses.

The original developer transferred the lease to Simarc, who showed a strong interest when our neighbour built an extension, as they required both permission and a sizable fee.

We own a flat where the lease is managed by Simarc. They are a nightmare! They made demands for payments that are not included in our lease. We have spent years arguing and challenging the demands which are made annually. Don't give in to them.

 

[Nanniemate]

Our Durham house also said we couldn't have a bingo hall, gambling establishment, sell alcoholic drink or use the property for any immoral purposes.

It had been a Methodist Chapel and school.

I looked at a Chapel conversion covenant said much the same.

As most of my hobbies are immoral, or expensive ....i didn't offer on it

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[Simon G]

With the object and intent of achieving uniformity of siting design and external appearance on the Estate not to erect or maintain or suffer to be erected or maintained on such part of the Property as is situate between the front and any side building line of the said dwellinghouse and the abutting road or roads any building erection or structure whatsoever whether movable or immovable (other than a porch of and to the said dwellinghouse which shall not protrude more than four feet in front of the said building line) or any gate gatepost wall fence hedge or other partition (particularly not to park any caravan or other house on wheels or movable dwelling or boat either thereon or on the footpath or driveway to the dwellinghouse) and such part of the Property shall at all times during the Term be left open and unbuilt upon and laid out as a garden (but predominantly as a lawn) and kept in a neat and tidy condition and free from...

Does this appear unlikely I can park a motorhome on our drive?

Suggest the important factor is 'building line', so if you can tuck it down the side you're OK, but out front not so much. I've seen such clauses enforced by residents' groups, though in that case the clause neglected to include boats, so no caravans or mohos, but a very scruffy cabin cruiser on a trailer they couldn't shift

 

[Pausim]

I think it is worth remembering that whilst we love our big white boxes (and grey ones) the wider public doesn’t.

Neighbours may politely say to your face they don’t mind them but do they really mean it? If these estate restrictions were unpopular and put most purchasers off developers would not impose them. If tidy estates makes them popular this doesn’t change when the developer has sold all the houses and left. People who live in popular tourist areas pressure their Councillors to impose parking restrictions on motorhomes and caravan sites are often seen as a blot on the landscape. Caravans and motorhomes are (unfairly) blamed for long queues on motorways at holiday times. People overtake motorhomes and then slow down simply because they don’t like following them.

There is plenty of evidence that our pride and joy is not something other people like to look at.

 

[David M]

Under 3.5 tons ok to park on the road over you need lights on at night to be legal

It depends on the road, and that weight doesn’t seem relevant. This is what it says in the Highway Code:

 

[TDub49]

It's not just Leasehold, it applies to Freeholds as well.

We live in a Freehold house built in 1897
The land belonged to a large estate before it was developed.

Our Freehold has clauses that says we are not permitted to:

• Set up any form of butchery business (Not even an on-line one!)
• Not permitted to butcher animals (not even in the privacy of our own living room!)
• Not permitted to sell alcohol or set up any business involving the sale of alcohol.
• Dry washing outside on Sundays.

Blimey. Not really "freehold" then - "you can live here but we'll tell you what you can and cannot do". Only thing in my deeds is a granting of the right of access to the local river - permissive rather than restrictive. Funny things property rights . . . .

 

[Brains]

My fathers former house, also built on the land of an old estate, gave him the right to enter a local Alms-house should he become a widower in poverty.

The Alms House still exists is is open to 12 male widowers of the (former) estate.
So potentially quite a useful bonus clause on the freehold.

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[Gary S]

This is not so, many covenants convey the benefit as well as the burden of the covenant to all purchasers and their successors. It depends on how they were written and the original intention but there are many situations where another resident can enforce a covenant. For instance many open plan estates have covenants written in this way to make sure the open plan appearance is maintained long after the developer has disappeared or gone bust. It is possible that some restrictive covenants were imposed to comply with the requirements of an open plan planning permission.

Guess it depends on how the covenant is written and the developers I was referring to both said it was only them who could enforce it.

I guess the bottom line is whether someone feels strongly enough to spend time and effort trying to enforce a covenant.

 

[Themselves]

We own a flat where the lease is managed by Simarc. They are a nightmare! They made demands for payments that are not included in our lease. We have spent years arguing and challenging the demands which are made annually. Don't give in to them.

My sympathies if you have to deal with the scum that are Simarc. The worst people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.

 

[swemmy666]

It depends on the road, and that weight doesn’t seem relevant. This is what it says in the Highway Code:



View attachment 1033915

248 seems to be nationally ignored, run down any street in a town, and cars will be parked in both directions on both sides(if allowed)

 

[offagen]

With Simarc involved it looks like the chances of parking the motorhome forward of the building line are not good. Are there any penalties written in the lease for not complying with the covenants?

I bought a house to let on a large 70s estate where the covenants prohibited the parking of tradesmen vehicles. I'd say that about 1 in 3 houses had tradesmen vehicles parked. Clearly no enforcement there.

One of the houses I bought in Cornwall had a covenant that the original landowner, and all their successors, retained the right to mine on the land at any time.

 

[gus-lopez]

It's not just Leasehold, it applies to Freeholds as well.

I don't think TDub49 was meaning that but the fact that leasehold used to be only found on rented properties, flats or maisonettes ,whereas freehold was purchased properties. Leasehold on purchased houses was supposed to be banned by the last government,I don't know whether it was? I would never purchase any property where the land it stood on was retained by the scum builders & them wanting "leasehold payments". It is just scamming even more money.

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[Deep Owl]

Our home, built in the 1980s, has a covenant against all “the usual”. We have an AA van parked next door, and a tyre company van 2 doors the other side, and a third further. We park our motorhome for a couple of days when cleaning or preparing and nobody says anything.
Interestingly, our insurance company, Comfort, would charge more for it on our drive than in the Gold CASSOA storage we use, but that is £150/ quarter!

 

[Nanniemate]

Our home, built in the 1980s, has a covenant against all “the usual”. We have an AA van parked next door, and a tyre company van 2 doors the other side, and a third further. We park our motorhome for a couple of days when cleaning or preparing and nobody says anything.
Interestingly, our insurance company, Comfort, would charge more for it on our drive than in the Gold CASSOA storage we use, but that is £150/ quarter!

Dodgy area

 

[sfrain145]

Do any others on the estate have caravans/motorhomes/works vans parked on their drives…..??

The way to get round this is you can use it as your daily and as long as it’s road legal you can park it anywhere as long as it’s not obstructing anyone

 

[CSH]

When I bought my house it had a similar clause and the Solicitor said it is standard wording and had it removed, as I said I would pull out out of the sale if I could not park my van on the drive.

 

[trevor 87]

Before purchasing a motorhome, I have been reviewing the lease agreement for my property. I'm not seeking legal advice, just guidance if you have encountered a similar clause.:

With the object and intent of achieving uniformity of siting design and external appearance on the Estate not to erect or maintain or suffer to be erected or maintained on such part of the Property as is situate between the front and any side building line of the said dwellinghouse and the abutting road or roads any building erection or structure whatsoever whether movable or immovable (other than a porch of and to the said dwellinghouse which shall not protrude more than four feet in front of the said building line) or any gate gatepost wall fence hedge or other partition (particularly not to park any caravan or other house on wheels or movable dwelling or boat either thereon or on the footpath or driveway to the dwellinghouse) and such part of the Property shall at all times during the Term be left open and unbuilt upon and laid out as a garden (but predominantly as a lawn) and kept in a neat and tidy condition and free from...

Does this appear unlikely I can park a motorhome on our drive?

As your only leasing the property you would definitely need to ask the permission from the landlord

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[Ray R]

Before purchasing a motorhome, I have been reviewing the lease agreement for my property. I'm not seeking legal advice, just guidance if you have encountered a similar clause.:

With the object and intent of achieving uniformity of siting design and external appearance on the Estate not to erect or maintain or suffer to be erected or maintained on such part of the Property as is situate between the front and any side building line of the said dwellinghouse and the abutting road or roads any building erection or structure whatsoever whether movable or immovable (other than a porch of and to the said dwellinghouse which shall not protrude more than four feet in front of the said building line) or any gate gatepost wall fence hedge or other partition (particularly not to park any caravan or other house on wheels or movable dwelling or boat either thereon or on the footpath or driveway to the dwellinghouse) and such part of the Property shall at all times during the Term be left open and unbuilt upon and laid out as a garden (but predominantly as a lawn) and kept in a neat and tidy condition and free from...

Does this appear unlikely I can park a motorhome on our drive?

My motorhome sits in my drive slonside my garage and has its own charging point when not in use never had a complaint so far and it’d been there since December 2017

 

[lorger]

I’m sure someone on here challenged the covenants and won due to MH not being a caravan, may be worth searching to see if you can find the thread.

 

[Emmit]

Under 3.5 tons ok to park on the road over you need lights on at night to be legal

I know we're a motorhome forum but that +3.5t reduces to 2t if it's a goods vehicle.
Road Lighting regs are (were) a mess.

 

[our poppy llll]

My property is freehold, it had a restrictive covenant on the deeds, fortunately it also had a foot note clause that said the restriction of parking motorhomes, caravans, boats and trailers or any leisure vehicle other than a motorcar ends 5 years after the last property is sold on the development. That was 2003 ending 2008. We bought 2009 started parking the Moho on the drive 2019. (The first one we had in 2014 was too big to fit on the drive) where I parked did restrict my neighbours view, but this last week we found out why they didn’t seem too concerned.
In order to stop him driving his car into our wall separating our front gardens, I took 1metre off the wall and tidied up the area of where our two drives met, he can now drive up his driveway and park at the side of his garage, he’s cleared 7 metres x 2.5 metres of his lawn, put down gravel and I was scratching my head wondering why! Guess what, he just bought last weekend a motorhome, having liked ours and really liked the one we are getting in may. He’s joining mohofun. Be gentle with him, he’s a newbie.. so good neighbours are great!.

 

[Rozzer]

I would, as suggested ring an alternative storage as a back-up, check with neighbours you know the park up and see what happens! Probable that lots of other householders don’t know about the covenant and most that know don’t give a damn! Covenant applies where we live and not heard a peep from anybody.

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[pandas]

Outside of any covenants the most important thing is to be neighbourly.

 

[flyingautosleeper]

It might be worth a telephone call to your local solicitor - apparently you can set up a covenant dispute policy to insure against any future objections from neighbours or landowners resulting in associated legal costs. The motorhome owner who told me about this said it cost him about £300 some 5 years ago, and it lasts as long as you live at the property.
Although I pay for storage on a local farm I often keep my motorhome at home for a few weeks at a time, but I did engage with my neighbours beforehand.

 

[Buddy1012]

Before purchasing a motorhome, I have been reviewing the lease agreement for my property. I'm not seeking legal advice, just guidance if you have encountered a similar clause.:

With the object and intent of achieving uniformity of siting design and external appearance on the Estate not to erect or maintain or suffer to be erected or maintained on such part of the Property as is situate between the front and any side building line of the said dwellinghouse and the abutting road or roads any building erection or structure whatsoever whether movable or immovable (other than a porch of and to the said dwellinghouse which shall not protrude more than four feet in front of the said building line) or any gate gatepost wall fence hedge or other partition (particularly not to park any caravan or other house on wheels or movable dwelling or boat either thereon or on the footpath or driveway to the dwellinghouse) and such part of the Property shall at all times during the Term be left open and unbuilt upon and laid out as a garden (but predominantly as a lawn) and kept in a neat and tidy condition and free from...

Does this appear unlikely I can park a motorhome on our drive?

See my post Dec 16 2024 ‘Restrictive Covenant Breach?’ You may find it to be helpful in guiding you to a decision.

 

[Fun with Arni]

You can always park it on the road outside your house, can’t see the sense in stopping driveway parking!

Sadly not so as I was going to move to a new build on a new estate and they don't allow white vans, vans with signage nor caravans or Motorhomes.

 

[Anneg]

Can you not park it as 'your vehicle for social domestic and pleasure use' on the road outside? Appreciate you might want to park it on your drive. Our drive opens on to the A487 between St Davids and Fishguard, and whilst there is no restriction that I know of I don't think I'd like to park our MH there with the speed of traffic!

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[Emmit]

Can you not park it as 'your vehicle for social domestic and pleasure use' on the road outside? Appreciate you might want to park it on your drive. Our drive opens on to the A487 between St Davids and Fishguard, and whilst there is no restriction that I know of I don't think I'd like to park our MH there with the speed of traffic!

The L*** giveth and He taketh away.

Insurance Co.'s are reluctant to insure motorhomes parked on roads outside one's (or even your mates) house on a permanent basis.