Covenants

[Anonymous]

In a modern world of computers and working from home, how is one to interpretate the covenant "use only as a private residence" in the lease of a flat entered into long ago?
What can I get away with? Carrying on work as a professional consultant, acting as a marriage guidance counsellor, coaching students in spanish, giving clarinet lessons or allowing 2/3 unrelated separate "guests" to occupy separate rooms.

 

[Anonymous]

That's the sort of stuff that usually happens in a private residence, isn't it? Before the industrial revolution, when manufacturing became concentrated in factories, most non-agricultural employment happened within homes. There was period from the late 19th century through the 20th when houses were used primarily for sleeping eating and recreation but future historians will be able to relate how the 21st century saw a return to the blurring between domesticity and industry.

(Don't take this as legal advice <IMG SRC="http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/discussing/smileys/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT=""> )

 

[Anonymous]

Sadly the lawyers tend not to like blurring of anything. While it is not strictly related, my wife's car insurance company now claim that commuting to work is no longer part of the daily "social, domestic and pleasure" that normal car insurance covers and has to be declared as an additional risk. So even if the covenant is happy with teaching Spanish to clarinet-playing divorced lodgers, the insurance company make take another view!

 

[Anonymous]

It's very difficult to say how such a covenant will be interpreted because it depends entirely on the circumstances but generally I think it is a matter of degree. If for example the house were being used as a residence with the occasional music lession given in it then it would be unlikely to be outside the scope of private residence, but if there were pupils coming in every day it may become less of a residence and more of a school. Of course the fundamental thing is that for the covenant to be enforced, someone who has the benefit of the covenant has to both know they have the benefit and be bothered enough to try and enforce it! If the music lessons didn't bother anyone then nothing would happen even though there was technically a breach. However, if one of the neighbours were bothered by even one music lesson they could try and use the covenant to stop you.

In the end the worst thing that can happen under most leases (although this depends on the wording as each lease is different) is that you would be required to stop breaching the covenant. In a worse case you may be required to pay damages but there would be very few cases were there would be a right of forfeiture under the lease for a breach of covenant unless it were very persistent.

It's a long time since I thought about property law so don't take this as gospel!

 

[Anonymous]

There is a covenant on the original deeds of a small terrace house I know that says windows should always be replaced like for like - i.e. wooden sashes.
In the whole street I've counted three houses with wooden sashes, which are almost certainly the originals.