Issue details

The Council sold 12 Hillside Cottages, Wareside on the 5 March 1984 in accordance with Right to Buy legislation contained in Section 5 of the Housing Act 1980. The conveyance contains a covenant prohibiting the use of the garden for any purpose other than a private garden for the dwelling house. The owners have now applied for consent to relax this covenant in order, subject to obtaining planning consent to erect 2 dwellings for social housing on the land. Following a ruling in 2000 involving Braintree District Council, councils are no longer able to charge a financial consideration for relaxing these covenants and it would only be reasonable to refuse the request to relax the covenant if the Council can demonstrate that it would be detrimental to the remainder of the Council’s surrounding estate to do so. The Council now only has limited land ownership in this village since transferring the housing stock in 2002 so could not demonstrate this. The consent would be subject to obtaining planning consent and only for this particular consent. The Council can recover its professional costs incurred in providing consent and has requested £1,000 to cover the Council's legal and surveyors costs.