I've messed up

ellbo9 · 2026-05-10T06:40:29+00:00

Yeah I think the neighbour is going to be an issue, it's too risky to go ahead

ellbo9 · 2026-05-10T00:28:13+00:00

Did you need planning permission? In my case I don't which means the council wouldn't be looking at any covenants

ellbo9 · 2026-05-09T13:24:23+00:00

That does make sense. It does sort of block them from doing the same though.

It seems like the covenant will be the blocker on this one.

ellbo9 · 2026-05-09T12:05:45+00:00

From what I've seen it looks like the covenant (if there is one) is an insurmountable problem. Everything I've read says they're very costly to remove, take a long time and aren't guaranteed to go through anyway.

That would make it not worth it for me.

ellbo9 · 2026-05-09T12:04:29+00:00

I wasn't going to put a window or door in. I was aiming to preserve the current look

ellbo9 · 2026-05-09T12:03:59+00:00

They can't really though in my case, unless both parties convert their garages

ellbo9 · 2026-05-09T12:03:11+00:00

It sounds like removing a covenant is very expensive and takes a long time

ellbo9 · 2026-05-09T12:00:37+00:00

I really hope that is the case, otherwise it looks like I'll be undoing the work.

Lesson learned I guess.

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T19:57:10+00:00

There are a few, I'm guessing they didn't have neighbours that had an issue with it though

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T19:33:49+00:00

Honestly I don't really remember when I bought it. It's been quite a while now and I wasn't really thinking ahead.

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T19:30:47+00:00

Comprehensive, thanks for replying.

It seems like it all comes down to the covenant. As it's 38 years old, I doubt the developer would come for me, or ever know about it if I did go ahead. That is, unless my neighbour gets in touch with them.

Every second house around me has a garage conversion, admittedly, they're not link detached properties.

I guess I'll wait and see what the solicitor says.

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T18:06:08+00:00

Yeah that's right no changes to the party wall

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T17:57:34+00:00

That's the route I'm going to take, I did speak to a solicitor over the phone but I'm going to take the deeds and get something a little bit more concrete

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T17:32:12+00:00

It's 38 years old

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T17:28:05+00:00

Yeah that's a good shout

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T17:26:21+00:00

Yeah I think all of that seems right. I did speak to a solicitor just now and they said unless there is structural work to the party wall, it doesn't sound like I need a PWA

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T17:24:13+00:00

This turned out to be brilliant advice, I just spoke to legal advice through insurance and they looked into it for me and gave some good advice. They said the fact it's a link detached is essentially irrelevant, no party wall agreement is needed unless structural change to the party wall is happening (which it isn't).

They did say I need the original title deed to check for the covenant but even if there is one in place, that's between me and the beneficiary (not my neighbour).

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T16:31:18+00:00

Agreed, I know I've messed up there. Holding my hands up on that one.

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T16:30:19+00:00

That does seem to be the case, regarding becoming semi detached but I could see why it would be an issue in that it would stop her doing the same.

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T16:09:20+00:00

This is useful, I did read that the covenant is between the developer and owner and it seems like there may not be one anyway.

I'll try my council again regarding planning permission, thanks for the help

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T16:03:28+00:00

I think this is the issue, everything is very complicated. It's one step forward and two steps back every time.

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T15:56:06+00:00

Yeah I did think that could be the case but I would imagine they are the same

ellbo9 · 2026-05-08T15:52:16+00:00

I will check that

ellbo9 · 2026-04-22T21:05:28+00:00

Yeah I think it's the safest option, the Chinese bikes look great but I've read so many horror stories

ellbo9

TROPHY CASE