Covenant on barns PLEASE HELP

[Missymoo]

We have been renting some land for about 3 years now on a business farm tenancy. Up until now we have never herd of any covenant that is apparently on the barns.
Apparently a covenant was put on the barns some 30 years ago for the guy who lives next door for there to never be pigs or poultry to be put in the barns, or any intensive farming to happen.
it doesn’t say that in our contract.
These barns are in very poor condition and cattle could never be put in them, so they are wasted.
We had no idea of this so we have bought some pigs (8 of them) and now we have been made aware of it. They are saying we have to remove them and put them outside but we have no shelter or pig arks for them to go outside.
iv been doing some research and surly because we are operating as a Business we could get around it with the competition law?
Does anyone have any advise please anything would be greatly appreciated, thankyou

 

[Overby]

Ask for proof of said covenant. If it's there it will be in the deeds. Ask whoever you're renting from.

 

[Bongodog]

The only way a property would normally have a covenant in favour of a neighbour is if the neighbour originally owned the property. The seller would put it on to protect the value of the retained property.
Who has informed you of said covenant ? if its the owner, ask for a rent reduction as they didn't divulge it when you took the tenancy, if its the neighbour ask for a copy of it and then go back to the owner and ask for a rent reduction !!
As for the idea of competition law being on your side, there is zero chance unless you and the neighbour control more than 30% of the UK pork supply.

 

[delilah]

If it can't be resolved nicely, tell the neighbour you will get a pig ark and put it right up against his boundary unless he stops being a d**k.
edit: sorry see that has been suggested - you've more threads than pigs lol.

 

[Still Farming]

You got a few threads going on it now,?

Buildings with a covenant

The straw is worth more than the pigs!

thefarmingforum.co.uk

 

[rhsmyth]

It will simply cost you more than it is worth to fight it. Anyone can agree a covenant, it is really only an agreement between two parties however is attached to the land. The covenant is therefore property law and competition law is not relevant.

There is plenty of caselaw how to enforce or ignore covenants but generally it comes down to who has the deepest pockets.

Who has informed you of the covenant? Are they confusing it with the planning system? If it is virtual pub talk, ignore it. If it is the neighbour in an expensive house take heed. A quick land reg search (£3) will give you the evidence.

I am sure your landlord doesn’t want a dispute with his neighbour either.

 

[James Cameron]

We have been renting some land for about 3 years now on a business farm tenancy. Up until now we have never herd of any covenant that is apparently on the barns.
Apparently a covenant was put on the barns some 30 years ago for the guy who lives next door for there to never be pigs or poultry to be put in the barns, or any intensive farming to happen.
it doesn’t say that in our contract.
These barns are in very poor condition and cattle could never be put in them, so they are wasted.
We had no idea of this so we have bought some pigs (8 of them) and now we have been made aware of it. They are saying we have to remove them and put them outside but we have no shelter or pig arks for them to go outside.
iv been doing some research and surly because we are operating as a Business we could get around it with the competition law?
Does anyone have any advise please anything would be greatly appreciated, thankyou

Whereabouts are you in the UK?

 

[Porkchops57]

its easier to apologies than to ask for permission

 

[ollie989898]

Can someone explain to me, how are covenants enforced and by whom?

I mean if I put pigs in a shed, who is gonna stop me? The shed police or the pig police?

 

[Kidds]

Can someone explain to me, how are covenants enforced and by whom?

I mean if I put pigs in a shed, who is gonna stop me? The shed police or the pig police?

Usually it would be whoever benefits from the covenant, in the case of the OP it is the neighbour.
They complain if there is someone to complain to (landlord) or take the offender to court if not. The covenant is written in the deeds or contract for the property and will hold weight in court. The costs are likely to be borne by whoever loses the case.

 

[Goweresque]

Surely in this scenario the landlord is the one who has a problem, not the OP? If the FBT does not preclude the use of the buildings for intensive livestock, then the OP is entirely free to use the land and buildings she is renting in any way the rental agreement allows. The landlord on the other hand has signed a rental agreement that allows his tenant to breach the covenant he has agreed to abide by, and thus is liable should the neighbour sue for breach of the covenant. So the problem is his, caused by his omission of the terms of the covenant from the FBT.

In the circumstances, assuming there is no clause in the FBT that allows the landlord to unilaterally end it, one would expect the landlord to have to approach the tenant with a proposal to amend the FBT to prohibit the use of the buildings for intensive livestock, in return for which the tenant would be offered something in return, maybe a lower rent or an extended FBT period for example. Obviously the tenant could stand on legalities and refuse to amend the FBT, in which case the landlord can't do much as long as the tenant keeps up all their side of the FBT (pays rent on time etc etc). But of course there would be zero likelihood of any subsequent FBT after such a bust up, so it would probably be in the tenants interest to agree something in order to get continued use of the land.

 

[mo!]

Can someone explain to me, how are covenants enforced and by whom?

I mean if I put pigs in a shed, who is gonna stop me? The shed police or the pig police?

Whovever "benefits" from the covenant. So they would start by getting their solicitor to send a threatening letter and follow that up with a court injunction.

So ultimately the Court, which can send you to jail.

 

[Forkdriver]

It may not come to an injunction, but could result in paying compensation if you have done something in breach of a covenant. The complainant will have to provide the court with evidence, so they should let you have a copy to prevent a lot of hassle down the line. The courts do not look kindly on people who withhold information.

 

[True North]

Try having a look on Land registry, costs £3.50 and you get a condensed version of deeds on a PDF. Very iseful for covenents, it should be mentioned but it will be in more detail in original docs.

It seems WILD that this is an actual farm building, prevented from farming by a covenent, so i'd check it out with landowner.