convenants

[SimonFisher]

woodlands.co.uk ask you to enter into a convenant, which states in the first line

NOT do any rough or game shooting or pest control at times or in a manner constituting a nuisance or danger to any neighbour

so is this carved in stone??? or can this be re-worded as surely woodland owners need to carry out pest control, ie grey squirrel or rabbit, even deer in some cases, and not always alone,

I'd be surprised if it were negotiable, especially if neighbouring plots are subject to the same covenant. I don't think it's meant to stop you carrying out pest control - more to make sure you don't cause problems to your neighbours.

[Jackdaw]

I was interested in the adjoining section of woodland that's next to mine, was up for sale a few months back.
Within the legal pack was a 999 years lease and restrictions with regard mineral rights etc. I think it was owned by a trust who, understandable, wanted it to remain as it was.
Decided against as I wasn't prepared to be restricted by anyone or anything, however insignificant .
Maybe I'm a little spoilt as the woodland I own has me and only me who decides its destiny.
But then again, I just know my son will flog it a buy a Ferrari when the time comes, bloody kids !!!!!.
Good luck with your quest.

[Alex]

Would probably pay to be dishonest, buy the woodlands, promise not to shoot and chose your days carefully when to do pest control.

I can't stand stupid restrictions put on what you can and can't do on your own land. Do as you like, I say. If you have paid money for something, you have the rights to do as you please, within reason of course!

[splodger]

another good place to search for woods etc are estate agents with auction porfolios - there are some gems out there - many plots fail to make the reserve as they are no bid on - these are perfect to do a good deal on

[jennysmate]

One of the reasons I bought my wood (through woodlands.co) was for peace and quiet.
I see these covenants as a positive thing. For instance a man was put off buying the wood adjacent to mine because he wouldnt be alowed to let his boys race around it on off road motorbikes.
From what you say, the occasional pot shot at a squirrel or 2 would not cause a nuisance and therefore would not break the covenant. Speak to simon feltham at woodlands, he'll explain it better.

[SimonFisher]

Why not get in touch with Woodlands.co.uk and ask what you would and wouldn't be permitted to do? Simon Feltham, the contact for that wood, is quite a reasonable and approachable chap!

[SimonFisher]

A covenant and rights are as far as I know quite different things.

When a sale states that shooting rights are included, it means they haven't been previously separated from the land and sold as a separate entity. A comparable situation exists with mineral rights (the right to mine and extract sub-surface minerals). For example, we own the freehold to our woods. We do not own the mineral rights as they were separated from the land a good few years ago and are now owned by The Church Commissioners. I don't think it means they have the right to come onto our property and start digging, but those minerals are theirs and not ours. I do know that the entries on the Land Registry for the freehold title of our woods make reference to the fact that the mineral rights are held under a separate title. As far as I'm aware, the shooting rights for our woods have not been separated from the freehold title - so we have shooting rights.

A covenant is a requirement or restriction placed on a piece of land by someone selling the land. It may have been a sale at a previous time in which case the covenants have to be passed on. Covenants can cover all manner of things. For example, the land on which my home stands has a covenant stipulating the minimum distance from the front of the property that a building can be built.

Going back to our woods, they are part of a bigger wood that was bought by Woodlands.co.uk and divided into smaller separate titles. They placed covenants on those titles restricting certain activities. We didn't buy from Woodlands.co.uk as there have been other owners in the timeline. The covenants still stand and as far as I know, the people we bought from would not have been able to remove those covenants even if they'd wanted.