Hi guys,
Found a great, cheap little property out in the South East of Melbourne. (Pakenham)
Everything is great… block around 800sqm… although there is the dreaded “Single Dwelling Covenant” on the Section 32.
I’ve spoken to the Real Estate agent and while i think he is trying to sell me the house… he has said that the council is acting favourably now to appealing or subdividing on blocks with these covenants.
Anyway… to make it even more confusing, houses down the road – literally 10-20 houses away… have clear new, subdivisions on them.
In fact… the adjoining street to the one i’m looking at, has about 6 houses on it with sub divisions on it?
So anyone have any ideas about this? Stay away or pursue.
Waiting to hear from council…. but i’m a bit hesistant.
Wouldnt be looking to sub divide on it for at least 2-3 years at a minimum anyway!
ThanksTalk to the council. They obviously won't give you a guarantee, but they should be able to indicate their willingness to let people sub-divide these properties.
Hi there – thanks for the advice. I spoke to the Cardinia Shire and yeah, that was more or less their response. No we can’t give you any garantee, but we can other things happening in the area, we’re promoting development and yours would need to be appealed. So in short – its not something we’re looking at doing for 3 years minimum, but this place would have been an absolute killer if that covenant wasn’t on it. Its a good property regardles… but yeah, just wish it wasn’t there. In fact – the Cardinia Shire have been pretty pleasent to deal with – despite them giving me a definitive answer!
The council rarely "owns" a covenant. In order to have a covenant removed, the beneficiaries of the covenant must agree to its removal. There are, in essence, three ways to have a covenant removed, and one of these methods is by making a planning application to the municipal authority (council) to have the covenant removed and/or to develop the property.
The council has little say in this; if the beneficiary objects to the application the council will refuse the application.
Some covenants are simpler than others to remove. Talk to a town planner.
I too am in the same situation, have found what i believe to be an awesome deal, but looking through the section 32 there is a single dwelling covenant on it dating back to 1949. Surely this man would be long dead,but doesn't seem an easy process to have it removed…. By the way your site is very impressive Christian!
Solomon,
Thanks for the kind words about our site.
It's not an easy process to get a covenant removed, but there is sometimes ambiguous wording that can make the process much simpler. If you think it's an awesome opportunity it may be worthwhile to have someone check the covenant for you.
I was thinking the same,although this covenant takes in about 25 other houses… The owner at the time in 1949 upon selling placed the covenant over the entire block of his which he had divided in 25-30 blocks, all with the single dwelling rule. I think it would only take one greenie who is in current residence in one these properties to complain about development and the whole thing would be rejected. Have done some investigating on the gov websites, whether it was supreme court or vcat a rejection looks likely. Other option is to purchase,then build an impressive single residence,as it is a nice area.
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