Hi All I wonder if anyone can helpl with the following please... I own a large, ex-authority 3 floor victorian house in Vauxhall, London (4/5 bed). Previously, my plan was to live in this house with myself, but ive since had to move to Russia so this is not possible. There is little demand for renting this house out as a whole, and im not able to sell it right now. So, ideally id like to separate it into three self-contained apartments (and i presume any local authority would prefer this to having the property sit empty). However, there is a covenant on the property saying this isn't possible. As such, i think it will require quite a careful negotiation from a planning lawyer with the council to have the covenant lifted. The property is in South Lambeth in London - SW8. Does anyone know a planning lawyer who knows this area, who would have the experience to handle something like this well?

Mike, my only knowledge of this stems from arranging restrictive covenant indemnities for clients years ago. I don't know what rights the local authority has to stop you due to a covenant but I suspect it depends how old the covenant is and who instigated it. It's quite common for restrictive covenants of different types to be applied to properties or land, usually restricting future use. From my experience, assuming it's quite old, the issue is who is around who knows of the existence of the covenant and may seek to apply it. There may be some solicitors out there who have a much better handle on it than me... Huw