Is a motorhome a caravan?

[SpeedyDux]

At last, a reported case where the English Court decided this point. Why is it important to us? Because until now, if your home is subject to an old restrictive covenant in the title deeds that prohibits keeping a caravan on your property, the widely held assumption was that "caravan" also includes motorhome or campervan.

That assumption was based on the statutory definition of ‘caravan’ in section 29(1) of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960.

"In this part of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires –

...‘caravan’ means any structure designed or adapted for human habitation
which is capable of being moved from one place to another (whether by
being towed, or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer) and
any motor vehicle so designed or adapted, but does not include –

(a) any railway rolling stock which is for the time being on rails
forming part of a railway system, or
(b) any tent.”

The Upper Tribunal's judgment at paragraph 42 states that the definition of ‘caravan’ in the 1960 Act is a definition for the purposes of that Act and no other. In other words, it only applies to the licensing and control of caravan sites. As matters of both fact and law the word caravan does not automatically include motorhome or campervan for the purposes of VAT legislation, and presumably other legal matters including the interpretation of 'caravan' in restrictive covenants.

OK, it is a VAT appeal case decided in the Upper Tribunal but in my opinion such a clear judgment by Judge Newey is going to be respected by lawyers and likely to be treated as good authority on this point of statutory interpretation, in the context of enforcement of restrictive covenants. Naturally, every covenant depends on its own wording, and they vary a lot. However, the covenants that only include caravans, and fail to mention motorhomes or other similar vehicles designed or adapted for human habitation, should be interpreted in the light of this decision.

I am grateful to a poster on a different forum for drawing my attention to this 2017 case report. As far as I am aware it has not been appealed.

See: https://www.gov.uk/tax-and-chancery...for-hm-revenue-and-customs-2017-ukut-0027-tcc

 

[EuroTrotters]

My covenant says caravan or home on wheels

 

[Carpmart]

My covenant says caravan or home on wheels

As does mine, but irrespective of the wording, I’ve ignored it for the last 22 years…

 

[DuxDeluxe]

No such covenant on my place, which is nice as it is going to occupy the front garden. There was one on the previous one but everyone ignored it

 

[Tigger-Tim]

If the neighbours start being difficult, I can point out that their TV aerial and dish are also in contravention.

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[Cheshirecat57]

I have asked this before, does anyone know ANYONE, who knows ANYONE who knows ANYONE, who has been forced by a court enforcing a covenant to remove a caravan or motorhome from their house?

 

[34127]

A while back I was thinking about buying a new build house which had a covenant stopping me from parking my Campervan. I spoke to my solicitor about this who used to work for the builder of the new properties. His opinion was that the covenants are put there to make it easier to sell the new properties so any potential buyer wouldn't see motor homes or caravans all over the place and once the properties were sold then the builder didn't care about it. On one of the new build sites after all the properties were sold someone started to park a caravan. One of the other house owners complained to the builder and insisted that they enforce the covenant to stop the caravan being parked. The builder looked at the legal issues and it was concluded that enforcing the covenant was to the benefit of the person who complaint and therefore it was the complainant who had to go to court to get the covenant enforced and not the builder. This can be a very expensive process so the complainant did nothing about it.

 

[Clivefog]

I was looking at a new build which had gates in line with the front of the house and a garage beyond the rear. As I was showing great interest in the gates the agent asked what was I looking at, oh says I just looking how to remove them to get my then folding camper in. No says she there is a covenant on the property that no caravan/motorhome/trailer are to be parked on the property. We walked away and bought a proper build 1930s house.

 

[Devon Sue]

When I sold my mum's bungalow back in 2016 there was a covenant that said that the boundary with the adjoining land had to be maintained stockproof. The purchasers solicitor came back to me with a query whether this covenant had been complied with. My solicitor was reluctant to quote my response verbatim.
The bungalow was bounded on three sides by roads, and on the fourth side by a neighbouring bungalow. It was the bungalows on the other side of the road that backed onto the field but when the whole development was built the same covenant had been applied to all properties, whether relevant or not. Any solicitor worth his salt would have looked at the plan of the property in question and realised that it was a ridiculous question to ask.

 

[Tykatem]

When we were looking to buy the bungalow we now have (18 months ago) Knowing that there was a covenant in place, I asked the developer if this could be waivered as we would not be interested in purchasing if we could not park our motorhome there. They said they had no objections and would seek legal advice from their solicitors.
Within a couple of weeks I received a letter from the developer giving us written consent from their solicitors to park our motorhome in a designated place (agreed by us) on the driveway. We went ahead and purchased soon after that.

Pete

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[SpeedyDux]

My covenant says caravan or home on wheels

The judgment deals with this kind of wording. A home on wheels is pretty much covered by the definition of caravan in the Oxford English Dictionary which includes "a house on wheels". The key distinction is that it isn't a vehicle. (Neither is a caravan fitted with motor movers. Fifth wheelers? Probably also caravans but maybe there needs to be another test case to clear up any grey areas like this.)

 

[reckless]

My covenant says caravan or home on wheels

Ours is slightly different "caravan on wheels" but its good to have it clarified, ammunition if anyone gets difficult (nobody has yet).

 

[Pausim]

An interesting case but worth remembering that in civil matters a Court can look at the intention of the covenant.

 

[gus-lopez]

I was looking at a new build which had gates in line with the front of the house and a garage beyond the rear. As I was showing great interest in the gates the agent asked what was I looking at, oh says I just looking how to remove them to get my then folding camper in. No says she there is a covenant on the property that no caravan/motorhome/trailer are to be parked on the property. We walked away and bought a proper build 1930s house.

The last house we bought off plan at the start of a build my mate wanted to buy along the road from me. Barratt's refused outright to even take a deposit when they asked where he proposed to park his transit & he said on thedrive by the side of the double garages.

 

[gpat]

Such covenants are widely known to be hard to enforce. Best thing to do is ignore them. What's the worst that can happen

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[gpat]

The last house we bought off plan at the start of a build my mate wanted to buy along the road from me. Barratt's refused outright to even take a deposit when they asked where he proposed to park his transit & he said on thedrive by the side of the double garages.

Once Barratts have sold all the houses though, they wouldn't give a t**s anymore

 

[Pausim]

Once Barratts have sold all the houses though, they wouldn't give a t**s anymore

True but these covenants are usually phrased to pass the benefit and the obligations to all purchasers, not just the builder. Taking legal action is expensive but there may be many neighbours sharing the cost v one individual. The easy answer is don’t buy a house if you don’t want to comply with what you are signing up to.

 

[Brains]

After a visit to Austria my father installed window boxes with geraniums in them on all the front windows of a house we lived in.

I think they lasted about 48 hours before the solicitors letter arrived reminding him of the covenant that covered the entire estate that forbade any alterations to the front of the houses or any plants over 2 feet high.

 

[SpeedyDux]

An interesting case but worth remembering that in civil matters a Court can look at the intention of the covenant.

If you are interested, a good case in the Court of Appeal that includes the question of interpretation of the wording of a restrictive covenant affecting freehold land is Cherrytree Investments Ltd v Landmain Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 736. Normally the Court should look only at the registered document and interpret it, instead of construing it as a whole with other extrinsic documents or collateral agreements, which otherwise amount to background material. The rules of interpretation are similar to those applying to any other contract. That includes resolving ambiguity against the party seeking to enforce a negative obligation.

 

[pappajohn]

Says MOTOR CARAVAN on the V5 so by definition it's a CARAVAN.

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[Hoovie]

I had a house that was built in 1940. There was a covenant on it that stipulated something like Caravans were not allowed to be parked on the property UNLESS the owner was a Doctor
Always found that funny, but at the same time while I didn't have a caravan, IF I did I would have ignored that as irrelevent.


Now going back to the actual question ... Is a Motorhome a Caravan? Don't know (and don't really care. Just semantics. think we all really know the answer) but this parking sign I took a photo of earlier this week would make those who worry about such things have their head implode with the Catch 22 situation....

Mobile Homes only. No Caravans (I always think of a 'Mobile Home' as one of those semi-static caravans rather than a Motor Home, which I am guessing is what they meant).

 

[Podney]

Yes,in this situation,it is.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Ours is slightly different "caravan on wheels" but its good to have it clarified, ammunition if anyone gets difficult (nobody has yet).

We had issues. With and ex motorhomes/caravanner who turned green eyed.

 

[dalspa]

Up until last October we lived in a house that had a covenant saying no parking of caravans. We lived there for 23 years and for the last 15 years we parked a motorhome on the driveway. The house was on a plot sold by the Grammar School over the road who we thought had had the clause added. Initially we half expected to get a letter about it. Fortunately we never had any complaint about the parking. Being taxed for the road we would have been in the right to have parked the motorhome on the road outside, should the covenant have been enforced, which would have caused gridlock at school start and finish times. Not that we would have chanced it as cars (often sixth formers) regularly had wing mirrors broken off. No problem now as we have moved to a bungalow in a village with a big front parking area on which we could easily get 3 or 4 vans parked, but fortunately, not big enough for 5 vans .

 

[Otter Spotter]

Interesting how ‘Van with Windows’ the DVLA default V5 title for a PVC would be treated by these covenants

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[The Cruisers]

Just asking ……. What’s the difference between a motorhome and a camper van?

 

[Vipar]

Spelt differently

 

[Otter Spotter]

Just asking ……. What’s the difference between a motorhome and a camper van?

can of worms, I would say Motorhome has built in toilet, campervan may just have a porta potti, but I am sure there are bigger sages than me who will advise

 

[Puddleduck]

Just asking ……. What’s the difference between a motorhome and a camper van?

Well we sometimes call our motor caravan (as it says on the V5) a van or a camper.

The difference may well be what the person referring to the vehicle decides the difference is!

 

[The Cruisers]

A friend has just bought a 2002 Bessacar E3550 and the dealer told him it’s a Motorhome not a Campervan because it has a toilet inside. I’ve not heard that definition before.

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