Two recent court rulings suggest B.C. homeowners may have a tough time citing decades-old land title covenants when challenging densification of their neighbourhoods.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled that a covenant registered in the late 1950s on the land titles of about 200 properties in Squamish is obsolete and should be cancelled. The covenant prohibited the construction of anything other than a single-family residence.
In another B.C. Supreme Court case, a judge changed the language of a covenant registered on a set of residential properties in Nanaimo since the late 1970s. He dropped a phrase that specifies dwellings will be “for not more than one family” because the restriction “is “inherently vague and uncertain.”
The cases come as some homeowners have been going to court to prevent the building of multi-unit housing, citing restrictive covenants.
The province has said its legislation requiring municipalities to allow multi-unit housing on all residential lots does not override these restrictive covenants. It has repeatedly told property owners to seek legal advice.
The covenants, registered by original builders or developers looking to market the homes, bind many homeowners in perpetuity since most do not have expiry dates.
https://www.timescol...courts-10916587
Dean Park and Broadmead here have covenants.
Broadmead properties have statutory building scheme restrictions which limit homes to single-family use only and these generally prohibit the secondary rental suites They also prohibit parking RVs on driveways.
Almost all properties in the Broadmead area have pre-existing statutory building schemes on title that prohibit more than one dwelling unit (for one family or household) on any property. While Saanich will issue a building permit for garden suites (after providing a simple warning to applicants to check their title to ensure such suites are allowed), if a building scheme restriction is on title, landowners building such structures – even if they have a Saanich-issued building permit — leave themselves open to possible legal action from neighbours in the same building scheme.
https://broadmead.ca/real-estate/
SECONDARY SUITES ARE NOT ALLOWED IN DEAN PARK ESTATES –
Update on December 2019:
It has become clear that there is still some confusion on the part of residents and of local real estate agents about whether rental suites are allowed in Dean Park Estates.
Secondary suites are NOT allowed in Dean Park Estates. All 782 properties in Dean Park Estates have restrictive covenants known as the Schedule of Restrictions registered against the title of the properties. The covenants designate that the only permitted use is as a single family residence. The full Schedule of Restrictions in available on DPECA’s website on the links above.
Clause #7 states:
“…no building shall be used for any purpose other than that of a single family residence. In particular, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, no building shall be used at any time for the purpose of any profession, trade, vocation, commercial enterprise of any description, nor as a hospital, charitable, religious or educational institution, apartment, boarding or lodging house”.
In Dean Park Estates et al. v. Taylor et al., 2005 BCSC 729, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that the Dean Park Estates Schedule of Restrictions prevails over all other municipal or provincial legislation. Therefore, even though North Saanich District council policy allows secondary suites which meet their requirements in most areas of North Saanich, this does not overrule the Dean Park Estates Schedule of Restrictions.
https://www.dpeca.ca...f-restrictions/
Edited by Victoria Watcher, 09 July 2025 - 12:06 AM.
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