If the WRA Committee identifies a potential breach of the covenants, it will seek to resolve the issue through discussion with the owner of the property concerned. In all cases since the creation of the WRA, these negotiations have been successful in avoiding a breach. They have generally involved taking legal and other professional advice and thus entailed some costs.
If negotiations are not successful, then a court injunction is required to prevent or halt any action which constitutes a breach.
As explained in the Legal Background page, any resident who benefits from the covenants can take legal steps to enforce them. The WRA Committee as a body is not party to the covenants so cannot itself initiate court action but individual committee members may do so.
If it appears possible that court action will be necessary, the Committee will advise residents of the threatened breach, providing as much information as practical on the background, the development involved and any legal advice we have received. (We do not advise residents of any details of possible breaches while negotiations are taking place to resolve them, since we have found that confidentiality is essential to satisfactory resolution.)
Residents may then wish to form an action group to pursue legal action and raise additional funding as necessary. This is the process followed, for example, during the Westwood case described on the Legal Background page.
The WRA Committee will provide communication and coordination as required to support residents, although it cannot itself be a party to any action.
In the Westwood case, which took place before the WRA existed and helped lead to its creation, support was sought from all residents of the Estate. Some 70 households entered into financial undertakings to bear a share of the costs and a further 30 signed letters of support.
A detailed statement by the WRA Committee on funding legal action to prevent a covenant breach is available here.