Our covenants

Path on Watlington Hill, Buckinghamshire | © National Trust Images/Hugh Mothersole

As well as the hundreds of historic places in our care, we also have restrictive covenants over large areas of land and buildings that we don’t own. Learn more about National Trust covenants and how to apply for covenant consent.

About covenants

In 1937, we were granted a special power to hold covenants over land by parliament. Covenants are private legal agreements between the National Trust and landowners, made to protect the natural or historic features of land or buildings and help ensure that future generations can enjoy them. They set out the types of changes to buildings or land that will need our consent.

Applying for consent under our covenants is different to applying for planning or listed building consent from the local authority. The processes are separate and only local authority planning controls are subject to local and national planning policies.

We’re committed to managing our covenants fairly and professionally. Where a landowner wants to make changes to their property, we’ll work with them to find solutions where possible. We look to grant consent where we’re confident that the proposed changes will protect the purpose and intention of the original covenant and fulfil our charitable purpose of conserving nature, beauty and history for everyone, for ever.

Our statutory power gives us the right to benefit from covenants even where we do not own any benefitting land.

We have a two-stage process for applications under our covenants. The first stage is to get informal advice on a proposal, and then you may be invited to submit a formal application.

Stage one: Initial assessment form

If you own a property that is subject to a National Trust covenant and would like advice on a proposed development or change of use, please contact your local covenant officer using the initial assessment form.

Initial assessment form

The covenants officer will evaluate the effect of the proposal against the conservation objectives of the covenant to identify which works are likely to be permitted, any design constraints and provide informal guidance based on the outline proposal submitted. Sometimes a site visit may be required to assess the proposal. This advice won't be a binding decision, but aims to guide an applicant towards a proposal that's likely to be given formal consent at the second stage.

They may invite you to make a formal application or suggest that you explore further designs to address specific issues. They’ll let you know if they think it’s unlikely that you will be given formal consent. We aim to provide this assessment within 28 working days of receiving a sufficiently detailed enquiry.

Stage two: Application form for restrictive covenant consent

Once you've received informal advice about your proposals using the initial assessment form, your covenant officer may invite you to submit a formal application using our application form for restrictive covenant consent. The application will be assessed by a senior manager at the National Trust or Covenants Board (where applicable), and we'll keep you informed of its progress throughout the process.

As a condition of giving consent, we may require an applicant to sign a new deed of covenant. If so, the applicant will be responsible for the Trust’s legal fees as well as their own in preparing and agreeing the new deed.

Application form

Contacts

Our covenants advice is provided regionally. Please see our list of counties to ensure you address your query to the most appropriate regional officer:

London and South East (Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Surrey, London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire): covenantLSE@nationaltrust.org.uk
South West (Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Bristol, Bath and Gloucestershire): covenantSW@nationaltrust.org.uk
Midlands and East of England (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Rutland, Birmingham, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire): CovenantMEE@nationaltrust.org.uk
Wales (Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Caernarfonshire, Merioneth, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Cardiganshire, Monmouthshire, Brecknockshire, Glamorgan and Pembrokeshire) CovenantWales@nationaltrust.org.uk
North (North Yorkshire, Humberside, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumbria, County Durham, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire): CovenantNorth@nationaltrust.org.uk
Northern Ireland: estates.NI@nationaltrust.org.uk

Frequently asked questions

Where breaches happen, we put an emphasis on seeking constructive dialogue to agree an appropriate outcome. This includes making use of mediation processes where appropriate. We’ve only had to enforce through legal means in a small number of cases in recent years, and it’s a last resort where mutual agreement to a solution hasn't otherwise been found. If you’re concerned about a possible breach of covenant, please contact our covenants officer for your area.
Yes. Covenants are different to planning controls, which are administered by local government and subject to local and national planning policy. A covenant is a private agreement that places restrictions on land or buildings, limiting certain activities or uses. Each covenant is a standalone legal agreement, reflecting the specific context, conservation sensitivities and wider landscape of each individual site.

When a landowner wants to make changes on the land (for example to construct a new building or make alterations to an existing building), they may need to seek our consent, depending on the exact terms of the covenant.

This consent is separate to and in addition to any planning, listed building or scheduled ancient monument consent that may also be required.

Planning controls and covenants have distinct purposes, requiring separate application and decision-making processes. The criteria for obtaining planning and listed building consent may be very different to the requirements of the covenant. Securing planning permission or listed building consent for a development doesn't indicate that covenant consent will necessarily be granted for it.
We always strive to give an excellent service to applicants, but, on rare occasions, there may be problems. When this happens, we try to reach a decision that all parties are happy with and explain the reasoning clearly. There are cases where the terms of the covenant mean we’re unable to give consent for a particular proposal, or where a proposal is not in line with our charitable purpose. If you have further evidence that you'd like to have taken into account, or you feel the decision was unfair, you can request a reconsideration of the application informally through your regional covenants officer or formally using our appeals process.