Running a Business from home

[Bluefin7uk]

I live on a new housing development and before I moved in I had to sign a contract and a Deed of Covernant which covered a numerous things some as little as getting permission to put up satalite dishes and to errect a garden shed ect. One of the things were that you were not allowd to run a business from your property. Well we have lived here now for 7 years and 18mths ago we got new neighbours who run a child minding business from home, meaning everyday parents droping off kids blocking the road and drivways beeping there horns when leaving as early as 7am in the mornings, This is worse than leaving by a school as at least there its only 9am in the morning and 3.30pm in the afternoon when parents drop off and collect their kids but this is all day and its worse in the School holidays as tt increases. Due to this you can imagine we don`t get on. and others fill the same as me. So remembering the contract I signed when I moved in I contacted the council and the builders, but they both say the same that child minding is not a business and therefore she can do it. Please can anyone tell me why this is as I thought if you provide a service for people and charge for that service is this not classed as a business? why can she get away with this. This was a quiet little Cu-de-sac when we moved in and we all thought we were safe from things like this due to this deed of covernant but it seems not. Yet another case of one rule for one and anotther rule for others.

[bednobs]

i dont know how many children she's allowed, but you make it sound like she's the pied piper! surely there cant be many more that 5 chidren there? The parents only pick up and put down once for each child i would guess. It sounds a bit to me like you are getting things a bit out of proportion? Just ask them not to beep their horns. After all you nighbours could be getting up an going to work at that time, and turning their cars on, and you'd just hae to put up with it

[sara3]

well Joe Public (me!) would consider it to be a business. Social Service regulate child minders. I'd call them and find out if it's classed as a business or not.

[obNOXious]

I know it's always one of my top priorities to make sure I'm 'safe' from the likes of childminders whenever I move into a property :) Lol

Maybe you should simply speak with her, non confrontationally, and explain that the horn beeping is ticking you off nd ask her if she could please ensure that people dropping off and picking up cause minimal disruption?

She's a child minder, not Hanibal Lechter, do you really want to cause her all of the very real grief that you will if you shut her down down, even if it's possible?
If you do then maybe suggest she moves, I'm sure she'd love to under the circumstances, because frankly I can't see that she's doing anything wrong, other than not signing on, trying to work honestly and paying her own way.
You don't want people like that living next door to you do you?;-)

[pink-kittens]

Childminding as a registered minder IS a business - you must be registered with the IR to do it. You must keep records of payment etc - OFSTED can and do check every 3 years

Maybe she is not registered?

[pink-kittens]

sara, FYI Social Services regulate NI minders
UK are regulated by OFSTED

HTH

[Skyline D]

Quite clearly childminding is a "business".

Perhaps however it doesn't meet the defined terms of a prohibited "business" in this "Deed of Covenant"? Presumably somewhere in the small print there would have to have been a definition of "business" included. For instance I'm an accountant. If I lived there would I be prevented from doing a few book-keeping jobs for people on the side because of a Deed of Covenant? I doubt it. To ban people from running a "business" from home is just too grey. I'd guess it's meant to prevent people retailing, wholesaling, setting up workshops, etc in a residential area.

[Eddya]

With regard to your deeds and the covenant about working from home I always thought that you were OK to run a business from home which was operated by a single person (i.e. yourself) that didn't involve any staff or customers visiting the property. People visiting a property, parking etc is different entirely and it definitely sounds like they are flouting the covenant. Check with your local council as you need to be granted permission to run a childminding business from home. If they are registered the application should also tell you how many childminders are working from the address and therefore how many children they are allowed to look after. You will then be able to ascertain if they are breaking any rules or not. A childminding business is supposed to be a small concern but the way you have described the amount of vehicle movements it sounds like they are running a daycare centre! Also make a list of your concerns and discuss it with your other neighbours then maybe a couple of you could arrange to meet the people and put across your concerns. Hopefully they will address your concerns but, if not, at least you can complain to the Local Council. Good luck!

[bednobs]

the other thing that occurred to me is that the covenant is probably not goverened by the council anyway - i think its goverened by the firm that built the houses. For example, i think in mine it says something along the lines of not allowing any religous meetings in my house, but wh would actually govern that is beyond me. if the builders who made and govern the covenant dont accept childminding as a business, i dont think you would have anywhere else to go

[haemorrhage]

We have the same problem but worse. we have 12 -13 children there, so Bednob it might be ok for you, but 13 cars outside some together every night of everyday is like tesco carpark.

[Charlo]

I have exactly the same problem.

[Charlo]

They say childminding is not a business ? They charge £8 per hour per child and make around £6000 per month - mainly paid in cash I might add....are these earnings fully declared to the tax man ?? There are businesses which don't earn that much !! You should at least be able to get the council to stop the blocking of drives and beeping of horns. Blocking a driveway is breaking the highway code section 217

[Charlo]

According to the National Childminding association (NCMA), childminding is a business. please read this - http://www.ncma.org.u...rs/your_business.aspx