December 2014: The Golf Estate Rules That Sent a St Bernard to the Doghouse

To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs” (Aldous Huxley)

Living in a residential estate means submitting yourself to all rules and regulations lawfully imposed by the estate’s management on residents. A recent High Court judgment illustrates.

It’s a Dog’s Life

• Theodore, a large St Bernard dog, is owned by long-time residents of a Golf Estate


• One of the estate’s Conduct Rules dealing with the keeping of pets - and motivated no doubt at least in part by the estate’s status as a nature conservancy - bans cats altogether and restricts dogs to breeds neither aggressive nor large (20 kg or over when mature)


• Since mature St Bernards weigh in at 55 – 80 kg, Theodore’s owners were refused the required written permission to keep him on the estate


• They asked the High Court to overrule this refusal, arguing that management has a discretion to allow a deviation from the rules


• The Court disagreed, holding that the rules are worded in such a way as to bind management to strict enforcement of the stated restrictions (other than a “truly exceptional” case such as a guide dog for the blind)


• Nor, held the Court, is it relevant that there are other large dogs already on the estate dating from a historical period of lax enforcement of the rules. Firstly, failure to enforce a breach of contract by one owner has no bearing on a breach by another owner. Secondly, whilst management did not sanction the presence of these other dogs it had been given legal advice to the effect that it would not succeed in any application for a court order removing them (which highlights a particular danger for management associations - see below)

The end result - Theodore’s owners have 3 months to remove him from the estate.

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