Insurance may seem the easy way of side-stepping the potential problems raised by a restrictive covenant. But, do bear in mind that:

it is very difficult (or, at least very expensive) to get cover prior to the grant of planning permission. In practice, development funding is often sought before the planning application has been submitted, which can cause problems;

cover will often not be available if the covenant is less than ten years old;

any approach to the person having the benefit of the policy will usually mean that cover is not available.

See [2009] SJ December (Property Supplement) 16.