Can my neighbour come through my back garden to get to his?? Ok

[dg8484]

I've moved into a rented property before (never rented before, recently divorced so moved out of mortgaged home)
I was in my kitchen today cleaning and getting ready for Fridays removal van. When out the corner of my eye, I saw a man directly walking past the kitchen window. It is a row of town houses, I am the first one, so instead of using his front door, this man is opening the side garden gate to the house I'm in, and going through to his garden. I will be phoning the rental company in the morning, but surely this isn't right!? I am going to tell the rental company I want to put a lock on the gate. Also, I have a heavy garden table which I've put directly next to the gate. If I see him climb over it then I won't be happy. It's not a communal garden, it's individual gardens. Any advice??

[greenflamingo]

He might have a right of access. Only way to find out is asking the landlord. I can understand why you wouldn’t be thrilled though.

[HoneysuckIejasmine]

This may indeed be above board, it is a known thing. The deeds are what will give the answer, which the agency should be able to get a hold of via landlord.

So is there a gate between your gardens, or no fence or something?

[FredaFrogspawn]

Some houses have a right of way between the house and its garden. Is there access across the back of all the houses, or is he opening your gate to get through?

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

My friend has a house like this. She has to walk down a house or 2, down an alleyway, then across a garden or 2 to get to her back door. There’s like a communal path going past everyone’s back doors. So yes, people walk through others’gardens. The front gardens are tiny or non-existent and the front doors open directly into living room so pushchairs etc go to the back doors.

[Gizlotsmum]

Quite possibly has a right of access (in fact all house between you and the end of the terrace may have access rights.). Extremely common in terrace houses.

[Gizlotsmum]

Especially if the terrace houses have no other access to their back gardens

[BogglesGoggles]

If there are gates between your gardens I would imagine there is a right of way but these usually are at the very bottom of the garden

[dg8484]

He is opening my garden to gate to get through to his garden (which has a gate to his garden but I can't understand why) there is a side alley to my house garden then he is coming through my gate and going through to his.
Problem is, I have a small child and the gate was left open. Also next summer, I plan on a paddling pool, bbq etc, I don't really want people walking through. He is inches away from my back door when he walks through

[Noroof]

I think you'll find it's in the deeds and perfectly normal. If it is you won't be able to stop him or restrict access.

[enjoyingscience]

Ours is like this - there’s a gate so the neighbour can get into their back garden. In our case the access is written into the deeds because of how the house was converted (two cottages in a row of three knocked together)

[Apolloanddaphne]

I suspect he has a right of access to his garden through your garden if there is a gate between the two gardens. Check with your landlord he hasn't just been cheeky and installed a gate for easiness of access.

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

Right. So do both fences of your garden have a gate in? So he goes through your gate, your garden, then his gate to his garden? Sounds like my friend’s set up.

[LittleLongDog]

That sounds really crap but don’t say anything to him until you’ve found out if he has right of access first. He may be well within his rights.

It’s the rental agency/landlord you need to be talking to about this. Hopefully they’ll be able to clear it up easily.

[dg8484]

In the house I owned before, I had no back garden access to the rear of my house I could only access it through my own house. So I don't understand. I'm going to ask about the deeds though, as I won't be palmed off. Also I feel it's really dangerous if he isn't even having the courtesy to close the gate. I'm just not happy with the situation in general. The joys of renting!

[kmammamalto]

What pps have said may be true. Although in some cases I think people get used to something with a previous occupant and just continue to.do it! Our next door neighbour and all their visitors children etc use our drive instead of their own garden path (which is literally right next to it) to walk up to their house. Weird for us at first but think they just must have always done it with.previous owner. 🤷‍♀️ not something I would do but she is nice so I keep my mouth shut!

[HeadsDownThumbsUpEveryone]

Yep perfectly normal in a terrace house. We have to go through 2 neighbours gardens to get to our back door without going through our house.

I'm sure he wont care much about you having a paddling pool or BBQ he'll hardly be sticking around for a burger if he passes through but if you are worried about the gate being left open maybe have a chat and ask him to ensure its closed as you have a young child.

[enjoyingscience]

Could you not just ask him to shut the gate?

[flowery]

”(which has a gate to his garden but I can't understand why)”

The “why” is likely to be because he has right of way.

Check with the agent. It’s likely to be perfectly above board, but I would be completely furious as a new tenant to only discover this after moving in.

[Bitchfeatures]

My nannas old house was like that, such a stupid design! If it is the case that he has access then he should atleast have the decency to close the gate!

[AgentProvocateur]

Perfectly normal. And you might find that the whole street has access through your side gate to put their bins out.

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

In the house I owned before, I had no back garden access to the rear of my house I could only access it through my own house. So I don't understand.

But this is a different house have you already asked him to make sure he closes the gate, or added a note to the gate?

[HerSymphonyAndSong]

It’s very common with older terraces - in our previous house we had access across one neighbour’s garden and the resident on the other side could cross both our gardens. That’s precisely what the gates are for and if they have right of access you must not block the gates. The agents should have informed you of this however

[EggysMom]

Sounds quite normal for my (northern) location, alleyways every four or six houses. Pathways across the back of each house with gates. Gardens start the other side of the pathway. I've always lived with courteous neighbours who shut gates and who use the access as little as possible (e.g. wheelie bins).

OP, ask your landlord and if this is your arrangement, consider getting a spring closing device on the gate so that it's never left accidentally open.

[HollowTalk]

Can we have a diagram?

Does he have a way of getting into his own garden, other than through yours?

[dg8484]

All true points. I've put my table there for now, but I will ask the landlord tomorrow. I will be asking about the deeds. There's a gate in my garden and his. I can't see gates in the rest of the row. I don't really want to start an issue with neighbours as I've never had that in the past, but I really aren't comfortable with it. Obviously if it's in the deeds I can't do anything about it. But he is inches away from my back door and as I said, today he's left the gate open