Footpath through property

[Bouncycastle12]

A friend of mine is hoping to buy a lovely farm on explore. It has a fairly popular footpath which comes through the farmyard (about 20 feet from the front door.) She’s trying to work out how much this devalues the house (doesn’t have MN account). It wouldn’t bother me. The house is in its own land. Would it bother you? Does it devalue it much? Thanks!

[Bouncycastle12]

On Exmoor! Not on explore!

[Saz12]

Personally it would hugely impact my decision to buy or not. If it can be fenced off from the rest of my property without it being a PITA then I’d consider it.

It wouldn’t take many a-holes, loud people, nosey people, people with unruly dogs, etc to drive me to murder.

But I am very intolerant.....

[NewHouseNewMe]

I'm with @Saz12 on this..
I can't even imagine having a farmyard with random people walking through. There was a thread here a while back about people taking liberties with footpaths, e.g. sitting on the private patio furniture! It was an eye opener.

[TW2013]

If it is just the front it probably wouldn't bother me as much as if it was the back, as long as I had somewhere peaceful to relax. Probably not the rural idyll though. I would be concerned about whether people are likely to try to park cars on the farmyard if they decided to start the walk at that point. 20ft is a fair distance from the front door, as long as people stick to the path.

[leafeater]

She should check for Access and Recreation rights too. Ex moor is unusual by allowing a big chunk access to all.


www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/enjoying/out-and-about-essentials/access-land

[Mosaic123]

Id suggest she looks elsewhere if she possibly can. No privacy.

[Bluntness100]

The house will be valued with it, however for me it would be a deal breaker, because twenty foot away and it being popular just removes all privacy,

We have a public right of way by our house, which is popular with dog walkers, and as much as they can’t see into the house, it’s about ninety feet away, and the angles funny, often groups of ramblers will stop at the gate and look at the house, or if I’m lower down in the garden they nod at me and say good morning As they go past. Twenty foot past my front door would be too close.

Different if you chose to live next to a busy pavement /road, but this is through your garden effectively,

[WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat]

I know of a property where they re-routed the public footpath to the edge of their land, and created a wire fence. They had to get permission to do this but it was better for everyone. I always feel a bit guilty walking through their garden.
Is it possible to do that in your situation?

[Ifailed]

the vast majority of us with houses have right-of-ways passing their front door, they are called pavements.

[Bluntness100]

@Ifailed

the vast majority of us with houses have right-of-ways passing their front door, they are called pavements.

Don’t be silly, there is a massive difference between a house bordering a pavement and a house where someone walks through your garden. Trust me, I have had both,

With a pavement in most cases there is a barrier, and the front garden seldom used. Someone walking though what is effectively your garden is a different animal. It’s no different to terrace houses with right of way for bins etc across back gardens.

[landgirl1]

Not with a barge pole- people don’t stick to footpaths , you won’t be able to leave windows or doors open and loose dogs are a nightmare Plus you find most footpaths are infested with cyclists since lockdown - I’ve fenced mine off but it doesn’t stop them - I’ve had late night teenage drinking parties with loud music and litter everywhere and middle aged men having a disposable BBQ oh and cars left across my gate so I can’t get to work

[NachoNachoMan]

Would it be possible to have a nosey look at the property listing to picture it? Could you/she take a walk along the route and get a feel for how much you can/cannot see?

[m0use]

We have a similar set up here. To be honest the biggest issue is directly people who cannot follow the signs. In many ways it's nice - you see the same people pass through most days, and build up a bit of rapport; if you're into people watching it's ideal!

We've never had an issue with cyclists, people straying into gardens/on our furniture, or kids.

[HouchinBawbags]

Right to roam in Scotland has really affected some of my farming friends. Right in the height of the pandemic a friend caught a man walking right through her farm yard next to her house. No gloves or mask and touching gates and fences of their working farm. They were completely isolating due to there being a cancer patient in the house but had no choice but to work their farm.
The man refused to leave. It was his "right" and they couldn't stop him. (No doubt an anti-masker now). Her farm is a good hour's walk away from the nearest village and this guy wasn't any local she, I or any of our friends recognised (she took his photo) so he was breaking the law by doing a walk that must be at least 3 hours through the Scottish hillside. He could have easily taken any other route that bypasses all farm properties but he was a dick.

No chance would I want a private secluded property with a footpath right next to my house. OP, could your friend perhaps look into having the footpath rerouted? If it's a no then I'd be put off the property completely.

[Bouncycastle12]

Thanks everyone! I think she’s going to go for it, and think it’ll be fine. Won’t be problems with cyclists on this one unless they don’t mind heaving their bike over a stile every few hundred yards.