AIBU to object to neighbour using my garden as their main access?

@Deepblueokay please repost in legal. What neighbour is doing can create a fullblown public right of way by use and custom instead of a limited easement unless you take specific steps.

How do you keep your dogs and children out of this person’s garden?

Yes exactly, are all 4 houses needing to go through someone else’s garden to access the back? Or is it only the 2 inner houses (presuming the 4 houses are in a row and the 2 outer have direct access). If that’s the case, it’s fine for the 2 outer houses to direct deliveries, guests etc to the back given they’re not needing to go through someone else’s garden, but the 2 inner houses should only be using back access occasionally so as to not intrude on neighbours space and privacy.

What’s the “reciprocal right to those notes above”? That’s the key information because deliveries and using the back door as main entrance is not maintenance and repair.

but presumably all the 4 houses don't use easements instead? The poster doesn't say.

why lie?

You can fit a spring and a latch so the gate shuts firmly on its own and then latches due to the force. If you need me to find one and link it, @Deepblueokay please just ask. It would solve the escape issue at least 😊

So your convenience inside your house is more important than your neighbours rights over their property?! I really don't think delivery drivers should be going round the back when there is a front door option. Furniture layout is your problem to solve.

@thisisyoursign I can't use the front door, the living room is tiny so the sofa can only be positioned in front of the front door which blocks it, or makes it very difficult to get in and out at least! All 4 of the houses in our row have a sign saying use the back door for deliveries or front door not in use. It's very common where we live.

It is usually pretty clear on a listing tbf, it shouldn't need drilling down into paperwork or come as a surprise once you've moved in.

I've been put off a couple of properties in the past for this very reason and having since had experience of antisocial neighbours, I would never touch a property with this set up with a barge pole as it relies on having decent neighbours forever. I feel very sorry for OP landing next to the neighbour she has.

Cancel the cheque

Sorry, I meant check the deeds. 😉

Agreed, quite a lot of people are basing their advice not on any legal principles but on their personal incredulity of the situation and what they reckon the OP should be able to do.

Here is a link to what an actual land lawyer has said about this type of situation: https://www.hughes-paddison.co.uk/site/blog/property-litigation-blog/rights-of-way-is-a-gate-an-obstruction

...and here is an extract from it:

The legal test in the case of alleged obstructions, put simply, is: "can the right of way be substantially and practically exercised as conveniently as before?" The answer in most cases is that a single unlocked gate will not normally be held to be a substantial interference.
But anything more than an unlocked gate probably will be held by the court to be a substantial interference and therefore unlawful.

This isn't to say that the OP definitely can't legally lock the gate, it's just that breezily saying 'Oh it'll be alright, because it's what I'd want to do' may be wide of the mark too. For the thousand and one'th time, it'll depend on the deeds.

I live in a mountainside village of terraced miners cottages where there are variations of it throughout the village.
I have a road (just wide enough for a car) between my front door and my front garden.
Others have public rights of way footpaths through front gardens or back gardens depending on orientation of house on mountainside. Some just have 'rights over' by neighbours.
I viewed 4 houses when i bought mine. 3 had some version of this setup.

I mean it's lesson for all of us to check the paperwork when buying a house!! I learned so many new things today, I'd never expect this was a thing. Absolutely dreadful

This seems very good advice OP. Why don't you try this. You can say something like you're planning on buying an expensive bicycle or something

How does she get through your garden into her property. I get she has a right of way from your gate and is just crossing your garden but how does she get into hers - does she have a gate? Is there any scope to move where your gate is and to open up an entrance way into her garden elsewhere? Can you post an anonymised plan as others might be able to help you work this out with her. When I lived in a terrace it had a lane at the bottom but it sounds like all of the houses are landlocked - is it just her that gets to go through your garden?

She can, and people have. You are not allowed to block or restrict an easement in any way.

If you read about easements on gov.uk you will see this is the case.

Legal action can cost thousands of pounds in cases like this when people dig their heels in.

I wonder if this is more common in some parts of the UK than others. I feel like in London only a minority of terraced houses even have an alley at the back. Mostly the gardens are divided from each other by fences end to end and at the side so if you wanted to get to your garden not through the house you’d need to be jumping over fences like that scene in Hot Fuzz.

My previous house was a terrace with a right of way for residents along the back.

Weirdly, the right of way was halfway down the 100' back gardens, and it was wide enough to get a car or van along it. It was bloody handy for deliveries of large or heavy items, as the front doors were down very steep steps, like the entrance to a basement flat. Most of the gardens were fenced halfway down, so to get to the bottom part, you had to go through the back gate and across the right of way, but some people didn't bother. Where people had built garages at the back, they drove across a couple of gardens to get to them!

I've never come across a similar arrangement anywhere else, but it was quite nice in a way. The bottom part of my garden was just grass, and I scattered wildflower seeds. In the summer, it was like a little meadow in the middle of Croydon, and attracted loads of birds and butterflies.

I had a situation exactly like this in a terraced house with a neighbour that like your one was both unreasonable with her expectations of us (had her own petty little rules and would get the hump when they weren't abided by) but treated our garden like a thorough fare constantly. She also had 3 yappy little dogs that would yap aggressively at the little gate every time our kids were outside. She had an allotment so was always wheel barrowing stuff through and taking her dogs on walks. We couldn't enjoy our own garden. Then she had building work that went on for months so all the builders were constantly coming through. When she sold the house the new neighbours told us there was a delay as she had to get a solicitor to add the right of way to the deeds. So all that time she didn't even have the legal right to cross over our garden. Absolutely CHECK THE DEEDS. Also, I know you're on your own with 4 kids and you might feel intimidated but at the end of the day remember she doesn't care about the safety of your kids or being intrusive in your garden. She sounds entitled and not afraid to be unreasonable and before long she'll be moaning about something else so you do what's best for you and your kids.

As others have said check the deeds OP. I lived in a house like this. Access waa for emergency services etc. I let their window cleaner use the side gate once a week but the neighbours asked firsr.

I’ve seen this arrangement but thought it was just for bins, building works etc. I’m in a terrace with no back door access but we have front yards for the bins. No advice OP as I know nothing, just solidarity that your neighbour sounds obnoxious. ‘Rather die than use the front door’. Jesus.

If it's a normal easement fine, but you don't have to allow them to send the postman/couriers round the back. Point out it is not a public right of way, and that you object to them using it as their main access for post/deliveries- the fact they don't like using the front door is immaterial- blocking up access means that there are less ways to exit in event of a fire-so unacceptable, but as a poster mentioned litigation is expensive,so I would get the council involved -go to environmental health and explain the problem, they may refer you to building control as well.