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

OP haven't read all the replies so apologies if repeating.

Have you spoken to your local council to see what the chances are of getting a Public path diversion order if you've room at the bottom of your garden?

May be worth a try.

If a right for everyone to access the property isnt given by the deeds, it very likely exists now after 40 years unfettered use .

This is a useful post OP

Just watch out for that formatting vibe- if you’d unbolded it wouldn’t have hit the ‘this is AI’ button for viewers who see a lot of AI writing . I agree the wording doesn’t feel it, but the formatting strongly does.

I use AI to check grammar. Mostly it just adds a comma and the odd semi-colon but sometimes it changes the formatting too. But it's still is my words.

The formatting and especially the bolded bits feels very ChatGPT, the wording not as much.

Yes

I don't think that is ChatGPT? Why do people assume that no-one on here knows what they are talking about and need to use ChatGPT. The law of averages has to say that occasionally you will get someone that does the issue in question as their job, so will have the correct spiel for the answers!

@T1Dmama It was very helpful anyway, I learnt a few things there.

OK this is the best I can do, and this is just one of many different formats I could illustrate.. Imagine it like this, a row of adjoining terrace houses. The front of each house opens up directly onto a pavement (not always the case) so they cannot keep the bins out front. They have to keep them in the back gardens but there is no back access from the gardens. Lets pretend for instance, a railway line runs down the back of the houses. So Terrace 1 can have a side gate on their back garden so they can bring their bins out. Terrace two cannot because there is no direct access to their back garden (houses both sides and its not reasonable to expect them to drag their bins through the house. So when the houses are built, an easement is created saying that Terrace two has the right to take their bins out (for example through Terrace 1's back garden) but they must stay on a specific path. That path is part of Terrace 1's garden.

The easement exists only because Terrace 2 has no independent way to reach its back garden. So the builder grants a limited right of access across Terrace 1’s land so Terrace 2 can do essential things like take bins out, bring garden waste through, access the rear for maintenance, deal with emergencies. This is quite typical for where I live in the North.

The bog standard easements don't give Terrace 2 the right to treat Terrace 1’s garden as a normal walkway, entrance, or thoroughfare. It also doesn’t give rights to visitors, couriers, tradespeople, dog walkers, cleaners, boyfriends, randoms. Unless the wording explicitly includes “agents, invitees, visitors” (very rare in residential easements), the right normally applies only to the occupiers. But the devil is in the detail and that's why the OP needs to check the exact wording.

Most easements of this type specify in some manner the exact route, the obligation to cause minimal disturbance, the requirement to keep gates shut, the requirement to maintain security, the obligation to act reasonably. They’re often worded like: “A right of access on foot only over the path coloured yellow for the purpose of removing refuse bins and maintaining the rear garden.” That’s the level of restriction you typically see. Not that I am an expert, but I come across this in my career on a regular basis. I hope it helps.

But some people have mentioned it can become prescriptive i.e. roughly speaking (this isn't exactly it) if Terrace 2 has been allowed to use that pathway in an additional manner, say as the main access to their house for residents, visitors and deliveries etc for 20 years then it can become what is called prescriptive and they in effect become entitled to use it that way.

From what the OP has said, I don't think this is applicable here (assuming its England) but we won't know until the land registry is checked.

But I am thinking if the deeds already grant a limited right of access, you cannot then claim a broader right (e.g., “I want to use it as my main entrance”) by prescription. The law says: you can’t prescribe against an express grant.
They already have a right of access. They cannot “grow” it into a right of way or a right to use your garden as their front door.

Their use is not “as of right”, they’ve been told off by previous owners, told off by the OP, apologising, arguing, claiming it’s a “public right of way” (which is nonsense). That is not peaceful, uncontested use. It’s use that has been challenged, which breaks the prescriptive clock.

🙄

If people want ChatGPT answers they generally use ChatGPT rather than Mumsnet @T1Dmama

In England and Wales, if someone has a legal right of way over your land, you must not substantially interfere with that right. A locked gate is not automatically unlawful if:

• they can still exercise their right of way without unreasonable difficulty;
• you give them a key (or another reliable means of access, such as a code);
• the lock is there for a legitimate reason, such as security or preventing your dog or child from getting out.

• You’re not trying to stop your neighbour using the path.
• You’re trying to stop any delivery driver, courier or stranger from walking through your garden.
• You’re addressing a genuine safety concern because the gate is being left open.

• meet the driver at the gate and unlock it, or
• have deliveries made to the front door instead.

@Deepblueokay

From what you’ve shown, it looks as though:

• You’re the end terrace (No. 49).
• The path down the side of your house appears to be within your title (outlined in red).
• Your neighbour’s rear gate opens onto that path near the back of your house, so they have to walk through your garden area and past your kitchen window to reach the street.

1. Fit a self-closing gate.
2. Keep a written record (and, if you have one, CCTV footage) of occasions when the gate is left open.
3. Ask your conveyancing solicitor to obtain the 1989 transfer deed referred to in your paperwork. That document may contain restrictions on the right of way that aren’t shown in the extract you’ve posted.

You’re making very confident statements without seeing the actual wording of the easement. Nobody - including me, you, or the OP - can say what the neighbour is entitled to until the deeds are checked.

Some easements do allow access for invitees. Some easements restrict access to the occupiers only. Some specify “on foot only”. Some specify “for the purpose of reaching the garden”. Some include maintenance obligations. Some explicitly exclude third parties. It all depends on the exact wording.

And while “excessive use” isn’t a legal term, “reasonable use” absolutely is. Even a broad easement has to be exercised reasonably, forcing gates, propping them open, and directing couriers through someone’s private garden all day may or may not fall within that, depending on the wording.

So until the OP has the deeds in front of her, nobody can state the legal position with certainty. The next step is simply to get the documents and see what the easement actually says.

@Deepblueokay

The key question is what the legal right of way actually allows. A right of way is usually for reasonable access, not necessarily unlimited use or use in whatever manner is most convenient.
Based on what you’ve described:

• If the deeds give your neighbour a right of way to access their rear garden, they are generally entitled to use it regularly.
• There is usually nothing in law that says they must use their front door instead. So using the rear as their main entrance isn’t automatically an abuse of the easement.
• However, they should exercise the right reasonably and without causing unnecessary inconvenience.

• Speak to them and explain the safety risk.
• Put a self-closing gate hinge or spring on the gate (provided it doesn’t obstruct their right of way).
• Install a latch that automatically catches when the gate closes.
• Consider a polite sign on the inside saying, “Please ensure the gate is closed - child and dog.”

• the neighbour can accompany delivery drivers along the path,
• but repeatedly directing third-party delivery drivers through your garden may go beyond what was originally intended, depending on the wording of the easement.

• “on foot only,”
• “for access to the rear garden,”
• “with or without vehicles,”
• or who is permitted to use it (owners, occupiers, visitors, etc.).

From the wording in your image, this is describing rights (easements) that affect your property. In plain English:
“Rights over the Property (Which other people will have over your new property).”
This means your neighbours have certain legal rights over parts of your land.
The two points mean:

1. “A reciprocal right to those noted above.”
2. Earlier in the document (the part not shown) it probably lists rights you have over your neighbours’ land (for example, to access a shared path or services).
3. “Reciprocal” means they have the same rights over your land where appropriate.
4. “You will give a right of way over the land coloured green on the plan dated 1989 subject to their contributing towards the maintenance and repair of the same.”
5. If a section of your land (shown in green on an attached plan) forms a path, driveway or access route, your neighbours have a legal right to pass over it.
6. They can’t necessarily park there or use it for anything they like—just for the purpose of access, unless the deed says otherwise.
7. They are expected to contribute towards the cost of maintaining and repairing that shared access.

• The side path alongside your house may be shared so neighbours can reach their rear gardens.
• If there’s a shared driveway, neighbours may have the right to drive or walk across it.
• You generally can’t block the access with gates (unless they can still use them) or permanently park in a way that prevents them using their right of way.
• Maintenance costs for the shared access are normally shared between those who benefit from it.

• exactly which strip of land is coloured green,
• who benefits from the right of way,
• and whether it’s pedestrian access only or includes vehicles.

@CotswoldIdyll , you are twisting the pp's words to suit your own agenda.
The neighbour can authorise people to access the rear of the property via the easement but it isn't a "public right of way", which is what the NDN is saying it is.

@Deepblueokay , the wording on my deeds say specifically 'access to the rear of the property' and maybe that could be in your favour. Deliveries of most things could be accepted via the front door.

You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about and shouldn’t comment as though you do. The easement is for the benefit of the property, and the owner can invite whoever she chooses to come to her property via the right of way unless the deeds say otherwise. There is no such thing as excessive use of a right of way.

SYour deeds say that they have a right to access.. the green shaded area?
it also says they have to contribute to maintenance of that area.

so on the deeds which area is shaded?

I really hope there is a solution for this it’s terrible what she is doing/ has done. I am with the poster that said get a lock that is a pain to deal with- maybe something that is stuck on the gate that comes with a guarantee (in case she breaks it)

I hope there is a nice surprise in some of the deeds where you are able to just shut her out or something.

I actually think we have a right of passage for the person who lives at the end of our garden as it were. Ie their property backs onto ours but their actual house is behind our bottom fence. I understood it’s only if they need to repair their roof or something. Thankfully in the 20 years we’ve been here it’s been used once.

@Deepblueokay The key thing here is that an easement gives your neighbour access, but it doesn’t give her the right to turn your garden into her main entrance or a delivery hub.

What’s reasonable is her walking through when she needs to reach her garden. What’s not reasonable is couriers, cleaners, dog walkers, boyfriends and randoms traipsing through all day because she’s decided she “doesn’t use her front door”.

Whether you can challenge it depends entirely on what your deeds say. Most easements only cover access for the occupiers, not third parties. If yours is like that, you’re within your rights to tell her that deliveries and trades need to use her front door.

Even if the easement is broad, she still has to use it in a reasonable way. Forcing your gate, propping it open, and refusing to close it behind her isn’t reasonable. You’re entitled to a secure garden, especially with young kids and a dog.

The next step is simply getting hold of the deeds and seeing exactly what the wording is. Once you know that, you can set boundaries based on facts rather than her “public right of way” nonsense.

You’re not trying to stop her accessing her garden. You’re trying to stop her treating your garden as an extension of her house, which is fair enough

@saraclara , OP's circumstances were not the same as your daughter's. OP admits she made an oversight.

Your post is patronising, mean, and not helpful in any way.

Your last sentence demonstrates just how ignorant you are of very established law. Easements and rights of way have been around for hundreds of years. Yet you are clearly completely bemused by the concept.

My daughter's very similar easement was pointed out to her by the estate agent, at which point she researched it, searched the deeds, and questioned the conveyancer (and the owner) about it before proceeding. I'm really surprised that your sale proceeded without someone pointing it all out to you.

I’d check the house security point with a solicitor tbh. It seems incredible that you have to leave your garden open to basically the world ALL the time. Take no notice of people sating she shouldn’t have bought it. You dud what was best at that moment in time