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

There may be a good reason why she won't use her front door, but it seems more likely that it's because she's just a pain in the arse.

As to the 'rights to walk through your garden' bit: easements - essentially a right enjoyed by one property over another such as a right of way - have been a feature of English land law for well over 500 years, and are really quite common. The problem the OP might have is that if her neighbour's easement is a general, unfettered right of way over the OP's land (and not some weird old easement just for the delivery of coal or the removal of animal effluent or something like that), then the neighbours and anybody that needs access to the house can walk across the OP's land perfectly legally. Plus sticking a lock on the gate is very likely to amount to a 'substantial interference' with the neighbour's right and (and this is the bit that people are struggling with), it won't make any difference that the OP has kids, or dogs, or anything else. It won't matter if God himself pops his beardy face out of a cloud and says it's OK for the OP to lock the gate, the law says otherwise. The stuff that's been said on here about 'rights to privacy', 'right to security, or human rights is - to use a legal term - total shite.

Of course the OP could just stick a lock on the gate and see what happens, but from what she's said about the neighbour I strongly suspect it will end up with a load of aggro and a lock going to waste. So fingers crossed the deeds of her house (or those of her neighbours), do place restrictions on the neighbour's use. But even then the neighbour could be a bloody-minded twat and carry on anyway.

She wouldn't be blocking an exit, she'd be blocking an easement.

a) op didn't screen shot the deeds its a screen shot of the report on title - a much reduced (and in this case fairly poorly written) summary of what is in the deeds
b) you cannot conclude from what we have seen that the right doesn't extend to delivery people and guests
c) I don't know where this myth has arisen that all lawyers will give you a free half hour

Your screen shot of the deeds shows your neighbour has a right of access. But no-one else does, not the couriers or cleaners or supermarket delivery folk.

If I were you I'd have a half hour free consult with a solicitor and get advice to see if there's anything you can do. It may or may not be worth spending a couple of hundred quid to get a letter written to stop them using it.

Also, check your home insurance to see if you have the legal add-on

It's a very common arrangement where there are terraced houses.

Ok, so she’s a cheeky fucker. I would 100% see a lawyer to confirm the limits of her access, but also put a camera up and teh self closing yale lock others mention, phrase it as security for your children and dog, not to mention house, and then even if she’s allowed to let everyone and their dog use it she will find it too inconvenient to carry on like she has when she has a fuctioning door. There is no way you are not allowed to secure your own property and say calmly I checked my deeds and you’re required to contribute to the upkeep but I haven’t asked this time. Break my gate again and you’ll be paying in full for replacing it though. Right of access is not right to destroy my property and if you go badmouthing me happy to share the legal view and requirement for you to pay to upkeep.

Im sorry I may be being very thick, but can someone explain why a person wouldn't use their front door? It seems insane to me that she might have any rights to walk through your garden?.....

Do you have legal cover through your home insurance? Maybe that would help with potential costs involved if getting professional advice?

We need OP to get the deeds for her neighbours house as has already been stayed. There may well be covenants attached which advise on its use.

For example with ours, we can drive or walk over it for access but can't park on it. We also have a covenant explicitly stating we cannot use our backdoor as our front door. I assume to prevent the issue the OP has. It's odd, as we are the end terrace and the entry and easement is from the other end terrace, we have reason to use it!

You are totally wrong. An easement means that there is unlimited right of way across it. Unless it specified what it is for anyone can use it to access the property, as many times as they want and whenever they want. As long as they don't loiter on it. An easement cannot be varied without both sides agreeing and huge legal fees.

won't help I am afraid.

but its possble that she is allowed to allow the random people

My first house had this arrangement and elderly neighbours who’d lived there for years along with their milkman, postman and 4x daily carers used it as their main access. We were burgled with the intruders accessing through the kitchen window at the back - at the time, the access passage from the front had no gate on it, although the houses either side of us that shared that passage had gates at their boundaries, so they’d walk through the passageway and across our garden then go through a gate to get to theirs. We wanted to install a locked gate at the front of the passageway and provide a key to the neighbours either side to improve security but the elderly neighbours were really stroppy about it, banging on about their rights and the fact they’d have to provide keys for carers etc, and wouldn’t even consider a key safe. We were renovating the house and we also saw a few of their visitors peering in through the kitchen window, presumably look at what we’d done. I never felt comfortable there after the burglary and the lack of privacy and we moved. Wouldn’t have a shared access again, people can be weird, sadly.

Look, you know what you have to do here. See a solicitor. But at the end of it all, you have to either put up with it or face the confrontation. I know that's what you're worried about as it's what I'd be worried about too. You never said why she won't use her front door? Go see the solicitor, get a letter and tell her straight on that she's taking the piss. Whether she's lived there all her life or not, you own the garden not her, remember that.

I’m guessing it would have to be a the neighbours agreement. I.e.
if OP can argue that people have left the gate open and it keeps posing a security risk to her children, then perhaps it’s ok? But she can easily say no, I assume.

Oooh....the abusive ex might be of benefit here.

Contact the police and discuss target hardening measures - they'll 100% support a back gate lock and if you ask nicely will inform your neighbours of it's need as well!

Yes our code lock works well as a deterrent. It's also for the security of both properties. I'm actually a lawyer so Im aware of the potential obstruction issues but our neighbours have the codes and so they would struggle to show any loss making it not worth their while to litigate. Particularly since if they did send a letter before action (which will cost them) then we would obviously remove the lock - probably by the deadline..

Check the deeds . Our first home was like this (we were the end house ) and we never used our front door as the room was small and we had to put furniture kind of in front of it and didn’t want dirty shoes straight on the living room carpet. We were young 20 and 22 got on with the neighbours and we were never challenged about it so I assume it had always been done . I’d personally hate it as you do but as we were on the end no none had to cross our garden but we were respectful and always kept our voices down closed gates etc

Exactly this. We nearly bought a house like this but the access was only for putting bins out.

Lots of dreadful
advice being offered here.

I know of a terrace property , one of a row of cottages in a village and everyone uses the back doors this is quite legal as access to the former bath house was via the gardens at the rear . Occasionally, new purchasers try and stop this but the lady who owns the former bath house soon puts them right as she holds the deeds and all the information is held therin.

The front doors open on to long front gardens on a busy road with no direct access and some of the pathways run along neighbours gardens , using the front means navigating several gates and past neighbours front windows , several neigbours have dogs in the front garden . It seems reasonable to use the back doors.

Op risks having to pay all their legal costs as well are her own..this is terrible advice

Yes, AI suggested this too. It’s frustrating. Perhaps AI is wrong, but if the deliveries and visitors etc are legitimate and not related to the running of a business from the property, then they actually might be ok. It’s clearly morally dubious when you have a perfectly good front door.

Get another dog with a bit more bite and energy. That’ll stop anyone going in your garden without you having to say a single word.

Hope the deeds make things clearer. Shame we can't ask the previous owner if they ever took legal advice.

Also if you feel intimidated by your neighbour - use this fear against her - you can always take it public as this then protects you against her building a picture of you as being difficult as most normal people will see her use as an intrusion and unreasonable - get sympathy and empathy from the court of public opinion - eg advice on radio show local press - if this doesn’t alert your abusive ex to where you live as that would then not be safe or sensible