Neighbour blocked shared drive deliberately, AIBU or are they?

It’s true, most houses though have a road between the house opposite and with most ring cameras you can set where it picks up movement etc. if I was OP I’d get a camera above and angle it towards the road but try and get my own front door in and not theirs

I haven’t read everything (8 pages man). I am in the process of selling and we have just had to fill out a form (ta6) and it specifically asks on our form if we have any known disputes and I think both solicitors (the buyers solicitor and ours for our purchase) has specifically asked if we have had any issues with the shared area of our house. I’m not sure how long you have to raise this with your solicitor after completion but worth double checking the ta6 and sending an email to solicitors to advise

Can you put a fence up so he can’t block your access?

Just thought re cameras, you can programme some to only record a zone you create within the camera programme.

so I would stick one in that does that. Let them report you to whoever and then go from there including the shared driveway debarcle.

they won’t get far.

Tell him to move over and start parking outside you garage … he’s taking the piss quite frankly!

I’d leave the fence panels blocking the drive until the neighbours paid for them to be taken away. Years if need be.
If the wind picked them up and damaged the neighbours car that would be very unfortunate.

My parents have just been through this. They had many years of privilege parking on the driveway as the neighbour paved over his garden and parked there. When his new tenants moved in they parked two cars in front of the house and also blocked my parent’s car in. Parents paid to pave over front garden to park outside their house or they’d be on the road as no-one should be parking on the shared drive. You’re allowed to park temporarily on the driveway to load and unload so your neighbours are in the wrong. Any other time access to garages should be kept free. My folks accepted their heyday of parking there was over as in the deeds it is for garage access only with loading/unloading acceptable. They’re being very unreasonable.

Also if he normally parks outside his garage, is he blocking your access to your garage? If he isn’t that’s ok but he still shouldn’t be parking there. If he has blocked access to your a garage that is unacceptable and goes against what is in a shared driveway deed. Get hold of a copy and let them see it.

Don't move anything, OP. If your neighbour complains tell them it's there until the contractor who they deliberately obstructed is free to collect it.

People are a bit like dogs. If you reward bad behaviour, they will repeat it.

They are being unreasonable, BUT, you probably should have let them know about it beforehand.

I wonder if he was worried about the weight oft he removal truck cracking the drive way? If this is a new build then the drives are very thin and could be cracked - if the manhole covers broken.

They sound awful

OP did let them know beforehand.

If you don't already have it, I'd suggest getting legal expenses insurance (LEI) (it can usually be added on to home or car insurance) because it sounds as though things may well kick off at some point in the future. Whilst LEI isn't always great, it's better than having no cover at all - these sorts of disputes can cost tens of thousands of pounds and get very nasty.

If you do have LEI you might want to consider contacting the provider, now. That said, if you're able to find a way forward with your neighbours, without involving solicitors, that would almost certainly be preferable - it's very difficult for neighbours to live harmoniously after one has got lawyers involved. There's also the matter of having to disclose to any future buyer the existence of the dispute, should you take any sort of formal action, which could ultimately devalue your property or jeopardise a sale.

I'd certainly be looking to your conveyancer / seller as it should have been disclosed to you that there was a previous neighbour dispute concerning the property you have purchased.

@WoesFromAuntFlo Did you go and speak to them in the end? What did they say?

It is a good plan but make sure you do it face2face. Do not get into the habit of exchanging notes - people like your neighbour are likely to hide behind notes. They are trying to bully you - you must show them that yours is the bigger broomstick so they bully somewhere else.

My mum was a legal sec for years and I remember her saying to me that shared drives were the biggest cause of neighbourly disputes. Good luck!

If at all possible, DRIVE OVER HIS GRAVEL.

the only way to get people like him to engage is to show them that they have to engage or their property will suffer.

be very firm, be immovable and stubborn. Tell them that this was the last straw, that they don’t have the right to prevent access or or from your property for anyone you’ve authorised to attend your property and that in future any truck that they block will just drive across their garden.

they will be terrified that their grass/garden will be damaged. If you need a Ring door bell, get one. If you need scaffolding, do it.

tell them very clearly that they have zero power over you and that you have a very well documented right to live as you please, come and go as you please and have trades come to your home.

our old batshit neighbours used to scream and shout at any vans coming up here. I had to go out and tell them to leave the Amazon guy alone, leave the JLP delivery truck alone, and leave our visitors alone.

first step is telling them how it is.
second step is ideally a solicitor letter explaining to them that they have no rights to do what they are doing and to make clear to them that you intend to exert your rights.

next step IS legal action, but this goes to Mediation first and foremost. In this stage you can ask for agreement on whatever you want. So include the driveway parking issue can be included

when we went to mediation, we got all the trees and planting removed that was wrecking our boundary fence (they’d planted it) we told them we’d have window cleaning without asking permission, we’d be able to inspect our property (which means standing on their ground which is in front of our house. Legally we had to advise them of any work, but we made it clear that this was us advising them not asking them. She once said about needing to know about any scaffolding going up “in case she had guests” I told her clearly that any work requiring scaffolding would be for essential work on our home, nothing to do with hers and that I’m sure her guests would be just fine with it, that I wasn’t asking permission, because it’s not their home, it’s mine.

she didn’t like that <shrug>

she’s moved now, new neighbours are totally normal and it’s a breath of fresh air. We finally feel free and happy in our home all the time.

For 6 years tho, there were times I really wondered wth we’d done.

and this house is so big and so expensive, selling it and finding somewhere else round here would cost so much money in needless stamp duty etc. our house isn’t perfect for everyone, but it is for us, it’s a forever home and then some. The old neighbours were a real blight on it though.

Grapevine tells me that the nasty witch is unhappy in her new little home down the road in next (far less posh) village. Karma. Utter Karma. That woman deserves all the payback that Karma can possibly manage

They are petty. Keep this in mind with whatever you do next, for absolutely no reason at all they’ve blocked the drive just to inconvenience you. There will be no positive relationship because they have gone out of their way to be difficult just because they can. Initially I would have suggested leaving the rubbish on the drive as close to the boundary as possible to annoy them, but now I think they would retaliate. I would go straight to a recorded letter, maybe with a threat of reimbursing costs because you are having to pay twice.

Park directly behind her into they call in to you to ask you to move is the only way.

I would now be 100% parking in front of her so she can’t get off the drive. Where is your car now?

I know you don't want to escalate, but as they won't engage with you, maybe you should park in front of daughters car and block her in, abs leave a note asking them to call you. They will have to have a conversation then.

I'm sorry it is so shitty and stressful but why did you move you car again? Easy for me to say when it's not my life I know, but a Sunday would seem to me a good day to reclaim your spot.

Seems to me they are asking for you to block them both in but that is probably very poor advice.

This is a bullying situation and while they are holding all the cards, unfortunately there is so much power and fun in pissing you off and nothing in it for them in answering the door to you.

You must must block her in or this aggression will escalate. When one of them comes to the door don't be meek and mild.