What could I put across a cut through to make it less like a cut through and maybe reclaim it?

[AllAtHome]

So, we bought a house and to my horror part of the garden has a path that has been used as a cut through. As far as we are has been as long as the old owners were there, therefore has been turned into an official path.

Obviously, because of this it’s not 'ours', so we can’t block it off. My plan (if possible) is to make Iook less and less like a cut through, so that those that use it will continue to do so, but as the years pass newer people will not know about it and older people will move away/ forget.

Please tell me this is possible...

So far, I’ve thought about bushes that can get bushier...

I would grow something very spiked there

Just block it off. It's not official or it would have come up.

Another who can't work out why your garden isn't fenced off?
Do you have no private garden area?

I'd check with your solicitor - they should have been aware / made you aware of this. The previous owner's solicitors should have passed the information on. If they didn't for whatever reason, it needs to be investigated, you might be able to pursue a claim for title defect on the basis of adverse third party rights or easements.

Please note, I'm not a solicitor or estate agent.

If it was an official right of way your solicitor should have told you (we nearly bought a property years ago like this) so first check with your solicitor, if it is a right of way then you need to complain as solicitor should have told you about this.

I think there is something about a right of way becoming legal after a length of time if not stopped so it could be previous owners should have said something.

Looking at it though I think it's not a right of way and so I would just go with putting a fence up across the cut and if needed across the entrance too.

There’s no fence (that’s job one and it was in discussing this that we found out about the 'path’). It’s not very busy, but a few people each day.

The no man's land is a slope, so not sure how to re route the path.

The official path is tarmac, our garden is like a hardened gravel. I’m not sure how obvious it is that it’s being used (it is a much thinner path than the tarmac)

Who did you buy the house from? A landlord who didn't know about the traipsing hordes, or an elderly person who wasn't able to protest?

It just seems so odd, that anyone living there ever allowed it.

It was an older couple. I have only talked to the neighbour (when telling them that I would be fencing it off). I got the impression that they thought they were doing a kindly deed, but he (the neighbour) warned that he thought it had been going on long enough that it had become official. —I have a feeling he uses the cut through—

I'd just block it off and see what happens. Who did you discuss fencing with to find out about the path?

Would you allow it if re routed?

Strike out fail

If its dirt, then run a hose down there. Yes lots of water wasted but if the path is too muddy to use...

I just told the neighbour in advance that we would be putting fence around the gardenbecause it would impact on him while it happened.

Crossed post re the neighbour. Could you fence with a gate that has a code?

I think the best case scenario is that it is ours and then we will fence and get a gate that can be locked.

The worst case is that we can’t do this and therefore I wouldn’t like to discourage its use so we can reclaim it.

Your solicitor may have been negligent if they were aware and didn't make it clear to you. Alternatively, it may not have been possible for them to discover this if it's unofficial as in that situation you'd be relying on the vendor mentioning it (and therefore have a cause of action against them).

At the moment I'd just fence your garden off. If anyone who uses the path has an issue they'll have to commence legal action against you so you can reassess the situation if that arises (it's unlikely anyone would actually bother but obviously I can't guarantee that!).

(definitely get hold of your solicitor)

Has it really been in use for 20 years plus without interruption? That's what it would need to be claimed as a right of way. Plus someone would actually need to make that claim and get it agreed. So, fence your garden off - it would take someone a fair bit of concerted effort to force this to be treated as a right of way.

If it has been used by the public 'as of right' for 20 years or more, it will have become a public footpath.

If you block it, the highway authority can serve you with a notice requiring you to unblock and keep it usable, which you can appeal on grounds including that it is not in fact a public footpath. You pay your costs of any appeal whether or not you win.

If it is a footpath, you are obliged to keep it clear and accessible. If not, you can bar the way.

You need to urgently check a) what your solicitors told you about this route and b) obtain whatever information you can about how long it has been used for.

The big downside of an appeal is that it is public and all your neighbours can turn up to give evidence that they've used it every day so triple check the position before you do anything.

I would fence it off. Just plead ignorance if anyone says anything, which I don’t think they will judging by your diagram. It looks like they’re literally walking across your front garden!

What do the deeds show? They must outline your boundary line of your property?

Your diagram shows the path as having a clear end iyswim?

I assume the other neighbours have closed in back gardens but it's just yours that is open because it goes round the side?

T

The deeds show the outline of the garden and a distinct gap between the end of the path in front of the house (blue) and the road (blue) by the other houses.

The gap is also there on google maps (but don’t know if this is at all relevant).

Put a hedge up and neglect to prune it. Or a fence with a gate. If people see the fence they may be a little less inclined to use it.

Although we have a couple of spaces in a hedge that run adjacent from our estate to the footpath the other side which lead to the shops. One lady regularly cuts the hedge back so she can continue to use the gap through the hedge instead of walking 50 yards up the road to an actual footpath which leads from our estate to the path.

This is from Google maps. (Zoomed in to miss off names). The no mans land looks really wide between the houses, but isn’t due to the garden boundaries.

The other houses are accessed by drives that don’t appear on the map. The ‘official' road and path show a clear gap.

The fact that the previous owner didn't mind does not make it a right of way. It is possible to keep your rights over your land but still let people use it regularly.

Speak to your solicitor. It should be possible. But don't do your long-wait-for-people-to-forget plan. That won't work. People have long memories. Grandparents teach their shortcuts to grandchildren. Get it sorted asap.

I don’t know whether this is more or less clear...