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...

The was at the Canadian homeowner!

I think I need to speak to the solicitor on Monday, then go from there.

Some good ideas, though! I might start to leave stuff on it...

Have you got your searches from when you bought the house? You need to look at the local authority search, and then look for Q. 2.2 which will advise you of any public rights of way. If the response is no or none, then it's not an official footpath. Therefore you can block it off... I think you'd then need to wait and see if anyone disputed it and could be bothered to take the matter further, but I doubt anyone will!

Tricky one. H9w long did the previous owner allow this to happen?

Look at the house info pack you were given - it should be on the plan if you need to keep it as a path. Survey should have mentioned it too. Defo check up and try and cut it off if you can.

It doesn't automatically become a public right of way after 20 years. At the point you block it off (if you do) someone is entitled to challenge you and apply to have it made into a definitive right of way. They need to make an application, collect evidence and witness statements showing it had been in CONTINOUS use for 20 years. They also have to serve you notice and also notice on the owner of the no-man's land (which might prove difficult). I'd just fence round it and see what happens.

Fence it off and see what happens. Any chance of talking to the old owners?

I would also make a paththan runs around the edge of your garden and fence inside it. You'd lose a foot of land but you wouldn't have people walking diagonally across your garden.

Did you actually see the house before you bought it, OP? Or was it an auction sale? Surely the big hole in the boundary and lack of any fence would have raised the alarm?

Having a public right of way across your property is a really big issue, when you think of the much smaller issues solicitors raise in house purchases. There are clear questions about rights of access in the sellers questionnaire.

I think if you have just moved in you have an opportunity to change it. Can you put a fence across with a small "private" sign pretty soon and maybe some large plants in pots at the other end.

Then you can nail a smile on your face and cheerfully say to all your neighbours "Oh yes I know XX didn't mind people walking through but it turns out it's not a right of way and I just don't feel comfortable with people walking through my garden - would you?" . Have to warn you if you live in a village this might be a Those Newcomers Changing Everything issue so pre-empt it with a charm offensive!

First thing is to check on the Definitive Map for your area to see if it's marked as a footpath (your local library should have a copy). If it is not, then you have every right to block it off. However, if you do, someone could come forward and claim a right of way, using the 20 year rule.

How long were previous owners there?

we had this in Yorkshire, the access had to legally remain open. It took several years and many arguments in court and several thousand pounds to settle.

Am amazed this was only picked up after you bought the house. You definitely need to speak to your solicitor on Monday .

On a positive note, twenty odd years ago we took a massive gamble and bought a new house on a golf course development. It was much cheaper than the others and only affordable to us because of a footpath that had been forgotten about and went diagonally across our back garden.

The golf club and the developers had made a mistake and then spent a couple of years and thousands legally rerouting the “forgotten” path to a safer part of the course away from our house .

In the mean time the local rambling group discovered this proposal and exercised their right to use it most weekends . We just smiled and waved as they passed. All was eventually sorted and when we sold up a couple of years later when it was all sorted and official we made a fortune

There are ways to sort this, don’t give up hope

It’s not marked as a right of way on any of the official documents.

The reason I’m putting a fence round is because there is no obvious boundary - it’s all more or less open on all sides apart from the hedge, but the hedge at the front separates the garden from a bit of a drop onto the public land. There’s a clear path to the boundary at the front of the house, then there’s a garden path that runs in front of the house, to the side and to the back of the house (that when I looked this morning is not a compacted gravel, but definitely stuck together, like a very rough cement - but not). People walk along the path, onto the garden path, then cut across a patch of garden to the no mans land. They go this way to ge to the other road. Other gaps in the garden lead to other gardens.

Most don’t have fences - I was more worried about being one of the first to erect a fence. It didn’t even cross my mind that it was a cut through otherwise I would have flagged it up.

I’ve decided to at least put gate posts and house number at the boundary- a gate could be added later. That should at least flag up that they are entering a garden.

Sounds like a good plan

Did you ask the solicitor?

This sounds like a pain but doubt it's an official pathway - hope your solicitor has helped you

Another one wondering what the solicitor said?

Prickly Pear bushes!!

when were the new houses built (either side of no-mans land? If it's less than 20 years, that's your answer: the cut-through can't have existed that long.

OP we moved into a house that was on a main road with amenities. At a later stage houses were built behind ours and for them to walk to the shop on the main road they had to walk around our row, taking about 20 minutes, whereas from our row to the shop it was just across the road. The previous owners of our house give permission for many of the families in the row behind to walk through our back garden, down the path into the front garden and onto the road. It was much easier and quicker for them to access the shop and bus stop. We didn't know this at the time and we didn't realise it as out at work all day, but one p!dad and summer we had loads of teens using it and when confronted they all said 'Number X gave us permission'. We erected a fence between the house and garage which blocked the path. This was obviously legal but did not go down well at all with the cutters-through, who felt most entitled for their extended family and friends to use it.

As a PP said, if the old owners gave permission for others to use it as cut through then there is no prescriptive right. You'll just need to get the old owners to sign a statuary declaration to that effect (which they should be happy to do so since not declaring this during the sale process means you are entitled to the cost difference between what you paid, and what the house is worth with a right of way through it). Once you have the stat dec in place, you can happily fence in knowing any challenge will fail. (You might also want to write a contemporaneous note to yourself about exactly what your neighbour said about the previous occupants 'allowing' this.)

just remember that if you are going to fence this off you need to do the front and back of the house.

It won't be long before they start using what looks like next doors drive way and walking across the back of the house.