Shared access to front of house - how much of a problem

[FermatsTheorem]

House hunting - seen really nice semi. Being sold by the couple who own the other half (they bought it as an investment to do up and sell on, I think).

Only problem is that whole frontage is tarmacked and they have the (slightly naive IMO) idea that it would be lovely to share this space - parking space each, third bit in the middle for when either of us has visitors.

Now I think this is a legal nightmare in the making - custom and habit will establish right of access, and I wouldn't be able to sell it. (They've only just done the tarmacking, so nothing will have been established yet).

How do I politely convince them that actually we do need a wall down the middle even if this means less parking space?

(Estate Agent says they're open to a discussion, so what I want is help framing my arguments as diplomatically as possible, and making sure I come across as a nice person you'd actually want as a neighbour, just one with sensible concerns about the legal position which need ironed out before we proceed.)

I would stay clear. Sounds like a nightmare.

PS DS just said "so what you're telling me is most grownups are territorial like terriers." That's about the size of it.

Lots of houses where I am have this set up, but effectively own 50% of the drive each (no fence/ wall) seems to work ok. That way you’re both responsible for your own side in terms of maintenance etc

It would be the repair and maintenance that would bother me, not the access itself if that makes sens e

Wouldn’t fancy any kind of shared driveway. Just a recipe for trouble and frustration.

Why would it be shared? Surely it would be owned 50/50 down an invisible ‘line’ where the houses join?

You could put an offer in but only on the condition the driveway is halved and there is no shared access

I wouldn't even go there tbh. Sounds like they'd struggle to give up ownership and think they'd still have a say in what you did with it.

Yup, I'm not sure it's worth the effort. Just it's a lot of house for the money in an ok area. Looking at some more houses over the weekend, so fingers crossed (one has no parking so that sidesteps that issue ).

Thanks for the input!

I would never consider buying a property with shared access. It’s a total nuisance and even if you get on with your neighbours there’s always the risk they could move and you end up with neighbours who are not considerate

Who gets priority when both houses have visitors? Nah, you’re just asking for encroachment on your property. There needs to be a clear boundary even if it’s just a painted line or narrow groove down the middle.

We share with my neighbour and it's never once caused us an issue - she owns the entire driveway because previous owner decided to have a larger garden than a wider drive so took their half. We both drive up the same part and she goes straight forward into her space and we go left into ours (in front of our garages) and have space for 3 cars.

She also lets us park in her space because there's only 1 of her.

The wall also belongs to her but we're re-rendering our whole house and other boundary walls so are doing her part too, she's offered to pay but we won't hear of it.

It really wouldn't put me off but then, I suppose I've only had good experience with a neighbour.

We have a shared access drive, but private parking on our driveways so not too much scope for drama. It could be awkward if it gets to the stage of tarmac needing replacement but it's sound now and probably has a good couple of decades in it. We're on the second set of neighbours and we both look likely to stay put for the long term. Negotiations over the shared fence have always been pleasant and the rare occasions of something like a delivery affecting access have always been smooth.

Not a jot of AIBU fodder

I wouldn’t.

do not do it

We have our own part of the drive and shared access to garage...we've lived her 8 years and we've been able to access our garage for three months out of that as next door has blocked it off with 8 cars

Recipe for disaster - avoid!

I'm 32 and just sniggered at "seen really nice semi".

As you were.

Curly alas at my age I can't remember the last time I saw that sort of semi, or even flaccid.

But I'm sadly coming round to the idea that this is not the one... Keep looking, I guess.

If it’s shared then technically they (or a future owner) could fill the entire drive with their cars, or with a huge Winnebago, or a skip, or an old banger that never moves, etc. You’d have no parking at all and there’d be nothing you could do about it. I’d insist on the space being legally split down the middle, even if it’s only on the deeds and there’s no physical barrier.