Neighbours with access through our garden....

[Ishacoco]

We've only just moved and they're ghastly. Moaning about everything from where we park our cars, to what time our gates get closed, to when we draw our curtains - you get the idea.

Now, they have pedestrian access through our garden from the back door of theirs through ours, to the street. They use this to take their bins through, wheelbarrows, etc.

My question is - does having pedestrian access mean they're allowed to do this? Or is it literally supposed to be them walking through the garden? I'm only curious because they seem to be using it as a chance to be nosy and scowl at us if we're in the garden. It's a real pain!

I think you need to check the deeds - has the landlord said you can't park on your drive?

We have a path with a right of way across our front garden - we aren't allowed to prevent access, but I would laugh at anyone trying to tell me I couldn't use my garden. People can walk around whatever I'm doing!

They are taking the piss - having a right of way over your drive doesn’t mean you can’t park on it. They just have to walk around you.

Honestly, walk away. These neighbours won’t get any better. But tell your seller why.

Do not buy it. You can’t fix morons like this. When you move out, tell the owner why you don’t
want to buy it. But I’d avoid telling owner sooner because you may get kicked out if s/he knows you aren’t buying it.

Download the title register and plan from the gov.uk Land Registry website. It'll cost you £6 for the two. See what is actually stated there. You can obtain next door's title register too and see what that states.

These kinds of rights of access are very common and it sounds as though the neighbours have had to assert those rights as your landlord hasn't told you about them.

Once you have the land registry information you can post about them for advice - it might be that the route across your garden can be limited for example.

Having ROW surely doesn’t mean a right to total and immediate access 24/7 - it should just mean when necessary, eg for taking bins through?
And it shouldn’t mean their ROW trumps your right to privacy and to use the space yourself, eg parking on your own drive?

I wouldn't take what your neighbours are telling you as the truth. Do as pp's have said and get the deeds to both your and their house and see what they say with regards to right of access, then go from there

What do the owners say? What do the deeds say?
but if they’ve had access do a certain number of years that can have an impact too
id steer clear tbh

My daughters is in the middle of an old heave of cottages. All residents have right of way along the path that runs next to everyone's back door. And yes, there's no restrictions. It can be used any time, and though there are gates between each house's back garden, they can't be locked.

None uses that access for anything other than taking their bins to the end of the terrace, or any other practical reason (So delivery people use it if they're leaving a parcel at someone's back door (the front doors are directly onto the pavement).

The drive thing is complicated. We need a diagram. And yes, £6 to get access to the deeds is money well spent.

"An old terrace of cottages" even

This is two seperate issues.

They have right of way. You have no right to stop them or interfere with their ability to come through.

BUT you also have the right to tell them where to go if they act in any way judgemental etc. The same way you would tell someone to do one out in public life.

Regardless it sounds like you made a brilliant decision to rent before you buy. Pass this problem back to the owner. In fact you might want to look at ending the rental early unless YOUR LANDLORD speaks to them and tells them to reel it in. Its not your issue, its your Landlords issue and they have more incentive than most to sort it out

Of course you can park in your parking area, as long as you park in such a way that access remains for the neighbours. It's typically a one metre wide "path", so basically covers the wheelie bin or a wheelbarrow. Historically it was the average width of a horse's backside! So if you keep a one metre wide strip of land around your parked car, you're not blocking their access.

No, a right of access DOES mean 24/7 without restriction. That's the whole point of it.

Maybe I should have included the word reasonable 🤔
24/7 without restriction means unreasonable people could, technically, spend all day every day just sitting in it if they felt like it?

It is one of those things where it depends on your neighbour. We have right of access through our neighbours garden. I only ever use it for oil deliveries and if I have something massive that won't fit through the front door. If they are in, I usually knock and ask even though I don't technically have to.

You can't block the right of way, so you couldn't sit on it. But a right of way can be used anytime by anybody- so friends, deliveries etc. Unless if course the deeds state otherwise.

They could walk up and down slowly all day long if the wanted, they just couldn't stop or keep anything on it, eg a bin

OP - just something worth noting when you get your title copy. If it's an older property you may also need to get a copy of documents filed (probably the first conveyance of the property). If it's a newer property then the full wording will be extracted onto the register. But either way it's easy to do and cheap so do that asap so you know how far they are being CFers

A right of way, is exactly that, a "right of way", so people have the right to pass through it. It doesn't give anyone a right for anyone to actually stop and park themselves (or their vehicles, skips, rubbish or whatever) on it. They basically have to keep moving as it's a "right of way" from one place to another.

It doesn't give anyone a right for anyone to actually stop and park themselves

No, but it does trump the right to privacy and to use the space yourself, eg parking on your own drive if it means that their right of way is blocked.

Run a mile OP! There are plenty of houses that have no right of access (and nice neighbours). I’d never buy a house with access like this. I’ve rented in a house that had the right to go over the neighbours garden. I only used it to carry bins as that in my opinion is why its there. However the person who lived there after me let their builders use the access and the builders accidentally trashed my old neighbours garden 😢

Ishacoco
Damn. It's actually a property that we're renting with a view to buying. It was for sale and we love it, but not sure about the location so the owner agreed to a six month rental period (it wasn't selling at the price it was on for). Such a shame that the neighbours are being like this.

My very first house had a shared access and I had the neighbour from hell. I swore then that shared access of any description would be an absolute dealbreaker for me. It’s awful when you like the house but I really wouldn’t buy it. Even if you had a good neighbour there’s always the chance they will move.

DIAGRAM!

does the person selling know this. I bet they bloody do.....its not the house for you

I am sorry for you.
So many times I see on MN that people are having trouble with their neighbours so they are advised they should just move. No consideration for the next buyers/renters.

My parents had a house with a right of way access through the back. It drove my dad nuts and he swore never again for any kind of shared access.

If your garden isn't overlooked by the road I suggest making friends with lots of nudist swinging pensioners and inviting them to use your garden a lot. And if they're looking through your windows, cover them up with pages from pornographic magazines.