Deeply unpleasant neighbour with right of way over our land.

[05884124807521689064216a]

Sorry this is in the wrong topic. Couldn't find a legal section. Any lawyers about, I would appreciate some guidance. Having difficulty finding the right person as it involves mild harassment and a right of way. I've tried to condense but it's clearly not my strong point.

We recently moved into a home accessed by a lane belonging to a farmer. We have access over the farmer's part of the lane and he has right of way over the part of the lane on our land. It's the only way he can access the fields at the end of the lane. The lane ends on our land, with a field. The farmer ceremoniously drives up the lane every Sunday afternoon and reverses slowly back, without acknowledging us. Strange but fine. Beside our home is a cottage belonging to the farmer. It's occupied by a tenant of the farmer who is 'warden'. Technically he also has access over our land because he 'cares' for the land. (He doesn't care for the land, didn't care for the horses there over the winter and never needed to go down this lane until the weather got nice enough for walks, but that's beside the point). This warden seemed over-involved from the start and he's clearly lonely. He generated drama by encouraging us to go into one of the farmer's fields for a walk, then making out we were in trouble because we had done this. There were variations on this theme and we realised it was just drama being generated by someone who likes drama. Eventually we told him we would communicate directly with the farmer in future and we backed off. Then the trouble began.

We have to walk/ drive past his home to get to the road. He allows his dog to intimidate my children (who love dogs so this was quite difficult to achieve), rushes out with weedkiller if we walk down the lane, stands waiting for me at the top if I'm out on my own, throws our wheelie bins over the hedge and eventually blocked the lane completely with his car one night to rant at my partner. Much swearing, vague threats and apparently he has a side we don't want to see and we should feel warned. We haven't dealt with this before in our lives and yes, we felt threatened and worried.

He walks into the trajectory of my car when I drive past and then uses his outrage (because I don't slam the brakes on - why would I when he's not on the path?) to come and rage at us in front of the children as we're getting out of the car. He will 'accidently' swerve his wheelbarrow into our path as I'm walking the children up the lane. It seems mostly a cry for attention. He will now go and stand in our lane to have a smoke, just because he can. It doesn't sound like much and we've established that there's not enough here for police or civil action. Someone has mentioned a 'binding over of the peace' - does that sound like a possibility? We have horses, small children, dogs that could easily be harmed. I'm concerned he'll do something to my children's ponies and break their hearts. We found an elastic band around the neck of our dog the other day that had to be cut off by the vet and while it was probably our own fault, I hadn't seen that elastic band before. It's reached the point where we're quite happy for him to vandalise the wheelie bins if it keeps him occupied but obviously it's escalating because we continue to be a happy family going for walks and not bowing to him as monarch of the lane. I feel extremely stressed knowing he can pop up anywhere on our land and he doesn't stick to the lane, either. There's no point putting up a gate because he can just walk through it, as warden. He has also announced that if we meet his car when we're driving up the lane, we must reverse out onto the main road again if he's more than halfway up it. Sounds fair enough but the opening is on a blind corner that needs a mirror to get out with, even going the right way. I will not be reversing out of it but I'm concerned he'll scare the children and force us to abandon the car in the lane if we do meet him (it hasn't happened yet because he never goes anywhere).

So we're spending a fortune on CCTV, as the police advised, and keeping a harassment diary. We'd like to build a stone wall around the front of our property. It would be around 8 foot high and would border the part of the lane we own (which we're happy to write off for the sake of peace). It would cut off a great view but at this point, the only view we have is this man striding around anyway. I just want it all to stop. We spoke to the farmer to try and resolve this without a result. My partner has a condition that makes him vulnerable to COVID-19 if he's experiencing a flare-up and as these are related to stress, we'd like to move on from this issue as quickly as we can.

My questions:

• If you have right of way over a property for the purposes of caring for the land beyond, can you go there just to loiter and have a smoke?
  
• Is there a legal process whereby a judge could order that the lane be used for the purposes of accessing the land beyond only and not for going back and forth over our land (as he is currently doing)?
  
• Is there any legal reason why we wouldn't be able to build an 8 ft stone wall bordering the land on our own land? There would be no dwelling near it except our own home (and the warden's cottage, which is link detached to our farmhouse).
  
• Minor side issue - is the farmer within his rights to drive a half wild stallion up? He clearly can't get a headcollar on it and just drives it in front of him, at a gallop, from his quadbike. Without a heads up. Did I mention we have young children.
  
  I'll continue to hunt for the right solicitor to help with this but everyone seems to have experience of either right of way or harassment, but not both.
  
  Thanks so much if you have read this far.

[redastherose]

Your op isn't precisely clear but a right of way allows the person with the benefit to pass and repays but not to stop generally, however, you need to read your deeds to be sure. If he is the Farmers tenant or employee then you need to make the farmer aware of the harassment of his employee/tenant.

[AmICrazyorWhat2]

I don't have any legal advice to offer, but wanted to send and I'm also wondering whether there's any way that the farmer, as the landlord, can be legally obliged to deal with his nuisance tenant?

Keep gathering evidence that this person is harassing/threatening your family and and ask your solicitor what the farmer is legally obliged to do- I wouldn't be surprised if he has to address the situation (and a solicitor's letter might finally force him to). Good luck.

[BlankTimes]

I'd echo other posters' advice and say move if you can.

Despite you being 100% in the right, despite the fact he should not do all the things he's doing, despite it being the most galling thing in the world, if you stay and try to have a legal resolution, it will cost an absolute fortune and there are no guarantees that a Judge would support your side of the dispute. Some disputes much less complicated than yours have legal fees over £100,000 and have been brought by people who are "in the right" but the Court judgement has not reflected that.

Many times neighbour disputes are suggested to go to arbitration, often their resolution involves both parties still feeling aggrieved afterwards but then unable to proceed further.

He has also announced that if we meet his car when we're driving up the lane, we must reverse out onto the main road again if he's more than halfway up it

Maybe one way you could solve that, could you create a passing-place on the lane on your land ? It should stop the lunacy of being told you have to back down the lane.
Whilst you say he has a car at present, he's the sort to buy a larger vehicle and say the passing place is not big enough for him to pull over, so you may want to think ahead on that and make it a large one.

Sadly, no matter how right you are, his awful actions and deliberate vileness are going to make your lives a complete misery. You are always going to have to be vigilant about his actions you can see and hear or catch on CCTV, dashcams and bodycams, as well as his possible actions involving your horses and pets. That's no way for you and your family to have to live.

Cut your losses now before he escalates his behaviour.

It's not right and it's not fair that you should have to move and he "gets away with it", but it may save your and your family's mental and physical health and your bank-balance if you decide to leave.

[LucyLikesDiamonds]

This sounds terrifying OP, the farmer sounds unhinged, what a nightmare.

I can’t offer advice, the only saving grace is that you don’t yet own the property and even though it’s ideal for you & your family, I can only imagine the farmer’s behaviour escalating.

Good luck OP

[BlankTimes]

Crossposted with you OP, sorry, just ignore anything I've said that's not now relevant.

Couple of ideas.

Could you find out what the disagreement the Warden had with the previous owners was? It could possibly have resulted in a court case, so the local paper may have something about it in the archives.

If he was so vindictive and harassing to the previous owners, they should have declared that on their sale documents, can they be contacted and quizzed about what he did and why?

Could your family rent the house to a group of cage fighters tenants who wouldn't put up with his harassment and you rent somewhere else?

[SeaToSki]

I dont have any official legal knowledge, but we have had some success with stopping harassment by doing the following. (Im changing terms to your equivalents)

We notified the farmer in writing that his tenant was breaching the terms of the deeds and more importantly was subjecting us to harassment and intimidation in our own home. Potentially even engaging in criminal activity. We quoted the legal statutes that covered the matter. We then said that we had been advised that we could hold the farmer personally liable for the behaviour of his tenant if it continued after he (the farmer) had been officially notified. We continued that we would have no hesitation in suing the farmer if the harassment continued. We allowed a 14 day notice period for the farmer to convey the seriousness of the issue to the tenant.

It clearly scared the bejabbers out of our farmer and the tenant was brought to heel very quickly. There was a lot of glowering, but no further ‘action’. He also moved about 6 months later. We think the farmer just realised he couldn’t trust the tenant to continue to behave and so moved him on.

[VanGoghsDog]

You need to get the deeds and carefully check for covenants.

Re the wall, you might need to speak to the council. A hedge might be OK, perhaps with an electric fence running along the inside, not visible from the outside.....

Rights of way usually allow access, not standing around. But check the deeds.

It sounds to me as if someone has told the father that he needs to regularly access the right of way to keep it open, hence driving up and down it for no reason once a week. In reality he almost definitely doesn't need to do this to retain the right, and even if he did, regular does not mean frequent, once a year would do.

[Nitpickpicnic]

Guys like your farmer (& warden) always have their pressure points. You just need to find them. Then push hard, once. Find what would make the game less fun for them, within their self-interest. What do they prize, what do they fear?

Sometimes someone who seems so blatant and overt in their actions can cower like a scared puppy in the face of a (police) uniform. For some it’s the real prospect of expensive legal bills. For some, you need to get more creative.

Think about what you know about them, their lives. Not just their actions towards you. Figure out what language they speak, then go hard.

It takes less stress and effort to plan and strike once, than endlessly fear his next move as you try and live a normal family life.

Me? I’d be tempted to lay the groundwork for a few months of uber-nice neighbourly gestures. Be saccharine, send nice notes, offer to do shopping, drawings from the kids, casseroles. Keep pics, diary and copies of what you do. Bamboozle them with niceness. For a start, it’ll drive them crazy (might even give them a useful ‘allergy’ to you all).

Secondly, it builds a great story with the authorities, should they escalate.

Thirdly, any strike you make will catch them off-guard. They could back off on the strength of how crazy you look, or out of respect for your patience and strategy!

But I like a long-game, me.

[Cramitmaam]

Fingers crossed that he's pissed off enough people that he will mysteriously disappear one day

[Newuseroftheweek]

Gardenlaw has a section on rights of way. You could post there, although from a brief read of the above advice it will be broadly the same. The general message is to get away if you can, and try to manage your emotions if you can't and don't let it take over your life.
Or get legal and go hard! Maybe the farmer gives you another avenue to go down. Is he responsible for the actions of his employee?

[UnhappyMondays]

@Nitpickpicnic Antonia Montana

[Sittingontheveranda]

If a house is privately rented and the tenants of that house cause noise and disruption for their neighbours, my understanding was the owner of the property is held responsible.

In this case, surely legal letters should go directly to the farmer as he is responsible for the cottage the warden is living in. As the owner, he is the person who has the authority to say who lives in it.

I am not a solicitor. I think the farmer and warden are egging each other on. The warden is clearly unhinged and the farmer thinks he can't be touched as he isn't personally playing these games, so it is probably more in your interests to send legal letters to the farmer citing harassment. The farmer will also have more to lose financially. Money is often where it hurts so I'd investigate if you can go down this route seeking compensation for harassment and intimidation and legal costs.

[HappyBumbleBee]

@SeaToSki

I dont have any official legal knowledge, but we have had some success with stopping harassment by doing the following. (Im changing terms to your equivalents)

We notified the farmer in writing that his tenant was breaching the terms of the deeds and more importantly was subjecting us to harassment and intimidation in our own home. Potentially even engaging in criminal activity. We quoted the legal statutes that covered the matter. We then said that we had been advised that we could hold the farmer personally liable for the behaviour of his tenant if it continued after he (the farmer) had been officially notified. We continued that we would have no hesitation in suing the farmer if the harassment continued. We allowed a 14 day notice period for the farmer to convey the seriousness of the issue to the tenant.

It clearly scared the bejabbers out of our farmer and the tenant was brought to heel very quickly. There was a lot of glowering, but no further ‘action’. He also moved about 6 months later. We think the farmer just realised he couldn’t trust the tenant to continue to behave and so moved him on.

This 100% x
It's exactly what I was going to say!

[HappyBumbleBee]

@Sittingontheveranda yes x
If a house is privately rented and the tenants of that house cause noise and disruption for their neighbours, my understanding was the owner of the property is held responsible.

[Rosiemadras]

I've been through similar and got to the point that for the same if our mental health and well-being it was best to move. If selling you will have to disclose any disputes. It may have gone beyond that point, but if not I'd consider stepping back before it came to the point where you would have to disclose as that will obviously deter any purchaser.

[expat101]

I'm not in the UK but access our property via a RoW. On the title description for our property, it is stated exactly where the RoW begins and ends and who is liable for expenses and in what proportion.

The RoW is fenced off from the neighbour's property, despite the RoW being on their title as part of their land area. Unless we drive through a fence, we cannot drive ''all over'' their property, just the RoW. I would suggest the property owner of the house you currently live in, puts one up to alleviate this issue.

In our case, we and our guests can come and go freely for whatever reason we choose. I would like to think we are not a pain in the proverbial about vehicular access as appears in your post. However, there is another RoW next door for 3 other properties and there are people who seem to take the Micky moving multiple family members in. So instead of living next to three families, there is nearly double.

Re the horse, well surely that would be covered under the UK animal welfare act and if you have concerns then one of the larger animal welfare organisations or depts should be able to advise you if the farmer is handling the situation correctly. I have to say I am currently looking after some, and two have no clue as to personal distance. I take a crop with me when moving them. His way of handling this horse (and perhaps for somebody else) might be to be on the quad for self-protection. Too hard to tell from your post.

However I believe this property is not for you or your immediate family. You already feel unsettled. Why keep considering buying something when, frankly, you are already at a point of feeling unsafe and engaging with the police?

Life is too short, move on and find something better where you feel comfortable and at ease.

[cantfixstupid]

This all sounds truly awful. I am not a solicitor but my advice, if you are not able to move out, is to do the following.

1. Find out if your neighbour has any family. Who is his next of kin? I honestly think this chap has mental health issues. Some of the actions he has taken are well beyond just being a nuisance neighbour, he is actually potentially putting you and your family in danger.
2. Is the farmer the landlord? If so, speak to a solicitor and get advice about speaking to the farmer or sending a letter depending on what his obligations are regarding his tenant. This doesn't need to be a specialist solicitor, just one who can deal with nuisance neighbours.
3. Keep the police informed. Keep logging what's happening, times, dates, what was said and keep hold of any video/camera evidence you gather. Keep contacting the police. Ask them for a named officer to deal with the harrassment.

Overall I really would consider moving out. I understand the agreement you made about you purchasing the house but I suspect you made that commitment without knowing that your new neighbour was bonkers.

[Yeahnahmum]

Wtf??? Id call the police. This sounds hazzerdous and threatning. Get a security camera. AND MOVE ASAP

[MzHz]

Do you own the house?

What about House insurance- do you have legal cover?

We have a similar situation with our neighbours but have insurance who are paying for the legal fees to get it sorted. Our insurance is with N F U, and it’s included, but I don’t know if that’s the case for every insurance policy

Have you spoken to the Farmer? His tenant so he could do something about it perhaps? That may require going down the antisocial behaviour route and perhaps it’s possible to encourage the farmer to act that way?

[MzHz]

Sorry missed an update. Can the owner of the house access legal cover on the insurance?

Can previous occupant of house support you in your action via police to make a complaint to farmer/ police?

Have you reported the elastic band to police?

[Shoxfordian]

Tell your family member about how difficult it is to live there. Keep your harassment diary. Can you report him to the farmer? See if that helps at all

[Aliceinwanderland]

Agree with SeatoSki and HappyBumbleBee. The farmer is the tenant's employer, it seems, so needs to take ownership of this.

Could this be a deliberate strategy by the farmer/tenant to try to get you to move. Wondering if the farmer would want to buy your property? Especially now as it would presumably be cheap?

Also, could you set up a house alarm, around the perimeter of the property.

What type of breed of dog is it? If there is a risk the dog will hurt the children then I think the police should get involved.

[billybagpuss]

I don’t suppose the farmer would sell you the field at the end so the right of way Over the road is no longer necessary?

[laidbacklife]

The farmer will not want to lose any money over this. As others have said - he may well bring the tenant into line if he feels financially threatened. Could your surveillance also record that the warden is not actually doing his job? That might also make the farmer more receptive to your side of things.

[tara66]

The owner of the house may have been aware of this man's behaviour so this is your excuse to move. Don't buy it if the man continues there. You will not be allowed to build an 8ft wall - 6 ft. would be allowed probably.