To remove neighbours bins from my back garden

[Bindrama]

For background we bought a house a year ago but completed some renovations before moving in and so haven’t lived here for very long. Neighbours have lived in the house next door for over 30 years. They have decided to keep two of their three bins in our back garden (outside their back gate in a little nook against their wall but very much on our land) and will not move them.

They say they’ve earned a right of way by prescription through our garden to take their bins out. For various reasons I don’t believe this to be correct but it would be outing to expand.

They have direct access to the road from their own garden and a massive amount of land (5 times the size of ours). Title plans on the land registry are very clear as landmarks are obvious and there are no such recognised easements in the deeds.

Even if they were to obtain a formal right of way across our garden surely this doesn’t give the right to keep their bins here?

AIBU to just move them? I’m worried about formal consequences mainly.

Put a fence up on your side of the boundary, move their bins to their property. Let them try and prove that they have had that right for the past 20 years. That will be difficult for them on the basis that the previous owner has said via solicitor before completion that they never obtained the right, and that the previous tenant has died

@Londongent

Put a fence up on your side of the boundary, move their bins to their property. Let them try and prove that they have had that right for the past 20 years. That will be difficult for them on the basis that the previous owner has said via solicitor before completion that they never obtained the right, and that the previous tenant has died

• and they also have access to the road through their own property.

I haven’t posted about this before. I rarely post, mainly just comment!

@RealBecca Most of me thinks it’s a lot of worry about nothing but I really don’t want to deal with a legal challenge if it can be avoided.

Absolutely sounds like they just think they have more right to be there and do as they want than you do. It's just astounding that these people think this is ok. Move the bins and lock the gate!

Absolutely love the PPs idea of growing a nice thick prickly native hedgerow across the gate

Please do not burn the bins. My house was damaged a few months ago to the tune of nearly €11,000 by a fire in the neighbouring apartment block's bins. Said bins were unlocked in an unlocked shed and way too near my house and the apartment block. Only for my daughter was awake at 5am (thank you Covid 19) I might not be not be here now. The flames even reached up to the fascia of the 3 storey apartment block! Now there is a Chief Fire Prevention Officer, and a New Management Company involved and my insurers have asked their solicitor to look into recovering money from the Block Insurers for the Apartment. Just move the fecking bins off your land OP.

Ask then to move them or launch them into the street. They are total CF’s. What are they going to do for an encore ask you to store their dirty laundry?! I’m guessing the previous occupiers of their house didn’t stand up to them. Oh well, they need to learn now

Put bin locks on their bins?

There’ll be no burning bins. I’ve been paranoid about moving never mind anything else! Sorry to hear about that @Hollyhobbi sounds horrible.

I would fence the front of your garden to the road off, with lockable gates - and keep them locked when you are out. Pop their bins their side and get a fence put inside the current fence, blocking off the gate.

I’d get in touch with council or land registry and check if they do have a right of access and if not then block the entrance

They sound like cats pissing on territory.

Weird, controlling and plain odd. They have a property with entrances etc. No need for them to use yours. I'd fence the whole lot off. Twats.

items on your land that aren't yours, you don't want them.
Bit inconvenient, but why not take them to the tip?
and lock the gates/secure your property.

Just use the bins. They're on your property - oh look, more bins. Very handy. They'll soon move them. I can't even see from your diagram why they've chosen to put them on your land when they have space of their own!

I would move them into the main road and leave them!

And put a fence up in front of the gate! TS for the CF neighbours

How stressful for you. I agree that you should wait until you have installed CCTV then remove the bins and prevent gate from opening.

Can you get some livestock so they have to dodge animals and poo if they want to walk the bins out across your land? A couple of pigs or even just some chickens might do it.

@BrummyMum1 - livestock, seriously? OP should go through all the time and huge expense to learn animal husbandry and along with their busy jobs and house renovations, commit to owning and keeping livestock? They will need to fence the livestock in so why not just put the fence up without turning their garden into a farm? Good grief.

Lol this has got to be up there re Cf's.Looks like the gate is there for the ease of YOUR property having access to the road in multiple ways. They've just taken the massive P by sticking their bins in your garden.
For now I would def get a lock for top and bottom of the gate screw it in and lock them with bins on there side...
just do it, nothing they can do, I've had a boundary dispute and they won't go there, they're just marking territory like a bunch of Tom cats...

Block their access (both via the gate and the road side.

Put up cctv.

Have your solicitor write them a letter explaining the don’t have access rights and trespassing will be firmly dealt with.

It’s also worth having your community liaison police officer over. You need to explain you don’t want trouble and you’ve had low level issues with the neighbours already. In fact you’ve had to install cctv because of it. They’ll have a nice friendly chat with them.

I know you want to avoid the legal route but the result is you look weak to the neighbour and they’re ignoring you. Sharp action now on multiple fronts: legal, social and physical deterrents and they’ll probably behave civilly even if they hate you.

So the two properties were previously owned by a single person? I wonder if this makes a difference to the neighbour's ability to gain a right of easement? As in there was no legal reason previously for the neighbours NOT to use the land as they were part of the same property or some such explanation.

We have legal insurance but everybody warns against to avoid going down this route.

Don't be scared, it doesn't mean you are headed directly to court. I've used min and when you first call then they talk through options with you eg writing a letter and what to put.

Property solicitor here. It may well be a real right of way acquired by prescription that isn't on the seeds. I would though, write a polite letter from a solicitor. State that of course you are willing to honour any legal right of easement acquired and would be grateful for the details of this, give them a deadline and state that unless they have provided you with the details you will be securing your boundary from x date.

As the deeds show no such right and that the bit where they are storing their bins is yours, Just move the bins back when you are ready to block the gate with a fence and lock the gate leading onto the road.

This is like a property I used to know in the West Yorkshire area, you're not on a road that starts with W right?

@Ohtherewearethen obviously not a serious suggestion 😂 must remember to always put one of these if joking