AIBU to padlock my gate?

[KTMP16]

Im the last in a row of houses so mines a semi and iv a sidegate....
So my problem is my next door neighbour (and often his kids) will leave the back of their house...casually stroll through my garden and out of my gate, leaving it unlocked for when they come back.

They seem to just think they have the right to do it - theres a gate in the fence (there before i moved in) its just feels so intrusive and I dont know what to do im not a confrontational person. I did padlock it in the past and say i didnt want it unlocked as my young kid would spy his chance to leg it. They just kept knocking on every other day with a plea for me to undo it for them for one reason or another so i gave up. I dont understand why they cant use their own front door?! It doesnt make things quicker!

The guy has literally just walked past my window wheeling his bike and Im fuming and thought id turn to the wise people of mumsnet for advice!

Sorry but why did you unlock it in the first place?! You’ve been a pushover. Padlock it now, and just don’t unlock it! If they ask tell them to use their own front door. This is so so easily solved

Do they have a right of access?

firstly - need a diagram 😂 it’s MN law

but secondly - as long as it’s not an access right for them - lock the gate and ignore them!

Padlock it and refuse to open or change the gate for a fence panel?

i can’t understand how people allow shit like this!

How are they getting into your garden?

Stop being a doormat and lock it. Honestly how do people end up in these situations?!

If they don't have a legal right of access, replace the gate with a fence.

You need to check they don’t have a legal right of access. It’s fairly common in those setups that there is. If you lock it how do they get their bins out?

There's a chance that if there's a gate in the fence and they've been using that route then they may have a right to continue doing so. They may have an "easement", or have acquired a right of way by some other means.

But unless you're already aware of that, I would put a padlock on the gate, and only take it off again if they produce something proving their entitlement to use it.

You need to check the deeds of your house to see if there is an easement. If there is no legal requirement to allow access (sometimes there is in terraced houses - normally older houses) then either padlock the gate or even better, get it replaced with a fence panel. That would do my head in too !!!

Your options are not between silence and confrontation, there is a wide spectrum of possibilities in between.

If they don't have right of access - as you haven't mentioned this but it is an important point - then you're fine to padlock it, then when he knocks on smile nicely and say sorry, but I want to use the garden so that won't be possible.

Is there no fence between your and their garden? Can you block the access from their backdoor to your garden?

I can't quite picture how they're getting into your garden to your gate unless there's nothing dividing the gardens. If it's your gate and they have no right across that land then definitely padlock it although it could cause problems with deliveries and such if it's the only access. I have a bolt on my gate that seems to stump delivery drivers all the time.

Diagram needed!

If there’s a gate in between your properties and a gate at the other end of your garden it sounds likely that there is a legal right of way across. Which is probably why they knocked for you to unlock it. Check with your deeds or your landlord if rented. They’re probably using it to keep the right of way legal, and because it’s easier to take a dirty bike to the back door rather than through the house.

Does he have a right of access through your garden? Some terraces do. When I was looking at cottages, some had rights of access through the other gardens. Must be really annoying.

My neighbours did this. They did not have right of access to the area where they put the gate.

Pyracantha sorted that out quickly

Ahhhh im usually a lurker this is my first post

Totally right about me being a pushover i was a single woman with a newborn when i moved in and i just felt intimidated tbh. They've always acted like they have the right to do it unquestioned!

The issue of bins annoys me... wheels them through so early on bin day and waking up my entire house ! They have space to keep them at the front!

Picture!

We need a diagram. Put the lock back on the gate and don't answer the door when they knock.

How do they get from their house to your gate. Is there nothing separating the two boundaries, hedge, fence?

Also you need to check access rights as if they have a right of access across your garden to the gate then there's not a lot you can do. If they don't, ask them to stop and padlock the gate again

Check your deeds, I suspect they have a right of access as the mid terrace. That might be purpose specific, but check first before getting difficult

If there is an existing gate in the fence to both sides it seems very likely that they have a legal easement to cross your garden. It’s particularly common in old semis. I’d check your deeds, although if the crossing has been used for more than twenty years there might be a prescriptive easement in place.

Your options vary depending on whether they have any legal access rights.

Do you own or rent? If you own it then this sort of thing should have come up on a survey