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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to padlock my gate?

252 replies

KTMP16 · 26/05/2022 15:26

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!

OP posts:
Justbefair · 27/05/2022 18:53

Oh my word, need to padlock big time! Yes that's intrusive and unnecessary. They will soon get used to using their front door like the rest of the world! Just because they used to do it doesn't mean they still have to! Would NOT want that, I'm not confrontational either either but when it comes to unfairness and affecting personal living...

JayAlfredPrufrock · 27/05/2022 18:54

😂🙄😂🙄😂🙄😂

BiscoffAnythingIsTheWayForward · 27/05/2022 18:58

My house is the same. I am the end. The right of way is usually for access and is commonly accepted for things like bins, carrying large items of furniture that can’t go through the front for example. If my ndn started using the access like this it would annoy the hell out of me too. I’d say to him unless he shuts the gate behind him, you’ll be forced to keep it locked so you child doesn’t get out.

My neighbour has a gate between us and him because we put it in. Again because of the kids (my youngest is autistic and a runner so everything has to be secure or he will just exit the garden and run off). He has to pass our kitchen window and down the side of our house (where technically he passes our front door) and then up the driveway and through our gate on to the road. He’s only ever used it to take the lawn mower through to the front a few times when we moved in. Since then he takes it through his house tbh. I’d feel weird constantly walking through someone else’s garden and past their windows.

BiscoffAnythingIsTheWayForward · 27/05/2022 18:59

Forgot to add we have a gate the other side too so our back garden is completely secure. This gate bolt from the inside

diddl · 27/05/2022 19:06

I think it's odd that if they have access they didn't just tell Op that she can't just lock it.

Even if they do have access you'd hope that hey would show some consideration & only use it when really necessary.

HappyinChester · 27/05/2022 19:20

Put the padlock back on when they put the bins out next time. Say you’re worried about security. He can keep the bins in the front. As long as they don’t have right of access then your house your rules

Johnnysgirl · 27/05/2022 19:23

HappyinChester · 27/05/2022 19:20

Put the padlock back on when they put the bins out next time. Say you’re worried about security. He can keep the bins in the front. As long as they don’t have right of access then your house your rules

Now if only there was a way for op to find out if they have right of way... 🤔

Solonge · 27/05/2022 19:27

You may well have an unsolvable problem now….they will have been using it for years and probably established a right of way. Bottom line….tell them you are worried about burglars and decided to put up a conifer hedge straight along the fence and gate.

SlightlyGeordieJohn · 27/05/2022 19:29

cookielucylou · 27/05/2022 18:02

We lived in a house EXACTLY like that, it was a nightmare. They used it for daily access including riding a motorcycle through it, like yours path was right next to the house which was so loud especially as our bedroom was at the back and they would often wake us up.
I did complain about the motorbike in the end as it was driving me nuts and they then started keeping it in their front garden. Unfortunately though it was a right of access so nothing could be done about them leaving the gate unlocked all day, felt like it took all of our privacy and security.

You could have put a spring closer and a lock, and given them a key.

user1472151176 · 27/05/2022 19:54

This post has totally taken back to my childhood. We used to live in a mid terrace and had a right of access through our neighbours garden. Never even thought how intrusive that must have been. We were all very good friends thankfully and this was back in the 80's. We used our front door mostly but we did at times find it easier to go through the neighbours garden, especially as our front door opened straight into our lounge. Imagine a wet dog and young children with bikes piling through the front door. Hope you get it sorted.

Purplepurse · 27/05/2022 21:15

I live in a mid terrace. I have to walk right past my neighbours kitchen and dining room window. I pass within inches of them to get to the gate. I have an absolute right to do so and they have no power what so ever to stop me. It is written very clearly into our deeds. This is for all of you some how doubting this.We are considerate neighbours and are on very friendly terms with next door but I need to use that right of way for bikes , bins etc and I do so.
If people do not like this they should not rent or buy a house with this type of access rights.

Bethieboo · 27/05/2022 21:25

That is so annoying. As you've already asked them a few times and they know it annoys you, personally I'd wait for them to put their bins out the front on bin day then lock the gate. I'd also buy one of those planters with a high trellis attached to put in front of the garden divide gate. Then I wouldn't answer the door for a while 😁

toastfairy · 27/05/2022 21:31

It may sound hostile but you should investigate if they have a right to do this with a landlord / solicitor. Such things can be attached to the deeds of a house e.g. if it's their only outdoor access to their garden.

If you know for sure that there is no such covenant then I see no problem with padlocking / replacing the gate with fence.

Greenshed · 27/05/2022 21:32

My first thought is keep it locked, keep them out, they’ve been used to using it in the past, but unless it’s a right of way you are well within your rights to keep it locked, so do just that. I certainly wouldn’t want strangers walking past my front window. However, check it out first and if it proves to be they don’t have the right of way, then keep them out, don’t let them push you over.

toastfairy · 27/05/2022 21:33

purplepurse

"I have an absolute right to do so and they have no power what so ever to stop me. It is written very clearly into our deeds."

yes this is the sort of thing I was thinking of...

HoobleDooble · 27/05/2022 21:50

I live in a Victorian terrace and not only do I have access rights over my nextdoor neighbour's yard to take my bins to the pavement, but we actually have legal access rights to go up to the end of each other's gardens ... probably dates back to having shared toilets/wash houses up there (long gone except for evidence of some foundations). There isn't even an actual legal boundary down the garden but it's now divided by a fence and gate due to a former neighbour getting a dog. I use the path round the house as and when I want but always make sure I close the gate. My previous neighbour used to chain and padlock the gate leading onto the pavement but everyone in the terrace had a key for it.

Johnnysgirl · 27/05/2022 22:00

HoobleDooble · 27/05/2022 21:50

I live in a Victorian terrace and not only do I have access rights over my nextdoor neighbour's yard to take my bins to the pavement, but we actually have legal access rights to go up to the end of each other's gardens ... probably dates back to having shared toilets/wash houses up there (long gone except for evidence of some foundations). There isn't even an actual legal boundary down the garden but it's now divided by a fence and gate due to a former neighbour getting a dog. I use the path round the house as and when I want but always make sure I close the gate. My previous neighbour used to chain and padlock the gate leading onto the pavement but everyone in the terrace had a key for it.

That sounds like an original shared garden that two people agreed to separate.

Original poster
KTMP16 · 27/05/2022 23:07

UPDATE - no right of access.... 100& CF as suspected.... padlock purchased! 😎

Thanks for the help everyone :-)

OP posts:
AhhSlippedOnMahBeansRitaaa · 27/05/2022 23:18

I couldn't cope with this either OP.
A house on my street has right of access just to get to the house in general.
There is one set of steps up from the street to the two houses but everyone must pass the front door/living room and across the front garden of the first house just to get to the second.
It must drive them mad as the second house has multiple adults in and out all day.

Also most of the houses are semi detached with back gardens but no back door. Just two front doors, one the main and the other on the outhouse. We got patio doors as soon as we could but coped 5 years without.

IncompleteSenten · 27/05/2022 23:23

Good.
Now you just need to stay firm.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 28/05/2022 00:20

That's good news, I think I'd suggest to your landlord that it would be better to replace the gate with a fence panel - if people use an access for long enough it creates a legal right of access, and that would devalue the ll's house.

k1233 · 28/05/2022 01:15

Might not be right of access but is the gate for fire safety? Where I live mid courtyards have a gate to their neighbours for access in emergencies. If you are unable to leave via the front of your property and have to go out the back, how are you going to get to safety if you are fenced in? If they have another gate to exit via, then ok, but if not I'd be concerned padlocking the gate.

Wheelz46 · 28/05/2022 07:38

I know you have checked with the landlord and have confirmed what you were hoping for, however it doesn't sound like the landlord is meeting fire regulations, I maybe wrong though!

My Aunt and Uncle lived in an end terrace with the mid terrace having right have access through their back garden, which passed their kitchen.

The right of access was largely for the fire safety, if a fire broke out at the front of the mid terrace, they would need to get out through the back and exit to safety. If you close off their exit point, they are then in an extremely vulnerable situation. When escaping a fire, the last thing anyone would want to do is start kicking down a fence!

Bumtum126 · 28/05/2022 08:24

Wheelz46 · 28/05/2022 07:38

I know you have checked with the landlord and have confirmed what you were hoping for, however it doesn't sound like the landlord is meeting fire regulations, I maybe wrong though!

My Aunt and Uncle lived in an end terrace with the mid terrace having right have access through their back garden, which passed their kitchen.

The right of access was largely for the fire safety, if a fire broke out at the front of the mid terrace, they would need to get out through the back and exit to safety. If you close off their exit point, they are then in an extremely vulnerable situation. When escaping a fire, the last thing anyone would want to do is start kicking down a fence!

I doubt that anything was ever written down on the deeds or elsewhere at your Auntie house about the access being related to fire safety. Did you ever see anything or was it what they told you ? Loads of terrace housing have no access to either sides gardens.

maddening · 28/05/2022 08:36

If they have right of access i would set up a chain or string that created a path around the back of the garden, they have right of access but not to wander as they wish imo. Ideally their gate would be at the end of their garden and go along the back and down the side away from the house. If I owned I would have created an alley rather than unfettered access to the whole garden.