AIBU to stop neighbours from using the steps at the side of my house as shortcut?

[thelongroad]

I genuinely can't decide whether saying something would be unreasonable or not.
Our house (blue) is next to the corner house (red). There is a new build next to us, consisting of 2 semis. The one right next to us is still empty, but just before Xmas a family moved into the other one (pink).

All the houses along our road have the front entrance along the front road, but can also be accessed from the back road (we have no garden, only parking spots for the cars). Neither the front nor the back are fenced off. Front road is a dead end, so nobody going past. Back road has occasional cars and kids walking to local school but otherwise nothing (rural village).

We own the bit between us and corner house (their land is fenced off all round). It's sloping downwards towards the back, and we've paved it and put in steps (grey lines) so we can walk from front to back of house. I've also got plants growing there and we have our firewood stack on the side.

Very occasionally kids who are playing on either road use our steps as a shortcut to the other road. This is ok. We've also had workmen ask to use it when they've been working on one road and needed to get to the other. Also fine.

However, since the new neighbours moved in, they have been using it ALL THE TIME for getting from the front to the back. They have a garage at the front of the house but park their 2nd car at the back. Clearly they have no way of getting into their house at the back (we put in a back door specifically for this purpose) so they using our steps to cut through instead of walking all the way around the corner house.

Now, the thing is that the steps go past our living/dining room, and I actually see them zipping past every time. If they look in they can see us too.

It's (irrationally?) annoying the fuck out of me that they seem to think they can just come onto my property because it's more convenient for them.
I've even blocked the bit a the front with a row of plant pots to make it slightly more obvious that it's not a public way, but they're still using it.

I can't decide if I'm being deeply unneighbourly and unreasonable in wanting them to stop using our steps. I know I can ask them to stop and they will have to (from a legal point of view) but should I? Why does this bother me so much??

Apologies that this is so long. I offer a diagram as compensation of you made it through!

Before dropping in a note or asking politely in person "Hi, the steps are part of our garden rather than a right of way, so please stop using them, thanks."... Throw a bucket of water on them. REALLY?????

There is space between my house and my next door neighbor. When I first moved in, I woke up one morning to a pick up truck right outside my window. They were using the area to back into to load something into the pick up. They weee only a few inches from my bedroom window. I couldn’t believe the gall. It happened a few other times. I ended up replacing the fence that separated the back gardens and extended it all the way to the front of the houses. No more waking up to trucks right outside my bedroom window. Some people like have no respect for anyone else.

😁😂

This,
Locked gate at the front and the back.
Key operated, just add one to each of your keyrings and keep a spare somewhere handy.
Whats on the other side of the pink house ?

Can’t you just puta gate at the back

You need to stop this trespassing ASAP. It could escalate when the flats are built/occupied, with regular incursions onto your property. In icy/snowy weather a trespasser could slip/fall on your steps and sue you. While you may have a defence, who wants the cost/bother/unpleasantness of a court case? In the immediate future, put up a PRIVATE PROPERTY/NO THOROUGHFARE/NO TRESPASSERS sign. You can get this type of sign personalised on eBay for less than £20.

If these folks have only moved in a month ago, the obvious solution would be to knock on their door with a small pot of plants to welcome them, then raise the issue in passing.

I think this was a really good suggestion from @GrumpyPanda . I know you said it wasn't 'that kind of village' and you really don't want to talk to them, so you could also wait till they're out (should be easy enough to tell since they pass directly by your windows anyways) and then leave a bunch of cheap tulips or one of those little pots with spring bulbs and a card (welcome to the neighbourhood, wanted to introduce myself but unfortunately just missed you and btw can you please stop using my steps / garden 'schon aus versicherungstechnischen Gruenden', thank you and 'auf gute Nachbarschaft'). That's what I would do in your situation (I'm German but happen to hate confrontation and think your neighbours are massive CFs) and how I've successfully handled a similar-ish situation with our neighbours.

Oh my goodness, so many replies! I am making my way through them all now.

@CohenTree
I don't want a wild area there. The whole of our outside area is paved, with some small in-ground planters along the steps. We put stept in because it looks nice and it suits us like that. It's just a strip along the side of the house, you wouldn't actually use it for anything like a garden.

To those suggesting a gate - it would be very strange as it'd just be sitting there in the middle of the way, with no other fencing or anything on our property. I don't think I'm describing it well, but it really would look very strange indeed, and it would be massively inconvenient for me. Imagine if you put a gate along a garden path that you walk along a few times a day.

We own OUR plot of land, there's definitely no rights of way on it. We have nothing to do with the new buildings. There is no shared access or anything like that. Totally separate plots, owned and sold by different people at different times.

To those asking why they don't walk down the side of their house - there is another house there, there is no gap. I just didn't bother drawing the next house! The new buildings don't need access from the back - they "should" fence in what is essentially a tiny back garden. The fact that they haven't done that and are instead parking back there is their decision. Their garage is at the front of their house, next to the front door!

The company who has built the two new houses (which has nothing to do with ours - we builts ours years ago, ourselves) has always approached us when they needed access of any kind. They've been fantastic. They definitely would not have told the new owners of pink house that they can use our private steps!
@Desertbarncat We have a dog! But she doesn't wander around outside on her own.

@ChilledBeez actually bamboo planters might be the best way to go for the moment - I've been looking at the cost of fencing and it's made me feel a bit faint....

DS2 sometimes plays out there using stones and planks of wood (we have proper toys too :D ). I've taken some of the planks he left out there and blocked the stairs at the bottom, as well as moving more flower pots across the top. And I have ordered a private property sign!

Would it not be cheaper to just knock and tell them it is private property?

Good update, OP. What a cheek these people have. Bamboo planters sound ideal.

And, you have to worry about liability... what if they trip and fall on your steps? will you be liable for their injury? Talk to them and explain your position.

check this link www.lynchsolicitors.ie/just-passing-through-rights-of-way/

"Many rights of way were created when a landowner used a piece of land, lane, or private road, which belongs to another person, over a long period of time, to get to his property.

The main test to prove a right of way was the continuous use of the land for 12 years or more.
Up to now a right of way created by long and continuous use would generally not be registered.
A person who benefits from such a right of way e.g. the farmer who uses an adjoining owner’s property to access a remote part of his farm or a house owner who uses a laneway to access the rear of his house."

This is well-meant but the OP is in Germany and the law is different.

Any updates OP?

@thelongroad

you out a gate at either end or Luce with this.
whether you think it looks strange or not over time it won't and there are many styles of gate

@thelongroad

Just tell them! Be polite & firm. End of. You'd seriously consider huge expense & effort to do things to make it obvious you don't want them doing it before actually telling them you don't want them doing it????

Also, even in the UK, surely this only applies if the land being accessed is otherwise inaccessible?

Maybe they think it is a right of way.

This is exactly the reason I have erected 6ft fence round the whole of my properties on moving in so NOBODY else can get near my children animals or windows!

Fence, gates or both. The trouble is that once people do this sort of thing, it just goes from bad to worse. You're not being unreasonable at all, they are.

Do they come home at a set time? - if so, can you be out there watering plants? "(look of surprise) Oh, hello, you're in our garden....
Agree the doors are a nightmare which is why we replaced ours.
This is our garden though, it's not for access"

Might be interesting to see if they go round if you're visibly in there, too...

Your neighbour would need to openly use those steps for 20 years without you saying anything to make an easement an option. Plausible but maybe not something to cause you to prioritise saying something in the heat of the moment.

I can imagine it’s annoying but you maybe take a few days to think carefully about what you want to happen after you speak. If they’ve got no back door are you expecting them to now build one?

Whatever you decide try and stay on good and considerate terms with them. You don’t want them to stop using the steps but plot some sort of revenge with something like a dreadful extension that shades your garden or similar!

They probably don't realise it's your property and would probably be mortified if they found out. Tell them it's your land and you wouldn't mind except that you like to dine in the nude and you don't want to give them a heart attack as they walk past your window! The longer you leave it, the harder it will be to tell them, so tell them next time you see them walking past your window. Put a dressing gown on! 😁

I don’t think you’re being unreasonable but I’m wondering if they think it’s communal steps as it seems weird for them not to be able to access the front of their house from the back?

Not sure if this has already been mentioned but i would suggest one of two things. A) ask the builder to reach out to new owner in writing and the fkats when they are sold also explaining there is no right of way. B) Pop round and say to your neighbours you haven't mentioned up to now as they were getting settled in and likely moving furniture/bits and bobs in via yours, but going forwards you would like them to stop as it is not a cut through. Good luck !