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!

I would have to put a gate up to make sure nobody used it,take out the element of doubt

Have you actually said to them that it's not a right of way?

YANBU

Have a word with them. Polite but remind them that if they keep doing it, they are trespassing

Either tell them or put gates up or a sign saying private. This would do my head in and one of reasons we bought the houses where we did so no one walked past windows.

That is beyond cheeky, but perhaps they genuinely done realise it’s not public. I’d be getting gates.

This would piss me off. I'd say something first though, before going to the expense of gates.

I would go with the assumption that they don't realise it's private and approach them with this in mind. Bottom line is they don't have a right to do this and you have the right to ask them to stop.

This is a great idea with the chain, ive seen that in places amd its quite clear and must be fairly inexpensive

Locked gate.

Or ask them not to.

Great diagram!!

Do they definitely know it's private? If they've spotted workmen / kids, they might assume it's public.

I'd echo PP and say add gates + signs. The issue I see is that you're okay with kids doing it, or workmen they might feel picked on if only they have to stop.

Also isn't there a weird rule about public rights of way after certain amounts of time or am I imagining that? You don't want to set a precedent.

At this point I would give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they don't realise.
Tell them that it is private, and that as they go past your window and can see in, it is really annoying.

I would do it in a friendly neighbourly way.
Then if they still do it, install gates/signs etc

Just a polite word to ask them not to, maybe they don’t realise that it’s your private property.

why doesn’t their house have a back door, it’s very strange, especially since it has parking?

why have you not put up a boundary fence?

I imagine that this is the kind of thing that feels obvious to you but they might not realise it’s private. Not sure I would, even with plants and that - we live in a gated cul de sac with various little steps and paths, some people have puts plants in the public areas to make it look nicer but they’re still public. They might be thinking you’ve just put stuff there because it’s near your house and you want to make it look better. If they see kids and workmen using it, it’ll give the impression it’s public.

That would be my worry too. I don't know what the law is on this either, just that some of the public footpaths on some of the walks I do, do go past peoples windows so would want to avoid all that.

That would give me the rage.

They are being total CFs.

Definitely tell them it is your private path and that you would like them not to use it, running past your windows all the time.

I probably would put a gate at the back, anyway.

Do tell them because it will get worse when the next house gets occupied.

”Hi neighbour, I notice you use that path to access the back , just to let you know it is our front path and not for public access. Could you ask the kids not to run through? It disturbs us and we’re beginning to feel as if we live in a zoo with everyone walking past. Thank you!”

Can you block it off for a while with wheelie bins?

You need a moat.

this, sorted then and no need for a chat either :)

Do they know it’s not a right of way?
They might not realise if they have noticed other people using it.

Quick chat is all that’s needed, just say you are putting up whatever you can think of ti stop people using your space and also put up a sign saying private property.

We don't need (or haven't needed!) fences all round as it's just not been necessary. We have no actual garden - it's a paved bit at the front and then then parking paved bit at the back. There are fences separating us and corner house and the empty green house though. So a gate at those steps would be super weird (and inconvenient for us!).

They haven't seen anyone using it - it's literally a couple of kids in summer, and once or twice when we've had workmen doing something on the roads. They weren't even here then.

Shall I block it with more plant pots? I wonder how much of an obstacle I'd have to put in the way before they stopped doing it?😃

If it disturbs you to have people walking past your window so often (it would disturb me) it’s not unreasonable nor unneighbourly to ask them to stop. You don’t have to just get used to it and you may not be able to, very few people would be happy about people passing close to their living room window. But as a PP said, if they’ve seen others using it they may not realise its an issue.

You should also check with someone qualified about whether the kids and others using it without asking you might create a right of way over time.

@somthingonce
Funnily enough, when we were building our house, there was a time when we had a trench basically all the way round and I joked to DH that we should leave it as a moat. I quite fancied the idea of a drawbridge from the front door to the road.

I don't understand why they aren't just going through thier own house? Surely that's the fastest route.

Well obviously there’s a reason — OP was very clear that they park their car in the back but they can only access their house through the front. I’m not saying that justifies it but I think OP would look silly asking why they are doing it.