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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Neighbour claiming our driveway is his!

201 replies

Sofia109 · 22/04/2023 21:49

Hi. I am renting in a fully managed property by an Estate Agent and the neighbour has just knocked on my door and told me i am trespassing by parking on my driveway! He seems to think he owns the land, when his house is on the other side of our house and no where near our driveway. He then said he was going to cordon it off and block access within a week, which is what his solicitor has advised him to do. None of what he said made any sense and he was contradicting himself during the conversation about what land he actually owned. He also produced no deeds or letter from a solicitor as evidence of anything he was saying. I am at a loss as to what to do as most estate agents are pretty useless, even though i did suggest he contact ours, who have already provided their details to him in person and asked him to contact them for any matter relating to this - he said he's spent hundreds on solicitors and does not want to deal with estate agents.
The occupants at this house have been using that driveway for years without issue and i have been parking on it for 6 months, but all of a sudden its a problem? Why now? He then said it was still going through the courts, and admitted nothing had been finalised, but then said he owns the deeds so its up to our landlord to prove that he is wrong. Again this makes no sense to me, as surely if it is still going through the courts then no decision has been made, so the land can continue to be used in the same capacity has it has been.
Please can anyone make sense of this or give any legal advise on what he can or can't do? This situation is really stressing me out and there is not much space to park on the road as the neighbours are very territorial even though the spaces are not allocated.
Thank you!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Comefromaway · 22/04/2023 21:51

You need to get your landlord to make a copy of the deeds for you showing the boundary of his/her land.
Assuming all is as it should be if the neighbour persists I’d get a cease & desist letter written.

Comefromaway · 22/04/2023 21:52

Or you could pay the land registry fee and get a copy yourself.

MuffinToSeeHere · 22/04/2023 21:53

It's not your problem to sort it you are just renting the property so you will need to speak to the agents who manage the property. However you can order a copy of the deeds easily online if it would help ease your anxiety to clarify who the land belongs to.

tailinthejam · 22/04/2023 21:53

Surely your landlord knows who owns what anyway, and will have a copy of their own deeds.

MissedTheBoatAgainAndAgain · 22/04/2023 21:54

Just do a land registry and obtain the plan.

PuttingDownRoots · 22/04/2023 21:55

Contact your landlord to tell them your neighbour is making odd claims about ownership.

PriamFarrl · 22/04/2023 21:57

Your landlord should have the deeds but if they don’t then you should be able to get hold of them via the land registry.

I’m in two minds about what you should do while you wait for proof. Part of me thinks to let him carry on to save the stress but part of me think you should still park on your drive.

Also, if he owns your drive, then who owns the drive you think he owns? Can you park there? He can’t get funny about that, surely?

catshreddedthesofa · 22/04/2023 21:58

You can get a copy of the deeds from the land registry which will show who owns what land, I think it costs about £5

Darkedon7 · 22/04/2023 21:59

You can check this right now by downloading a copy of the deeds from the land registry. It costs about £3. I wouldn’t bother waiting to get them from the landlord tbh.

Oysterbabe · 22/04/2023 22:00

Get on the Land Registry now and let us know.

Pixiedust1234 · 22/04/2023 22:02

Contact your landlord and the estate agents and tell them the neighbour is doing a land grab. Then leave it with them. Its not your battle but continue using the drive until either your landlord says stop or you have a judge stamped court paper saying stop. Tell neighbour to leave you alone otherwise you will contact the police regarding harassment.

What a horrible situation for you.

Wonnle · 22/04/2023 22:03

Has he got a drive on his side of the house as well ?
Why has he spent loads on solicitors and going to court if he reckons he has the deeds to prove the drive is his

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 22/04/2023 22:03

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry

You want the title plan for a map, and the title register will tell you what the different colours mean if there's more than just a boundary shown. They're about £3 each.

HM Land Registry

We register the ownership of land and property in England and Wales. HM Land Registry is a non-ministerial department.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry

PineappleLatte · 22/04/2023 22:06

Does your tenancy say anything about a drive being available/included in your rental?

LadyGardenersQuestionTime · 22/04/2023 22:06

Is there any chance he was drunk/drugged/dementia? It all sounds like random nonsense to me?

IcedBananas · 22/04/2023 22:13

Get the deeds and look for yourself. If neighbour is right stop parking there and suggest a rent reduction to your landlord in light of this loss of driveway which you were promised. If your landlord is right you make note of every time neighbour hassles you about this to start building a picture of harassment and get legal advice. Also advise your landlord you are being harassed and will
consider terminating the tenancy if it continues. Do you or the landlord have any legal cover/advice with your insurance?

Theemptychairismyshadow · 22/04/2023 22:14

Diagram!

DustyLee123 · 22/04/2023 22:17

What does you rental agreement say you are paying for ?

Original poster
Sofia109 · 22/04/2023 22:17

LadyGardenersQuestionTime · 22/04/2023 22:06

Is there any chance he was drunk/drugged/dementia? It all sounds like random nonsense to me?

Hate to say but i think he likes to have his presence felt and is a self-important type that wants us to beg him to allow us to use his drive - i have a feeling he wouldn't be doing this if i was male or there were some more prominent male figures around the property. Feels a bit like bullying.

OP posts:
Original poster
Sofia109 · 22/04/2023 22:18

Sofia109 · 22/04/2023 22:17

Hate to say but i think he likes to have his presence felt and is a self-important type that wants us to beg him to allow us to use his drive - i have a feeling he wouldn't be doing this if i was male or there were some more prominent male figures around the property. Feels a bit like bullying.

Show quote history

I mean our drive!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Sofia109 · 22/04/2023 22:19

LadyGardenersQuestionTime · 22/04/2023 22:06

Is there any chance he was drunk/drugged/dementia? It all sounds like random nonsense to me?

Haha, no just the unhappy type that enjoys making others lives miserable, for some small feat!

OP posts:
Gymnopedie · 22/04/2023 22:21

I agree about the bullying. I think it's not a coincidence that he's raised it late on Saturday night, the estate agents may not be open tomorrow so he thinks you're stuck until Monday causing you more stress.

Original poster
Sofia109 · 22/04/2023 22:22

Wonnle · 22/04/2023 22:03

Has he got a drive on his side of the house as well ?
Why has he spent loads on solicitors and going to court if he reckons he has the deeds to prove the drive is his

Yes exactly - none of this makes any sense!! And why did he not just bring the deeds and show me! He said it's on his deeds, but he has lived there for one year (he claims 2 years) and never had an issue until now?! Plus, why not wait until its gone through the courts and a decision had been made? Its just one family with 2 cars, but there are A LOT of cars and visitors coming to his house - so it seems he wants 6 parking spaces to himself - he is already using the middle space on our drive (you can fit 3 cars across) and there are different cars there all the time.

OP posts:
dapsnotplimsolls · 22/04/2023 22:25

YABU for not providing a diagram 😁

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 22/04/2023 22:26

If it's 'all going through the courts and no decision has been made', then it's no more provable as his drive than yours. All you have, in the absence of anything else, is the obvious expectation based on where the drive is located, as well as the history of previous residents of your property using it unchallenged.

All he needs to show is the deeds: either they prove that it is his or they don't, no need for a big investigation. Sometimes it can be ambiguous when it's a space of a few inches, maybe a foot, but not for an entire driveway in the context of a standard-sized house.

I bet he's one of these nasty people who just takes it for granted that tenants are vastly inferior to owners and so their rights should be up for grabs for any homeowners who happen to want them. Complete idiot.