Neighbour claiming our driveway is his!

[Sofia109]

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!

As many posters have said. this is a matter for your landlord and the estate agent to deal with.
Should you want to look at the deeds for your own interest, this is the official link below and the documents should cost £3 each.
HM Land Registry - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

As with many official government sites there are other looky-likey sites where you can get the same information but at a very inflated cost. Beware!

@KettrickenSmiled think you should be running for PM Xxxx

My house is a detached, we’re the middle house of three. Each house has a double garage and double drive, to the left of my house is a piece of tarmac big enough to park a car on, it’s ours, within our boundary and on our deeds. However we have to share it with the house to the left. It’s between the two houses, it has a covenant clause. It’s to allow us and them to use it to turn vehicles around. It caused no end of problems, now resolved now they’ve moved. New neighbours are fab but I’ve vowed never to move where there’s any kind of shared access or shared drive.

I had a similar issue in renting. The NDN created a drive in their back garden with access through our garden. Our garden had access down the side of the house and was tarmaced so we could park there. She kept knocking on our flats telling everyone we weren’t allowed to use the area as she needed access at all times.

I printed off the deeds that clearly showed she had no legal right of access via our garden and left this with a note explaining the situation. We didn’t hear from her again.

‘My tenancy agreement includes this driveway space. You need to speak to my landlord’

The police won’t do anything .
They can ask him to stop but essentially OP would have to get an injunction to stop works.
If it’s an emergency she’s looking at £20,000 plus.

She can claim costs back ( not necessarily all ) if it’s proved he was in the wrong.
Suggest OP records all further conversations as this could be seen as harassment.

Thank you, you just made my day! 💙

Thank you so much all, super helpful as always!! I will try to put a diagram together in the next few days and upload it. Will keep you all posted 👍🏻

If you go to the land registry website https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry here you can pay less than £10 to get a document showing the outline of your property - the property you rent. Down load and print it out and then post a copy through his letter box with the driveway highlighted as yours.

Presumably the demise comes with a parking space specified? Raise it with your landlord and let them sort it out.

This. It'll cost £3, and may resolve.

OP? NC fail?

Does the demised premises (in your lease) include the drive? If so it’s for your landlord to resolve and ensure you have quiet enjoyment of the whole of your premises.

if there is a dispute about this - which your neighbours suggests - then your landlord will be aware. The neighbour is correct that he shouldn’t be dealing with the agents, they manage your lease but are not the freeholder.

I would suggest you put the situation in writing to the agents and your LL, by post if necessary, and ask them to resolve as a matter of urgency. Ask them to confirm 1. If they are aware of a dispute 2. That they have the freehold to the drive and 3. What action they are taking to allow you to use what you are entitled to use.

Keep everything really clear, simple and factual and if possible include a plan showing the “disputed” area edged in red. Good luck OP.

@Sofia109 Why are so many vehicles coming and going? Is he running a registered business from his home? Is his property insured for business purposes? Have you searched for his name and address on line to see if there is a business operating? Do HMRC know, i.e. is he declaring an income for tax purposes?

I think I would reiterate that you are renting the place and obviously if it is going through the courts then until his case comes up he can’t really do anything anyway as he has handed it over to the courts to decide so he has put a stop to him blocking anything until the courts make their ruling.

Although if this driveway was on his deeds I would ask him why on earth he is going through the courts

Hundreds on solicitors 🤣🤣🤣 Did you start laughing at that claim
He must have a really really cheap solicitor.

I would tell him that when you get notified by your landlord of any changes then you will obviously look at your tenancy agreement and see how it affects you.

In the meantime I would tell him to start saving more than hundreds as these type of cases always end up costing at least 5 figures.

Just refer him to your estate agent and landlord.

What have they said about it?

I’m in rented and no way would I pay £3.50 to download something that isn’t anything to do with me.

A t**t comes to my door trying to throw his weight around and talking nonsense and suddenly I am supposed to spend money to prove something I don’t need to prove.

Money is tight and there are no spare £3.50s to waste

Is your property managed by the Letting Agent or by the Landlord. You need to advise them of this and they need to deal with it.

The lovely thing about all this is it's a win-win for you.

If the driveway belongs to him you've been renting something that the landlord has no right to let and they've breached your contract.

If the driveway belongs to your home then this twat is ruining your peaceful enjoyment of that home if the landlord/agent doesn't act upon it quick-smart. Again, that will've breached your contract.

In both scenarios you don't have to do anything except tell the agent (via email, keep it in writing) what's happened and ask when it will be resolved. And maybe call the cops occasionally if twat neighbour harasses you.

Check your tenancy agreement. It will say in that whether you have a drive.

For a tiny investments and piece of mind. Get a copy of the house deeds you are in. You don't need to own it, and it's pretty cheap, considering the stress.
Here's the link.
Buy a copy of house deeds HERE

I agree. Get the landlord to sort it out directly with him. You are paying rent and don’t have to put up with these issues. Tell the agent if he blocks your access you want a rent deduction.

Just a thought, if this bloke has only lived there a year or two, jump on Zoopla or Rightmove, go to sold property, enter the postcode and look up the property details and description, I am sure having 2 driveways will be mentioned. Also worth looking up your rental,property just in case the sale particulars are still available.

Also worth checking your local council planning portal if your place or his place has been extended. There should be architectural drawings and floor plan shown, along with a location plan showing the boundary of the property in red.

Sending a hug, your neighbour sounds a real d*ck.

It's just £3 to download a copy of the deeds to the property you live in:

https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land/copies-of-deeds

Your can then see where the boundary is and who owns the drive.

You could then spend another £3 and download his deeds to double check they match.

£6 spent and 10 minutes of your time and problem solved.

If he then keeps going on about it you know he's just a nutter so report him to police if he doesn't stop being annoying!