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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
whynotwhatknot · 24/04/2023 17:53

Either hes making it up that its going through court or your agent lied about the ongoing dispute when you signed

Notamum12345577 · 24/04/2023 17:55

Is there an update to this, I want to know what happens 😁

Farmerama1 · 24/04/2023 17:57

Get on the phone to the agent first thing tomorrow. They need to deal with it. I think he’s trying his luck because he thinks you’re a tenant (and a female) and will be intimidated into giving in.

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 24/04/2023 18:00

GladAllOver · 22/04/2023 22:55

You could resolve this in five minutes on line at the Land Registry. Any speculation is pointless.

Still won't stop the bloke necessarily... Happened to pal of mine... Clear as day on her land title.. She was an owner.

Idiot neighbor took her to court.. Despite being advised by his lawyer he was onto a hopeless case... Cost her net 20k to sort it....

He just believed that as he needed more space he was entitled to hers... (as he had big gentlemen car... And pal had a lady car,😴...)

He was one of these entitled demander types...

I think tellingly was just my female pal and her female lodger...

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 24/04/2023 18:02

PS

OP... Tell the agent in writing by mail the neighbours are trying a land grab and what is the landlord proposing to do?

If you're not having use of drive ask to negotiate a rent reduction... I would say this on your letter no 2...if agent is doing zero.

Evan456 · 24/04/2023 18:08

If he ropes yours off, I would park on his drive, he’s obviously nuts

CherryCokeFanatic · 24/04/2023 18:16

Have you seen him around before? He is definitely your neighbour not just claiming to be?

HerodAntipasti · 24/04/2023 18:16

Hopefully OP is drawing a lovely detailed diagram for us.

MzHz · 24/04/2023 18:27

Comefromaway · 22/04/2023 21:52

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

Costs a few quid, but absolutely tell the agents

sounds like he’s a bully and spending hundreds on solicitors is PEANUTS in this area, this stuff - if he had a case - costs thousands

he doesn’t most likely have jack shit, he’s probably trying it on

SaponificationQueen · 24/04/2023 18:33

Sofia109 · 22/04/2023 22:22

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.

Show quote history

Why is he parking in your driveway? I think it’s time to go to your landlord about the whole situation. I would be upset over his behavior. Allowing him to park in your driveway could cause legal issues.

Crazydonkeylady · 24/04/2023 18:53

Block his access to your drive immediately. Is plant pots or similar perhaps. Inform your landlord that he’s trespassing on their land. Get a copy of the deeds and plan to prove your point, laminate them and stick them onto the gate.
tell him to do one and call the police if he harasses you. Please update us!

Crazydonkeylady · 24/04/2023 18:55
  • use plant pots that was!
Daughtersandbristolian · 24/04/2023 18:57

Update OP?

stayathomer · 24/04/2023 19:23

dapsnotplimsolls
YABU for not providing a diagram 😁
There's always one ... ( dapsnotplimsolls I was going to say the same 😅)

SchoolTripDrama · 24/04/2023 19:26

@Kennykenkencat I'm pretty sure the Landlord would agree to OP deducting it off next months rent if she needed to! Then the Landlord can get it back from CF neighbour!

SchoolTripDrama · 24/04/2023 19:29

@IamtheDevilsAvocado Hang on, your friend had to spend £20,000 because her neighbour took her to court for something that she had proof that she owned? That's bullshit, he would've been made to cover her fees when he lost. Sounds like she's telling lies

lemmein · 24/04/2023 19:36

People are weird AF.

My DD & SIL bought a house on a new build estate and came home to a woman who lived at the back of their house painting their garden fence 😳 There was a small road in-between the back of my DDs house and the front of mad woman's house. She, for some reason, believed their fence belonged to her because she could see it from her house HmmGrin

Tuskanini · 24/04/2023 19:58

It’s quite possible that your landlord may be renting you the house, but renting the parking space independently to someone else. He’s the person to check this with.

pollymere · 24/04/2023 20:11

Yes - your best bet is just getting a title map for the property. You can always write yourself to his solicitor having coloured in a copy showing that it is clearly your driveway.

Please find enclosed the title map which clearly indicates the boundaries of [name of property]. Please ensure your client is aware that the use of this area is trespass and that any threatening behaviour will be reported to the police. Please note that any use of this driveway from 1 June 2023 will result in a charge of £50 per hour.

dawngreen · 24/04/2023 20:49

I doubt the police will turn up at all. They will just repeat the places to get in touch with blah.

LT1982 · 24/04/2023 21:00

Comefromaway · 22/04/2023 21:52

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

The cost is £3.00 and its an instant download

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 24/04/2023 22:45

SchoolTripDrama · 24/04/2023 19:29

@IamtheDevilsAvocado Hang on, your friend had to spend £20,000 because her neighbour took her to court for something that she had proof that she owned? That's bullshit, he would've been made to cover her fees when he lost. Sounds like she's telling lies

She's not... I was there.

She could not recover the money from him as he had none.

Btw... You're daft being so pointlessly offensive.

ShandaLear · 24/04/2023 23:47

Do nothing except direct him to your letting agent. This is not your battle. If he raises it again tell him that you have been advised that he needs to raise the issue with the letting agent and the owner and hand over the letting agents number. Do not engage with this shite. It is his job to prove ownership, not yours.

Original poster
Sofia109 · 24/04/2023 23:48

You guys are killing me, had a good giggle reading these tonight! The update is, the agent checked the deeds and it does not show the boundaries of the property, so have to wait to get some more info from the landlord. I'm definitely going to post a diagram very soon, promise!

OP posts:
Lou898 · 25/04/2023 00:00

We bought a house which had this type of issue. The house was an end terrace which had a driveway with a garage at the end which was at the side of the house. The land had been common land and the next door but one neighbour had put a garage on it and as no one had objected the land the garage was on, became theirs. The driveway remained ours, but we had to allow access to the garage, rendering the driveway pretty much useless to us.
so it is possible to have unconnected driveways however seems strange that h previous occupier had parked there and nothing mentioned in last 6 months.