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!

There is side access to the garage as well as the front. Also there’s a footpath and gate in between the grass at the front. But all the bins are there so we take those up and down the driveway.

Also I read that once a building / extension / garage has been there a certain period of time unchallenged, the owner can continue to keep it and if this guy is claiming the driveway in front, I believe he would have to ensure continued access by car. It’s been there well over 15 years. In addition, I have I doubt any neighbour that side has ever had exclusive use of that driveway, so that may also play a part in who is entitled to this land. I think the landlord has owned this property for around 20-25 years.

Lovely diagram!

I would be very surprised if he did own the land given there is a garage in place that does not belong to him and the owner would need access to it still. Very bizarre.

The title deeds should clear this up. If you haven't got a copy and don't want to pay for it then demand he shows you his copy next time he comes over to complain. This really should be the estate agency/land lord to resolve though.

From your diagram, which is really well drawn, btw, there is no way in the world that he can claim your driveway. I would tell him to move his car off your driveway or you will have the car towed. Don’t let him gaslight you like that.

Yes, definitely don't give him an inch by letting him use part of your drive - especially when he's already declaring that he wants the whole thing. Even if it were his, why would he agree to let a random neighbour park on the drive that just so happens to be exactly where you'd expect your house's drive to be but object so strongly to you using it?

In the absence of him providing any proof to the contrary, I think the only reasonable way forward is to assume the most obvious scenario unless proven otherwise.

I mean, I could claim that I own Buckingham Palace and have the King and all the staff thrown out during the 'dispute' - whilst conveniently not bothering/not being able to show any deeds to back up my claim - but I can't imagine I'd be very successful with that.

It’s really not your concern. Just report to the agency or landlord what he’s saying/doing and keep parking where you want.

If landlord cares they will do something to protect their property. But it’s not for you to worry about at all.

Well it is the OP's concern as it affects her .

Having found that many people aren't honest and are given to deceit ( letting agents included) I'd want to be inspecting any relevant documents myself .

And FWIW I bet adverse possession is involved here.Or someone's misunderstanding of adverse possession.

I'd laugh if the neighbour is the landlord

OP can't be bothered to spend £3 and get the title plan.

Seems like the drama in this thread is somewhat unnecessary.

OP is a tenant and has (rightly) passed the matter onto her landlord via the property manager.

The title plan from Land Registry should definitely answer this once and for all, though I appreciate as tenant this isn't OP's responsibility to pay the £3.

Here's an example of ours. Green is the road, then the three blocks to the left of it are three houses' land. The hatched area marks the part of the driveway where there is right of access for the house on the left.

Just to let you know OP that the Mirror has reported on this now.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/my-neighbour-says-ive-stolen-29801816?fbclid=IwAR3Jzrduegi9XBLfvSTJ5f-RXsyZzsnTSE3LylyyCo5o0Rtno_CyshhFh58

OMG i actually thought they were talking about me on that Mirror article, and had lifted my story from Mumsnet for a second there - its almost an identical scenario!!

Regarding the title plan, i would have to get both the one for this property and the one for next door, and tbh i don't find them that clear or easy to understand.

Also, if it was that simple, he wouldn't be paying solicitors and going to court - he'd just use it as its his. There's obviously a dispute about something and i believe its the garage and/or the deeds but i don't know until we hear back from the landlord.

The neighbour has said i can park there until he "gets round to buying the poles and chain to cordon it off, in a week or two", which his solicitor apparently told him to do. He said i can park there until then, because he's a 'nice guy'! I'm hoping by then i'll have some answers from the landlord (through the agent of course).

OMG that Mirror article is about me!!! Is this really happening??

I have seen mismatched deeds ie one set saying different to the other, but he needs to produce the copy he has if he wants to come across as anything other than a lunatic.

Get your compo face ready!

Still not got the deeds then? Shock

@IamtheDevilsAvocado The only person being offensive is yourself!

He's NOT paying solicitors anything - he's talking shite.

Get the title plans for both properties, post them on here (just edit out the identifying details) and someone can explain what they mean.

You do realise that your neighbour is lying to you about hiring a solicitor don't you???

As he has been 'allowed' to park on the driveway for a number of years, he is now trying to use this ridiculous law called Adverse Possession. This is basically a law where if you've been permitted to use a piece of land for so many years, you can legally claim it as your own! You NEED to tell the Agent that he's been parking on it for years it's really, really important! Also mention that you're concerned that he may be trying to claim 'Adverse Possession'

It’s definitely your story that has been reported on. I hope your landlord gets back to you soon and that he turns out to be in the wrong but until all title deeds are seen it’s hard to say to be honest. We own a rural property and we own a farm lane and wooded corner of a neighbouring farmer’s field that we have no use for. We don’t need to use the lane for access but two other properties including a farm use it to access their homes. Neither had any permission in their deeds but a previous owner here agreed to permissive access for one. The farm have never officially applied for access but have been using it for decades and many years prior to us buying. I would assume they consequently have a right of access by precedent now but don’t really know. It doesn’t actually affect us so we’ve never queried it. They have on occasion taken a lend though taking down fences and accessing the wooded area we own. We had to reinstate this and make it clear it was ours. They were after widening the access for larger vehicles using our land on a blind corner from a public road. Land ownership and rights of access / use can be tricky.

Nasty type.

I thought the right to property after living in it/using it for 20 years was done away with a few years ago after a squatter sold a really expensive London house he'd been in for 20 years and the owner could do nothing about it

There was a fairly big decision about adverse possession, involving human rights IIRC. That did tighten up the requirements for registered land. It’s far harder to prove than many on MN would have you believe. Also in many cases where people think they mean adverse possession they are instead talking about acquiring a right by long use, eg a right of way, rather than the land itself.

nonetheless it’s best to protect your assets as the Land Registry and courts take so long to decide anything. You don’t want to be tied up in anything like that!

Did you get anything useful from the landlord,@Sofia109