Neighbours walking on our driveway

[Mumof3andlab]

Hello,

I will try to add a pic if it’s helpful. We are a semi detached end house, we have 3 parking spaces outside our house which is our driveway. Next door has a side path and massive drive to the SIDE of their house, they fit 4 cars on there.

however, they keep walking on our drive to cross to the neighbours opposite, or just stand and have a chat. For starters I think it’s just rude and secondly my dog is very territorial and it sets him off barking as he can see someone is there through the glass.

Previously we have told their friends/visitors it’s not their drive as they used to park on it! Now to stop that we park closer to their side of the house and leave our other side free (I get a lot of parcels, Asda van, my own visitors ect) we used to have 2 cars but only one at the moment. I’m sure if we have more cars they wouldn’t do it but just feel like they think we only have one so we don’t ‘need’ all that space.

I wondered if I could decorate the outside of our driveway with plants, or something else? To stop them crossing over or am I just being petty.

Awful design that is just asking for trouble.

Normally you own what is directly infront of your house with the boundary in line with the party wall.

I would check your deeds to make sure.

It's also a weird layout because who would own the flowerbed along the bit of the top (which presumably is the NDN).

That design is terrible and I’m not surprised they stand there. Check the boundaries before you do anything with plants etc

I had added a picture from site plan, I’m pretty sure it is ours as it is designed to be 3 car spots and has a badge of our house number in the middle on the floor. If we had 3 cars they wouldn’t be walking across it at all, it’s only because we have 1 currently. We might need the 3 spaces in the future though, as our eldest DD is 13 so won’t be many years until she gets her own car and we only share as I’m part time at the moment, when my youngest DC is older we are likely to get a second car just not right now.

I’m thinking this? https://www.buyfencingdirect.co.uk/5x5-forest-linear-corner-wooden-planter

Sorry if I’m missing something but can you not just park right up by the edge? Nobody can stand there if your car is there, and the way their front porch is built they can’t walk into the rest of your drive if your car is there.

You need to check the DEEDS, not the site plan.

Can you park your car horizontal so it's over all the spaces?

3 spaces for one new build house seems a lot! Are you sure they are all yours? the other houses seem to have 2 each. Either way you need to check the deeds before you do anything, you could be parking in their space!

ours is 4 bed theirs is 3. They have 2 spaces but park 4 cars down their strip it’s massive.

I'd park the car nearer to their house - that way they wouldn't be able to stand there.

If you've got a mortgage, the title deeds are probably with land registry, but your solicitor should have sent you a site plan before you purchased and asked you to check it to avoid any confusion. Have a look through all the paperwork/emails he/she sent, just to be sure. If you haven't got a copy, there should be a copy on the solicitors file as they'll have been sent a copy of relevant deeds before purchase. Always a good idea to keep a copy yourself as it shows boundary ownership and disputes are less slightly

As others have said it’s a really bad set up, and I can totally understand why their visitors would park in your spot!
I think you will have to park right against the boundary to stop them walking down there. Or put up a small fence. But it’s a really odd set up….

Seems a really bizarre way of doing business.

IMO if they wanted to fit 3 spaces in front of the house for sales purposes, they should have reduced that flowerbed on the other side, moved the spaces across and given your ndn ownership of that strip.

Im not sure it is your drive as such, they just look like parking spaces to me that happen to be in front of your house

Really odd set up! So
Both those garden areas are yours too? Do they go up their own drive and turn right to get into their house?
I'd certainly consider some lovely pot plants in strategic places

Do the deeds confirm it is your land? Doesn't matter what the site plan says.

Does it really bother you that much if they're just chatting to other neighbours?
I know ot sets your dog off but if he's a barker, how do you cope with the postman/ binman/ deliveries?
To be honest, I think it's a bit petty.
Different if they were parking cars or putting bins on your land, but an odd natter with neighbours 🤔

Agree with PP - you need the Land Reg plan. You can get it here https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry - use the gov website not others that come up if you search as they charge way more!

I think it's £3 for a plan - I got one a couple of years ago for a house I was considering buying as land situation was very complicated.

Wow I can see how this has developed, really poor design. I'm surprised that area is your driveway and not just general parking spaces. That would make much more sense given the layout!

Thanks for the plan. i would start by looking at or buying for £3 from the land registry ( you can download it) the "title plan" as that will show if you own the space on which the car space are or have a mere right to park there.

When you said they were walking across your drive, I thought you probably were being reasonable. However, following the picture, it just looks like they’re leaving the house and standing outside their own house. I couldn’t get worked up about it and I’d check the deeds because you could easily be wrong and make yourself look foolish.

I can see how that space is all yours. Their path leads from their front door to I presume their garden.
I would put a very large planter in the gap where their path has access to your drive so they cannot nip through the space on to your drive.

So you are saying that the neighbours can only leave their house through the side path and they should not walk in front of their house? Even if this set-up is documented legally, you surely see that it is not convenient for them?

You're entitled to feel how you feel.

We live rurally in a detached house and our drive is across a corner of the side/front garden. Locals regularly stop and chat on our drive, teens meet there as 'the corner' is a markable place to meet, doesn't bother me in the slightest, it's just community stuff. And we've trained our dog not to bark when people are outside our house.

This is all just part of living with other human beings, try not to let it bother you too much.

In all fairness that's a shitty setup and you can see why people would just cut across the drive.

If it bothers you that much just next time you see them ask them not to do it, and say it sets your dog off. Doesn't need to be a drama.

Completely agree. It’s a weird design as there’s a flowerbed at the top which is surely the neighbour’s? It really wouldn’t bother me - and our dog’s a barker too.