Neighbour has stolen garden (with pic)!

[AnxiousAn]

Please see the image as it helps to explain this situation!

We moved into our house 6 months ago, so we are fairly new to the area. This is important as we are trying to be careful as to how we approach this.

Essentially, all of the terraced houses in our street used to back on to disused land. Over the years, all of the neighbours have claimed their ‘extra’ bit of garden by incorporating the disused land directly behind their garden. Behind the ‘extra gardens’ is a footpath.

Prior to us living here, there was an elderly owner, who as we understand from the other neighbours, didn’t claim his ‘extra’ bit as he has mobility issues. This means that Neighbour 1 has not only claimed their ‘extra’ bit, but also the bit behind our garden. Whilst we aren’t that bothered about having a bigger garden, it does mean we:

• Have no access to the back of our house via the footpath.
• Have Neighbour 1 regularly walking around that bit, directly at the back of our garden (fences are low).
• It’s quite an eyesore as Neighbour 1 uses it for storage / rubbish bins / extra wood / compost. The fence they built some years ago when they claimed it is dilapidated and looks terrible. They also have a dilapidated, rotten shed on it, which they have said they don’t use but have no reason to get rid of.

Additionally, we are the only house down our road that doesn’t have the ‘extra’ bit, and the only people whose garden is now overlooked and boxed in. Neighbour 1 has admitted he doesn’t own the land and has never bothered purchasing it.

What would you do?

To reference the photo - the black lines are the original gardens and the green is the extra bits that have been claimed. N1 stands for Neighbour 1, Ours is our garden, N2 is the neighbour on our other side… (I’ve included our neighbour on the other side so you can see what everyone else has ‘claimed’.. apart from Neighbour 1). The grey is the foot path.

I think we will hire a solicitor.

Ultimately we would want to acquire the land, for the reasons mentioned. When we bought the property, the garden had been neglected and was severely overgrown… as mentioned the previous owner was an elderly man who was quite infirm and had mobility issues. It wasn’t until we had renovated the garden that we really noticed how out of synch it looks compared to every other garden in the street.

You’re not entitled to that plot of land just because others have it…

You can look at old aerial photos of the gardens on Google Earth. To see how long it's been like that. Even if it's been like that for a long time it does t mean the neighbour can get the land by adverse possession but it might still be interesting to know

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Ask at garden law.co.uk

Can’t you just claim it from him (your neighbour), in the same way he has claimed from someone else? I would probably just start by putting some of your things on the land, walking through it to get to the back of your house by forming a walk through. Of course this wouldn’t be good for good neighbour relations, but he can’t kick up a fuss as it’s not like you’re trespassing is it?

Find out who owns the land legally. If it's the council, tell them you'd like to buy it to match the other houses on the row ... watch what happens.

Footpaths cant be gained, claimed or closed, if the footpath is in the map they would have to grant the pass.
Even if they rest of the land would not be claimed by anyone and due time is now theirs the footpath is a priority of use. Go to the library get a map up to a scale when the footpath is shown. Go to the land registry to check your borders. Talk to council and them and get your passway as it was before.

What do the deeds say? They have the final word.

Potentially less so than taking action that causes the whole street to lose their extra bits of land - at least neighbour could keep the bit immediately behind his garden. Otherwise, the only option is to do nothing 🤷🏼‍♀️

I would do a search on the land registry to see who owns the land. You put in the postcode and it comes up with addresses or something like “land to the east of number 6”. It costs about £3 for each title. There were several lane descriptions by me and it took 3 goes to find the right one! You may be luckier. Make sure you use the gov.com site, as private companies cost more for the same service. Then approach the owners to see if you can buy the bit behind you. https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

What does it say on your house deeds/plans? Is there any mention of access etc. Who actually owns the land behind?

There is a footpath on council land near IL - the council at one stage offered the land one side of the footpath to the houses that backed on to it - some bought the extra land. Time passed other just took the land after looking at other's fences and other kept gardens to initial length. So fences at back go in and out rather than a straight line.

Is it possible the neighbour at one stage bough this land - from either landowner or previous owner of your house rather than encroached?

Presumably when you bought the house you were happy with the size of the garden as it was, without the additional space at the back. Rather than get into a messy dispute over land that you don't own, could you plant tall shrubs / trees at the back of your actual boundary so you can't see the bins?

Regarding access, if you need to access the rear of your garden from the footpath, you could simply walk across the piece claimed by the neighbour. If he decides to try to stop you crossing land that he doesn't own, he may be disappointed.

I see your point and just awaiting to see what happens. I have no actual advice though.

The neighbour doesn’t own the land, we somewhat casually asked him about it and he said he had never bothered to purchase or find out who owns it, he had just been using it. We didn’t question any further as we were (and are) still trying to be delicate and build good relationships.

you don’t need to go the solicitor yet

just say to your neighbour that you want access out the back

suggest they leave the space at the back of yours free

entitlement to access etc is irrelevant at this moment - at end of the day they’ve all taken land they won’t want to lose

hed rather give you the bit at the back of yours rather than risk losing the bit at the back of theirs

if be trying that first so you can take the bit at the back and not risk fall out from. be rest of the neighbours

to be fair, originally when this happened, your neighbour will have had to take your bit to ensure the backs were level - if would have been noticed a lot sooner had it been stepped in and out at the back due to the previous elderly owner not taking

It is quite possible you do own it, just check the deeds. Then if you do, put up a fence. Your neighbour has already admitted they don’t own it, so there isn’t adverse rights likely to be applicable.

You don’t need a solicitor, you need a surveyor. The RICS provides a free 30 minute consultation on Boundary Disputes - you can find the list in your area here https://www.ricsfirms.com/helplines/boundary-disputes/

I think we will hire a solicitor

I think you'd be nuts to do that at this stage. As soon as you go down that route, neighbourly relations are out the window anyway.

Save yourself the money and just tell the neighbour politely you'd like to start using the extra bit at the end of your garden as all the other houses have, so you have direct access to the footpath etc. Say of course you'll be covering the cost of the new fence etc and ask if he needs a hand in moving his things.

I'd approach the conversation with an air of inevitability, no asking if he'd mind or apologies, although extremely politely. Then check the reaction and go from there.

I'd just put up a higher fence at the end of your garden so you can't see the old shed or the neighbour.

The alternatives are 'buying' it from the neighbour which would be risky as you wouldn't be buying it at all because he doesn't own it

or

Finding out who owns it and stirring up a hornets nest with all of your neighbours who are happily using a piece of disused land.

Can you ask the neighbour the other side about it? Or anyone down the road you chat to? Suss it out first before diving in. If it were me I would want it for myself too!

What do the deeds say about access?

That doesn't prove ownership though. The only question that really needs answering is what do your deeds say? They will show where your boundary is. Although yes the lay out is odd, you might not actually have a right of access.

Where do your deeds say that the boundary is?

How long has the neighbour been occupying the land?
Who owns that piece of land?

I suspect the deeds say the OP doesn't own it, which is why they seem reluctant to answer the question as it would show it hasn't actually been stolen from them.

The advantage of not having access to the footpath is that would be burglars will still be in next door's garden not yours.