Property listing - how does this read?

[Wife2b]

House separated into an upstairs and downstairs flat.

Listing for the downstairs flat -

PRIVATE REAR GARDEN The property benefits from having exclusive rights to the private rear garden that is paved throughout and has borders of small plants and raised flower beds, with side access to the front of the property.

Does exclusive rights to the private rear garden mean it belongs to the ground floor flat?

You need to check the deeds.Is it freehold or leasehold?

Is is for rent or sale?

Thats how I would read it.

I'd read it as the downstairs flat as exclusive use to a private garden, and the upstairs flat does not.

It means the garden of the whole house is split into two private gardens. The ground floor flat has the rear half, and the first floor flat has the front half.

I would look to clarify. You have the rights to use it, not sure if you would actually own that land, or it forms part of the freehold and the freeholder owns it just gives you the right to use it

Yes, if that's how it's listed for sale then the ground floor flat owns the back garden.

I'd read it that the ground floor flat occupants have exclusive use of it but not that they own it - assuming the property is leasehold none of the land will be owned.

Agents details state rights to the back garden for the GFF. So, yes, for GFF use only.

It's certainly written in a way that would lead most people to believe that the occupants of the downstairs flat were the only people who were allowed to use the garden.

The word 'exclusive' would usually suggest that. However, estate agents are not always the best at expressing themselves clearly and grasping the nuances of what different words can actually mean, so it's not impossible they mean that the garden is 'exclusive' to the residents of the building, ie both flats.

Basically you need to check this, and get a clear and unequivocal answer from the vendor/landlord that the only people allowed to use the garden are the occupants of the downstairs flat.

You might also want to check what 'rights' means here, because having a right to use something isn't the same as owning it, and that might affect what alterations you're allowed to make to it etc. It's likely that the land is owned by whoever owns the freehold to the building.

I don't think it does. As everyone else says, it means exclusive use of the garden for the ground floor flat only surely?

What is your "AIBU"?

I would read it as the EA just using 'rear garden' as EA-speak for 'back garden', not that the garden itself was split in two?

Don't be an arse

I would read it initially as the whole of the ‘rear’ (back) garden belongs to the ground floor flat, exclusively.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if an estate agent was being tricksy.

If the garden has been divided, it really should have some additional words, like ‘rear of’ or partitioned area of garden. It really wouldn’t make logical sense for the ground floor flat to have the back part of the garden either, surely they’d want whatever back door to open on to their portion?

No it doesn't.

'Rear garden' means the garden behind a property (to distinguish it from the front garden, which at the front of the property between the house and the road). It doesn't mean the back half of a garden that's been split in two.

It means that the whole of rear garden is for the sole use of the ground floor flat. Whether they own it or not would depend on leasehold or freehold.

What draws my attention though is the bit about side access to the front. Does this mean that they do not have use of the front garden (if there is one), but right of access over it? It doesn't say this side access is exclusive to the ground floor flat. Does the first floor flat also have right of access down this bit?

Thanks for your help. It’s for a flat on the market, leasehold.