Neighbours using our drive as their path

[Peedoff24]

We live in adjoining terraces, both with driveways. All other houses in our terrace have walls or hedges between them. We don’t but there is a decorative border type thing to delineate them. So it’s very obvious when you step off their property into ours.

They fit 2 cars onto their driveway but this is only possible because we don’t have a wall. They need to open their car door across our drive to be able to get in and out. This I don’t mind.

However, because it’s a squeeze to get between their cars they and their visitors, deliveries etc use our drive as a pathway to get to their front door. It’s got to the point that people literally step out of their door, step over the decorative stone thingy and then walk across our drive to the street.

We have a ring doorbell so get alerted every time somebody does this. It’s now got to the point that our drive is used as their pathway even when they only have one car parked and therefore plenty of space on their drive.

These are neighbours that don’t acknowledge my presence if we see each other since I complained when they had builders dumping rubbish on part of our garden.

WIBU and petty to go and buy some trellis and put it up to stop them from doing this? It would also mean they’d have to rethink their parking!

They’re unreasonable yes, but I think you’re unreasonable for not getting a fence and getting miffed over a problem that you can fix. We had something similar with neighbours using our home as a cut through, so we put giant plant pots to block the access and it obviously solved the issue. I think they’re being entitled for doing that on your property, but you can solve it by blocking off your land

They've already allowed builders to dump rubbish in OP's garden, now they're letting people walk all over their drive. The whole avoiding enmity ship sailed some time ago.

It looks like the easiest option is to put a fence up. They don’t speak to you so what are they going to do.
It doesn’t even have to be particularly high. I’d even do it when I knew they were out so not to have a conversation about it.

If they say anything just say you thought it looked messy without one.

Best that you do something sooner rather than later when it can become expected that the residents in your neighbours house can use your property to be able to open their car doors and also for getting in and out of their property.

Get buying that trellis/fencing sooner than later. Establish that you want to be good neighbours and you don't want any issues now or later.

Are you the neighbour?

@whereisthelifethatirecognize

I just think it's unnecessary. It's not actually causing the OP any problems. Seems a bit petty.

They might 'hate' them now, but are they ok neighbours? Being ignored isn't a crime. Multiple threads on here every week will tell you what a neighbour from hell can be like. Is it worth starting a war with your neighbours over? Pick your fights

Having seen the photos that @Waaaaaahh posted, I particularly like the last photo with the posts and the fence there. If you could afford it, do that as you'll measure twice and do it once!

Get something more durable than a trellis. Build a wall.

Ha, it did sound a bit like a threat, didn’t it? No, I’m just speaking after a long life and many years’ experience, to warn you that feuds with neighbours poison your life and jogging along with neighbours, whether in a friendly way or just a ‘leaving each other alone’ way, will make your life much much nicer.

Everyone seems so aggressive and quick to escalate minor tiffs into full blown wars. I think it’s a mistake.

I am firmly in the 'go big or go home' camp. They already dont like you so the biggest thing you can put there the better imo.

So put up with vile people then, who think they can do what they want then? You just become a victim then?

In the long term a fence or a wall. In the short term very heavy planters.

So you readily acknowledge that you’re a nuisance neighbour making their lives more unpleasant and treating their property as if it’s partly yours, just because you have 2 cars?

What do you do in return to make life better for your neighbour?

Fence it, it's yours they are unreasonable

Good question @Bargainacious !

Our neighbour has a male relative who walks up our path, neighbour has a perfectly good one to use. It's a bit like a dog marking it's territory.
Waitting for the wanker to trip over....

I would be totally blocking their access asap, permanently.

We could use planters but that would make our own space tight. Getting to the steps to our front door. A fence would be better. We’ve had a look today at what we could do to fence both sides so it doesn’t look like we are purposefully being difficult.

Once we put something up that’s going to make it very tricky for them to park two cars.

That sounds ideal and doing both sides at the same time usually looks better anyway.

From experience with a similar problem, new hedges get trampled and entrance forced through. Trellising plus a hedge might do the trick.

Fencing can be broken and pushed over, I’d go for tall slender concrete planters with lots of heavy stones in the bottom to make it too heavy to push and too wide or tall to jump over. They do not sound like neighbours who would accept you and your visitors doing the same to them. It’s totally their problem, stop allowing it to be yours.

People are far more likely to shove their way through or step over planters than a fence.

I didn’t say ordinary garden centre type planters. I described tall, wide, heavy ones a quick search brings up a wide variety probably costing the same as strong fences.

Do what is necessary to keep them in their own space. Neighbours should keep off others land unless invited or want to speak to you.

People wandering up my drive would really annoy me. I'd get a fence and also a ring doorbell in case it accidentally gets damaged. My son put a small barrier up to stop his neighbour parking across his and DS's property.

It took the neighbour three hits with his car to uproot the barrier and a few hundred pound to pay for repairs after being confronted with the the video evidence.