Neighbours walking past our front door to leave the house

[Bluesea14]

our new neighbours keep walking past our front door and squeezing past our cars when they go out. We have checked our deeds and title and this is part of our property, not a public footpath. We would never dream of walking past their house when we go out so we can't understand why they think it's acceptable to do it. They recently had furniture delivered and this was also carried down the path past our front door instead of going in between their cars.
I have attached a image which is similar to the layout of our house and the blue line is where they keep walking. Any advice on how to deal with this please? We haven't properly met them yet so we don't want to come across confrontational but we also want to make it clear that we don't want people regularly walking on our property and setting our ring doorbell off.

It’s not a public footpath. It’s part of the OP’s private property.
If she wants to change the front of her property to different paving, add grass or flower beds etc she can subject to any covenants on the title.

They have an identical path from their garden gate on the right to the road.

It’s highly unlikely to be a right of way as neighbour has their own path up to their front door. Generally speaking developers avoid shared rights of way as it causes friction. If the neighbour did have right to cross OP’s property it would be in the title and conveyancer would have drawn attention to it.

I'm not very territorial but I wouldn't like someone walking so close to my window. At this stage it's probably best to approach it as an honest mistake. I'd wait until you see them outside, rather than making a bigger deal of knocking on the door or writing a letter. I'd welcome them, introduce yourself, chit chat, check if there's any local info they need etc etc Then I'd just say something like btw were you aware that path is part of our garden and not a shared path? We had similar and it turned out the neighbours had been misinformed by the vendor.

You then have options for planters / fence / letter if they carry on.

@Springisnearlyspring but does look like a shared right of way on the other side of OP’s house, so developers haven’t avoided it completely

I am amazed at the people who think OP should just suck it up. I wouldn’t dream of taking a shortcut across somebody else’s property, and walking within inches of their window. Totally unacceptable

How is it private property? OP says it is on her title deeds, but often in new build estates the ownership isn't to prevent other people from walking g along a footpath, it is to make sure the developer (or long term management company) is not responsible for upkeep or continued safety of the path.

The absolute inability of people to accept community and communal open areas is MIND BLOWING. Footpaths aren't private land.

And what do people mean that it isn't pavement? Because there isn't a kerb and height difference with the road? The paving block boundary shows the separation between where people walk (up along the footpath and up to the door) and where the cars are driven (the black tarmac and the delineated parking space).

I am honestly baffled at the idea of all of you sitting fuming in your front room at the audacity of someone walking outside where you can see them. Especially on a footpath. It isn't a private garden space. If it was, rhe developer would have stuck some grass down (that would die off quickly) or a proper boundary between houses. They haven't. Not because they are lazy but because this isn't private ground.

My word.

I wouldn't wait to do this, OP. You don't want them to think you've been festering. A friendly straightforward heads-up should do it.

Ignore the people who say you should put up with it. They shouldn't be using your pathway as a short cut, but they probably don't think of it as your property. I'd send them a cheery note "Hi neighbours, looks like you're using our path instead of yours to get to the road as I keep getting Ring notifications. We realise it's confusing and looks like a right of way but it isn't. Would you mind using your own path? Thanks!"

If you do have a conversation I'd keep it to talking about the poor design and it being understandably confusing but you just wanted to clarify things in case they had thought it was a right of way for them.

Unfortunately I think this will be something that delivery people and visitors will also do unless you erect a physical barrier or distinguish your entrance from theirs more clearly.

It looks like a public footpath in front of all the houses to me.

I honestly don't understand this kind of post, and the perception that it's a problem. I understand that you 'notice' the postperson, I just can't imagine why you'd care.

My advice would be to get to know them a bit before saying anything. Establish a neighbourly relationship first.

My first meeting with a neighbour when I moved in somewhere was a knock on the door and a moan about something I’d inadvertently done. To be honest it got the relationship off onto a bad foot and I pretty much ignored them the whole rest of the time I lived there.

Big planter at each top corner and they should get the hint (whilst your car is there anyway) FWIW it'd drive me mad too, I'm constantly hyper aware of everything and people inches from my window all the time would do my head in, especially when it's completely unnecessary seeing as they have their own drive and path.

Start doing it back to them.

I'm confused at why they don't walk down the middle, between the 2 car parking spaces. That would be the obvious most direct route to the road.

Yes it looks like a shared path in middle to go through to back of property. Probably shared by 4 houses. But usually the rectangle in front of each property is their own frontage. There is no need for neighbour to cut across the property as the neighbour has her own path to access the road. Op should check her land registry documents but if it is her property then I’d have a polite word now to nip in bud.

Is that definitely a path or just a dividing line?

They’re brainless new neighbours who don’t even know what deeds are.
However I think you really would get quickest result if you write a flowery card saying in a simple & friendly way, they have to stop making your doorbell go-off.

You are way over reacting

you live in a semi with the frontage directly on a pathway built specifically for people to walk on.

you need to suck it up

or sell up and go buy a house with a front garden. Ideally detached

I’m back again. In the picture it looks like designated parking for each house is outlined by the “white” lines. Beyond the “white” lines at the bottom of the picture it looks like communal ground, outside the boundaries of the designated parking. That communal ground might be a footpath or a road. Either way, the paths from the houses to the communal ground border the designated parking on either side, therefore, a logical understanding is the path on the right is the neighbours’, the path on the left is shared by OP and the house to the left of the gap. Why are the neighbours not using their path? OP is being reasonable.

You can check which is public footpath on council website but an access path like this won’t be a public footpath, the council won’t maintain it.

for me, this would not be worth the stress caused with neighbours. They would always bear a grudge against you for what they might see as petty behaviour. It is mildly annoying I agree, but there is no way I would risk a bad relationship with neighbours over this.

People seem to be a bit simple when looking at the picture (which the OP has said is similar to hers, not that exact one) and overanalysing it. The lighter path that runs down the side of the drive I would assume is shared with the house next door. The neighbour in question has the same amount of path as the OPs property + some border. If the OP is parking her car right up at the top, it isn't any easier for the neighbour to walk via her front door & window than down their own side. Also, the drive isn't made of lava, they can always just walk out the door and straight down presumably. Even with a car or two parked there, you need enough room to get in and out, which would normally be enough room to WALK DOWN THE DRIVE!

I think this would be reasonable if it were a pavement at the bottom. If it's road (and it looks to me like it is) then I think there is a shared footpath in front of the houses for pedestrians, and that's what the neighbours are using.

I am truly baffled by MN at times.

In real life I cannot imagine anyone who would be happy with a neighbour walking across their window (and trespassing) rather than using their own path.

Can't you use your imagination and see how it's wrong basically, but is also a privacy invasion? No one wants someone 6 inches from their window, peering in if you're standing there half undressed or in your PJs or whatever.

Do you own a house and would you really be happy with anyone doing this?