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.

Why are posters so adamant that OP needs to look at her neighbours deeds? OP has already made it clear that her deeds indicate there's no right of access. Why would the neighbours deeds say anything different? Seriously. People here are so eager to make their case that they’re repeating the same nonsense, instead of just accepting that the neighbours are rude!

This is a similar type with parking in front straight off road no pavement. Each house has changed bit in front of their own window so it’s clearly theirs.

It would be odd if householder on left walked across white gravel under neighbours window and squeezed behind white car to use right hand path rather than using their own path. That’s what OP’s neighbour is doing.

Probably par for the course with these new build designs. I couldn't live where there wasn't a proper brick boundary and some space between my house and the path. It does just look like a walk though so your neighbour probably doesn't understand.

We had a similar issue and it really ground my gears, because the neighbours took their bins across our drive, kids bikes etc etc. However, we have previously fallen out with neighbours (different house, different neighbours, different issue) and really didn't want to do that again.

So we did the British thing of not saying anything but moaning about it to each other. However, as soon as a For Sale sign went up outside that neighbour's house, we had a four foot wall built down the side of our drive. We had it built on our driveway only, not on the threshold, so it didn't encroach on our neighbour's driveway by a millimetre, which reduced our parking space a bit but it was a small price to pay to prevent inevitable damage to our cars and the immense irritation. Perhaps you could do similar, even with a slatted fence right up to the house wall?

If op has only recently bought she’ll have all her conveyancing paperwork to hand. Her conveyancer will have flagged up if anyone had rights over her land.
Given the right hand property has its own paved access path from road it’s incredibly unlikely they would have access rights as no need and generally avoided now as it causes issues and a developer seeking to maximise profit wouldn’t want to have less valuable plots to sell/risk don’t sell. Obviously old terraces can be different but your conveyancer will flag up if anyone has rights to cross your property for access or public rights of way.

@Springisnearlyspring in that last photo they are probably less likely to walk between the 2 houses as the doors are further apart, although you have to wonder if that is why one house has a border in front of their window and not a path

I am assuming her paperwork will show rights of way on the other side if her set up is the same as the original photo

This is so weird of your neighbour. I live in the equivalent of your neighbours house and I wouldn’t dream of walking past my neighbours window and then use their path. I would be keen to start obstructing them and hopefully this would encourage them to use their brain and their own path. It can’t be any easier for them, they mentally think it’s a short cut but it’s not as it’s a square.

I can´t get worked up about this. But in the end, you decide what you waste your energy on.

Looks like shared access to me. OP who owns the actual path over the driveway? You state it’s on your deeds - what about the house on the other side? Are they allowed to use it? In your opinion?

Oh I couldn’t cope with that set up. I’d need to put a fence through the middle for clear delineation. Put some plants there for now and get a fence up. It’s all too open.

Agreed. I would be uncomfortable with people walking right past my window, when they don't need to. I wouldn't want my neighbours recording every time I entered or left my house either. Hopefully, a friendly introduction can sort this.

when going door to door why would i go past the same window twice when i only need to once if i follow the path, and to me i follow the design of the path

that i can understand but then you would walk slightly onto the tarmac part to the next one

A planter with a trellis so it is tall

The pale bit of path that goes along the houses looks like a pavement. I couldn‘t get myself worked up about that.

Speaking as someone who has always managed cordial relations with neighbours, I would be irritated if I moved in somewhere and the neighbour suddenly put up some massive planter between our properties. I would not be irritated if the neighbour spoke to me and asked me to stop walking right in front of her window. I might think she was a bit precious, but I would of course comply.

Why is it so freaking hard for so many people on here to engage in normal social interactions?

Which is your house ?

If you able time and cost-wise, I'd turn that little front area that belongs to you into a front garden with large planters or even plants (if you're allowed) on the edges so it's not possible to walk across it. I think you need to set it up in a way you are comfortable. If it's currently unlandscaped it's probably just the quickest and easiest way for them to cross to their home and they don't realise it's your land. I think sending a letter will alienate them and there's nothing worse than living next door to neighbours you don't get on with. You can get those nice heavy duty planters which they'd have to vault over. Obviously they cost quite a bit but it'll make the area in front of your house look lovely and it will clearly be your spot.

I have the same layout as you and it would annoy me the same. It is my garden path, it is as much my garden path as the one I have in my fully enclosed back garden and I wouldn’t expect people to be walking there. I’ve bought a house set back from the street for a reason, I’m not sure why so many people can’t see why someone walking inches from your window isn’t a problem. My drive is my front garden, it isn’t a fancy one but it is still my front garden and not a public path. Is it a convenient shortcut for them? People on here have warned before about people eventually having rights when they’ve used land for so long. I would initially put a trough plant pot out between the houses. Do you have any pets? Could you mention how it’s setting the dog off so can they use their own path?

Pathetic

Hey neighbour,
Please don’t be offended but can I ask you to use your path instead of ours? Nothing personal it’s just every time someone comes past, it makes me jump that someone is at the window and also sets my ring off and it’s driving me nuts.

Keep it light and polite but send written letter if it continues.

I think they are being reasonable - it doesn’t look like the path belongs to the houses and it’s shared

It looks like that's a longer way round if they're habitually coming from the other direction. Is it?

I assume that isn't a pathway coming up between the two lawns/driveways? If not, might it be worth making it into one so you both have direct access from the front?

There are covenants in some new build areas forbidding fencing at the front of the houses. OP needs to check the deeds before doing this or she could be forced to take any fencing down.

Op is in left hand semi where blue is. She wants neighbour to use their own path where green is. Instead they are using blue route across her private property.