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.

You have a perfectly acceptable reason to ask them if they could use the other path. your Ring bell. I’d use that.

I’d also say to them that you’re planning on getting some plant pots for the front so the other path will be more convenient anyway. Then a couple of days later, put the plants

Well op says it doesn’t mention it - which is a different thing - mine don’t mention the public path so why would hers

and she’s calling the parking space a “drive” / it really doesn’t look like it to me from the pics

I agree Pink Tonic. The answers in this thread are unbelievable. Are people being deliberately dense, not reading OP’s answers or just intentionally causing trouble? I just can’t get my head around the answers. People thinking that the OP’s private path is a public footpath……seriously??? 🤷‍♀️

For the hundredth time the path that runs along the OP’s house is her private path. She has confirmed this with her solicitor. The neighbour has exactly the same path, that is the neighbours path. They are not public footpaths 🤦🏼‍♀️

She has not checked with solicitor - just looked at her own deeds where it wouldn’t be mentioned - as said she’s also calling her parking space in front of her house a drive..it doesn’t look like that to me

clearly people don’t agree - like her neighbours themselves

why do you need everyone to agree with you!!

for the hundredth time

If you look at the link to the specific house, each one has two parking spaces. They are private, purchased as part of the property. I don’t actually see what the issue is with calling it a drive. It literally is the private parking belonging to the house. No different than all the ripped out and replaced front gardens which are referred to as drives. It’s obvious though from reading this thread that there is a significant risk of a load of thick cheeky fuckers treating it like public property.

Agreed. In my experience, living on a late90/early2000 built village estate, with a newer estate built in the last 10yrs, pavements/public paths are tarmac. Private 'garden' paths as in the OPs similar example picture, with access to front door and back garden, are paving slabs. Id be annoyed in your situation too OP and agree with those saying talk to your neighbour, maybe when gardening or something when they return or leave one day and also put out a plant pot between the front doors.

why is it obvious?

why would it not be mentioned?

If it was a public right of way it would show up on an Ordnance Survey map. It would also have been flagged up during the purchase.

Ahhhh what I would give for your problems to be my problems.

I dream of a life where something that gets anywhere near the top of my list of things that bother me is someone walking too close to my house.

OP I salute you, you must have a truly lovely and blessed life.

Something can be private property and you still have right of way.

We have this with our house where we have right of way to a public bit of land via our two neighbors gardens. There are actually low walls separating but when from time to time we need access we just climb over. Is what it is - right of way.

The thread title is clear so if people getting a bit exercised about bad neighbour behaviour is distressing for you you’re more than capable of scrolling on by I’m sure.

No, it's not distressing. It's nice to live vicariously through other people's non-problems 😂

My other favorite activity is going on the poshest hotels I can find on TripAdvisor and filtering on 1* reviews. It's so funny to hear millionaires complaining that they got the wrong vintage of wine or the wrong provenance of strawberry and it's ruined their lives. I recommend it.

Hi @Bluesea14 I think the best way is just to gently say something when you meet them. pop and say hello, welcome them to the street and then just say "oh btw I appreciate it's a bit confusing but this bit is actually our front garden and when you walk on it the Ring bell is picking it up! that bit there is your path! Anyway how are you settling in... "
If they carry on after that then they're a nuisance!

How do you know that OP doesn't have other stuff happening in her life? People can deal with several issues at once yano. I think it's a little presumptuous to assume she doesn't.

When people started behaving like self-entitled idiots. I'd be hacked off and putting in planters that had plants with spikes. I can give the OP a whole list of them, if they want but Pyracantha is excellent. Pretty flowers, followed by berries (red, orange or yellow, depending on the type) and long, nasty thorns all year round.

@DisabledDemon if OP planted them she wouldn’t be able to use her own path! There is probably only the space of a standard slab that she can put anything

If the neighbours did have any provisions in their title giving them legal permission to cross OP’s property then she’d have been made aware at time of purchase by her conveyancer. A property that others can use as access is usually less monetary value and harder to sell on.

but according to some people on the thread a post person is ment to walk up and down and round rather than using the paths as designed to walk all the way along

but why is it wrong to use a path when its designed to be able to walk all the way along ? (based on the op)

Because you don’t trespass on someone else’s private property.

But OP has confirmed the neighbour doesn’t have right of way so it’s irrelevant.

The neighbour has their own path, they don’t need to use OP’s. Would you be happy with people walking right in front of your living room window whenever they felt like it ?

Where exactly has she confirmed it. I and it seems others haven't seen that.