AIBU to object to neighbour using my garden as their main access?

[Deepblueokay]

Fully expecting to be told this is my own fault for not looking into it properly but need a vent all the same!

A year ago I moved into an end of terrace house. There is the usual easement arrangement with the adjoining neighbour that they can get access to their back garden via my back garden. I know that is pretty standard and I was obviously aware of it when I purchased. Since moving in however it's become clear that they use it as their primary entrance. They never use their front door. They have a sign on the front door telling post man/ couriers etc to go round the back. Again, wouldn't necessarily be a big issue except that there seems to CONSTANTLY be someone walking through! It's an older lady living there with her grandson. He is late teens/ early 20s maybe and in and out like a yo-yo, no exaggeration. Ditto her boyfriend, her dog walker, her cleaner, her food shop, couriers (she gets at least two packages a day!) .... The latter particularly pisses me off because they often don't close my gate behind them. I have an OAP dog and 4 children, the youngest of whom is 4. It'd take literal seconds to slip out of the garden without anyone noticing 😠 And frankly, now that its summer time it just feels quite intrusive. Strangers walking in and out while my children are playing. I stupidly feel awkward sitting outside to read a book even though it's my fucking garden!

Is it even a legal thing to say that they are over using their access?!

Should also add that I would probably mind all this less except that at the end of last year the handle of my gate broke. It was the week before Christmas and I didn't have time or money to fix it and it wasn't particularly a priority for me, but I told the neighbour I would sort it after Christmas, quite reasonably I thought. (I have a side door so actually rarely use the gate). Neighbour told me I had to fix it because it is "YOUR gate" and "a public right of way" (it isn't 🤣).Then proceeded to tell all the other neighbours that I was "refusing" to fix it because I didn't use it and that she "couldn't even get her food delivered" and would "rather die than use the front door"... After a week of hassle and harassment I ended up getting a friend's husband to fix it for free and neighbour has since apologised but... I don't know, it just left a sour taste.

Is there anything I can do? Do I just have to wait for her to move/die?? 🙈

I felt annoyed on your behalf reading this!
I'm in an end terrace too with the same easement. Luckily my neighbours are lovely. We have a young child and we put a padlock on the gate for safety reasons and gave our neighbours a key. We checked it all out, and it's entirely legal for us to do this. Our neighbours have no problem with it, it sounds like yours might though. However, you do have the right to do it.

It may well depend on age of house, if Victorian it is probably to access back door and most people would have used back door 99%of the time as straight into kitchen not front parlour, as often dirty from work. The coal would have been brought round the back etc and maybe a bike. The front door would have not been used often, just formal occasions good friends and family would have come round the back so it is likely in this case that the neighbour can go back and forth several times a day. However if built after 1960 it is more likely to be accessible for bins, gardening & building materials that can't realistically be taken through front door. The only way to know is to check deeds and title for exact easement clause. If someone has used it for 20 years without interference they will probably have now got prescriptive rights

They may well no longer have a front entrance. My friend extended her living room into the front hallway and used her garden entrance as her main entrance.

Yes exactly this, plenty of people just need to access the garden through the house.

My final rental property had this, and my neighbour used it as her primary entrance with all the issues you mentioned OP. And it's precisely why when I loved out and bought my own place it was one of my non-negotiables.

This i have no advice other than to move.

What you've posted shows there are no restrictions on usage of the easement.

Please don't listen to people telling you to lock the gate, put a notice up restricting access etc. Post on the Garden Law forum where people know what they're talking about.

We are mid terrace and have a right of way through our (left hand) neighbour's garden, as does our right hand neighbour through both gardens. DH is currently clearing the shed and would rather bring a wheelbarrow through the fucking house than go through next door's garden.

I have to say a lot of the country's terraced streets look quite shit with wheelie bins in view. Our house included.

Yes you can, as long as you provide the neighbours with a key. They would soon get bored of having to unlock it and relock it so many times a day. Apart from that, why shouldnt the OP secure her garden. The neighbour has a right of way, but they don't own her property. She has a right to secure it for her pets and children.

Why would anyone make this their main entrance? It makes no sense. Isn't it far easier just to step out onto the street??!!

I thought exactly the same! I don’t understand why it wasn’t just a case of there is no back or side access!
Maybe it’s an area dependent type thing.

This has made me realise how I always need to get the deeds to neighbours houses too!

Sounds like she should have contributed towards the gate and now has lsot her access!

@Deepblueokay , there will be a plan (picture) showing the area marked in green.

OP where is the path and the gates? At the end of your garden or right next to the houses?
We used to have one along the very end, which was no problem but i've seen lots in the middle too.

Agree with this. I’ve lived in terraces in different cities. Some this sort of arrangement is common, other cities nearly all have alley ways in the back,

another city I can think of the terraced houses have a passageway way down the middle between the terraces on the ground floor to the yards and then a flying freehold on the first floor. Front doors being mid passage on the side.

Surely the bins are only emptied by the council once a week?

Probably if the front doors opens straight into the living room with no hallway. Much easier to keep coats and shoes by the back door which will be off the kitchen or even a little back porch. You don’t want wet shoes on your living room carpet, plus the cold air in winter.

This. Easements are usually only allowed for specified purposes and not instead of using the front door. Additionally the easement may only be for the use of residents in the house and not their callers and visitors.

I agree. We had to install a door on the entry which is technically my property because my neighbour, who has the right to use it, had his motorbike stolen from his back garden. As long as we both have keys its fine. He actually stores work stuff in it as he is a plumber and sometimes has some very long pipework. I dont mind at all, we have all been here circa three decades, it does worry me how it would work for the other household if either set moved.

Speak to her and back up with a note along these lines.
The back access is being over used and is taking away the privacy, safety and enjoyment of my property. I have put a padlock on the gate and will remove it on dustbin days. If you are having any gardening work done and need access except for dustbin days, then please inform me in advance so I can unlock the gate.

no easement involved but my neighbour goes in and out through her kitchen door. Inside the house is a perfectly normal house with a hall, coat storage and so on.

That is likely to end in legal consequences. Bad idea.

If that’s in your deeds then I assume the area marked in green is the path? It clearly seems to mention that have to pay towards maintenance? So get some
money of them

Just came on to say this.

My last house had and easement with a difficult neighbour. Almost word for word exactly the same on our deeds.

We took legal advice from our home insurance and were told we were well within our rights to secure our property and install a lock. All we had to do was provide a key to our neighbour.

We still had a bit of a fight as she kept leaving it unlocked to let friends and family waltz in and out. Until we pointed out she would be liable if she didn’t lock it and something was stolen from our shed etc. She eventually kept it locked and slowly foot traffic moved to her front door

Do put up a security camera, which would clearly demonstrate how often she is letting people use the pathway and how often they walk past your windows and eave the garden gate open.

To add........put it on an auto close with a yale lock, so she has access but has to go out every single time someone wants to deliver. She will soon get over her aversion to the front door.