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?? 🙈

They are usually only for fire escape purposes so definitely check deeds and speak to citizens advice if not clear

Lock the gate with the longest code combination lock you can find and give her the code, then update the code every month (week) for 'security purposes'.

She'll soon use her front door then.

@TreesinthePark , mine allows access to all the houses in the block apart from the end ones.

I'm in a London terrace (victorian conversion) and myself and most of my neighbours can only access our back gardens from our house. So additional access isn't something that's strictly necessary. Lots of us manage this way.

Although I am very careful when I BBQ! As the fire service would have a heck of a job getting to my garden (I'm also not on the ground floor).

However I did once live in an end terrace and the neighbour had right of way through my garden. It was an absolute nightmare and I swore never again. Apparently the people who lived there after me were hoping to put an extension on the back. I thought yeah good luck with that, I wasnt even allowed a patio table out there!

Thank you 🙂

Not sure. Mines a semi detached house divided into 2 flats

Have you considered getting a return spring fitted to the gate so it closes as soon as they’ve walked through? Just a thought…….if it’s shared access I’m afraid you’ll have to tolerate the foot traffic

I was under the impression this kind of access was purely for bins/gardener/window cleaner or for safety eg in case of a fire and exiting via the back. I honestly could not stand someone constantly walking through my back garden. As others have said I would seek legal advice, speak to your home insurance and as suggested a lock with key provided. She will probably hate the hassle of the locked gate. Also point out that they are jointly responsible for maintenance of this area.

Some friends of ours fell in love with this house but decided against putting in an offer due to this exact situation.
It was in the agents notes on the listing and they tried persuading themselves it would be a once a week thing for bins, but realised it could be a daily thing with difficult neighbours.
I personally would want a private garden for the price of the house!
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88376772#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thanks for this! It’s completely new to me.
So this would be obvious if there was an easement as there would be a gate in the garden?

something else for me to worry about with moving 😂

I live in an end block of 4 terrace with huge gardens. Two of the neighbours have right of access. These were built when everyone had a coal fire and it was mainly for the coal man. However, the deeds say pedestrian access only. That's it. It doesn't specify the householders only.
I'm lucky that the neighbour next door but one never ever uses it and the neighbour next door rarely, only maybe walking round the front with the lawnmower.
I think your neighbour is being very selfish and entitled though but if there's no specification in anyone's deeds then there's little you can do I don't think.
As some have said, can you fence off a pathway with 6' fencing for them to walk through?

There's a gate between mine and neighbours garden

I don’t know what they’re called, but I think you can get a special security padlock with two keys - one for you and a spare, for your neighbour. And that’s it. She would be unable to get a spare key cut without your permission, and it would be at a cost of £££. And no one else could copy that key either, without your permission. And you would be notified if someone tried. Try a local security company/proper locksmith.

Or a code lock and just give her the code on bin day?

Quite often easements grant a right of way over a specific path shown on a plan for the owner of the house and anyone else authorised by them, servants or workmen are often given as an example. So it's quite possible they are acting entirely within the terms of the deed.

You definitely need to find out exactly what it says.

I think it's not as common in the south, I lived in a terrace in east London growing up and no one was wandering through people's gardens unless they were running from police. I then lived in an end terrace 50s build in Essex but even the attached houses had alleys. I now live in an Edwardian semi but there are lots of Victorian terraces around and those without side access keep their bins in the tiny yards at the front.

Until I visited a friend in Yorkshire I didn't know what a back to back was, I'd never seen one!

Just read this listing and then checked my new house listing 😂
thanks for this!

You could be in serious trouble if you locked the gate as potentially the neighbour has a legal right here. Op needs to check her deeds.

I know someone who used to live in the middle of a terrace of 30 houses. There was an access road at the back, with land where some residents had built garages/put washing lines etc BUT there was a footpath literally through the middle of every front garden. Originally it would have been so that all the workers at the mill opposite could come out of their front door and follow the quickest route to work. More recently it seemed that only the window-cleaner used it regularly but any resident/visitor could have done.

Okay, but what do your Deeds actually state regarding this.

@saraclarahaven’t lived a sheltered life yet never ever heard of this! I can’t even imagine it in my head I need a diagram. Ur photo confuses me even more, there’s several house next to each other, so wouldn’t that mean someone is walking through several gardens to get to theirs?
It’s bizarre that they wouldn’t use the front door for delivery, seems like the easiest option

My sister has this with her house but I don’t think her neighbours ever use it except on bin day. My mum also has it too and as she’s in the middle she can go through her neighbour’s garden. However they all rarely do this and use their front doors and front yard space for bins.

can you somehow fence off a little path? Not sure how feasible that would be though

Isn’t that saying they have a right to access subject to them contributing towards maintenance? Have they contributed towards maintenance? Or did they just harass you over the gate

You will give a right of way over the land coloured green on the plan dated 1989 subject to their contributing towards the maintenance and repair of the same

I guess it depends on what the land coloured green consists of....is it the entire garden or just a designated pathway.....and have they contributed towards the maintenance and repair?

Totally will depend, but my parents' home (Wales) refers to dominant tenement and means the people - it's there in black and white. It also states they are not allowed a 'merry-go-round' on their property - goodness knows where that tenet came in! As I said - check the deeds.

What are the rights noted above??