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 lived in a house just like this except two houses had access. I would never buy a house like that again. You aren’t being unreasonable and you do have some options.

As many posters have said, a right of way grants access, but that isn’t necessarily the same as giving an entire household, their visitors, deliveries, dog walkers and cleaners the right to use it as their permanent front door. Whether what’s happening here legally exceeds what the original easement intended depends on the exact wording of the 1989 plan, so that’s worth digging out. Get it at the Land Registry online for £3, but if not your conveyancing solicitor or mortgage lender will have copies.

A friendly conversation would then be my first step before anything else. A formal dispute is expensive and the outcome never guaranteed. The case law on excessive use tends to involve more dramatic situations than frequent garden gate use, so I wouldn’t go in expecting an easy win through the courts. I would consult a solicitor if the chat didn’t go well and you are still unhappy.

In the meantime, a camera covering your gate and garden might discourage people from leaving the gate open. Just make sure it isn’t pointing directly into her property. If it covers the shared access route you may need to register with the ICO for around £40 a year. I would mention to your neighbour first that you’re putting it up because you’re concerned about strangers coming through where your young children play, which is true and won’t put them on the defensive.

You’re not totally stuck, you just need the right information before deciding how far to take it.

Find a copy of the documents your solicitor sent you with that report OP. And get your thread moved to Legal.

But why not use your front door if it means not intruding on someone else’s space? And you say your business clients go through there too. I find that mind boggling.

Put a lock on it and only open it the night before bin day so they can take their bin out!

It's been said about a thousand times already, but please do check your deeds before you do anything else OP. There's been a lot of well-meaning advice saying that you are 'entitled to privacy' or that the access 'must just be for bins' or that you can put locks on the gate to make things difficult etc. This advice might be correct, but as it is based on pure speculation it equally might not. The problem is that if your neighbours do have a perfect legal right to do what they're doing - which is quite possible - then if you interfere with that right and if they're awkward buggers you risk them raising a dispute with you. You really do want to avoid any sort of dispute that you'd have to disclose if you were looking to sell, as it would raise a glaring red flag for buyers. So please please please check with Land Registry what the actual legal situation is first.

Its not illegal to lock the gate.

The deeds clearly say access to the neighbour, so the access can be in the form of a locked gate and give the neighbour a key. They therefore have access.

If you have kids/dogs then this is sensible to have a lock on it.

They’re definitely taking the piss and she probably knows she is. I’ve lived in a house like this and it’s only for residents access or emergency services not for any and everyone. The idea is mainly for bins and bikes garden materials no one ever used ours the way your describing we all had a bit of respect for each other. They’re massively taking liberties! I’d put a lock on it, obviously provide her with a key and just explain the key isn’t to be shared outside of her house hold and only her household have access through your property, you can’t deny them access but you absolutely can deny delivery drivers and anyone else the cheeky fuck sees fit! It’s not very safe for your children big courier company’s will literally employ anyone you don’t want randomers having full acccess to your property.

I can't see how she could mount legal action against you for putting a lock on it.

Not if she gives the neighbour a key

OP if you want to DM me and send me the title plan and register I'm happy to look at it for you and confirm for sure (lawyer)

I dont mean to sound like a snob, disagree with the living a 'sheltered life' comment, i grew up in a council flat so I dont come from some lovely 5 bed detached house upbringing. Likewise my nan and grandad lived in a terraced house, however there was an alleyway that they all had a key to (6 neighbours) which was where all their bins were and once a week they would be able to unlock the alleyway and put all the bins out etc. However I cannot grasp how someone having access to your garden is a done thing.

Ive just replied to a post saying the exact same thing, because apparently I live a sheltered life not knowing this was normal!

And she's likely to be breaking the law then

We have this over the house next door.

We try to be reasonable and don’t use it much but that’s backfired a bit as the neighbours have now attached lights and things down the fence… so I’ll have to ask them to remove them now we’ll need side access again 😅

If it's a normal easement fine, but you don't have to allow them to send the postman/couriers round the back. Point out it is not a public right of way, and that you object to them using it as their main access for post/deliveries- the fact they don't like using the front door is immaterial- blocking up access means that there are less ways to exit in event of a fire-so unacceptable, but as a poster mentioned litigation is expensive,so I would get the council involved -go to environmental health and explain the problem, they may refer you to building control as well.

I’ve seen this arrangement but thought it was just for bins, building works etc. I’m in a terrace with no back door access but we have front yards for the bins. No advice OP as I know nothing, just solidarity that your neighbour sounds obnoxious. ‘Rather die than use the front door’. Jesus.

As others have said check the deeds OP. I lived in a house like this. Access waa for emergency services etc. I let their window cleaner use the side gate once a week but the neighbours asked firsr.

I had a situation exactly like this in a terraced house with a neighbour that like your one was both unreasonable with her expectations of us (had her own petty little rules and would get the hump when they weren't abided by) but treated our garden like a thorough fare constantly. She also had 3 yappy little dogs that would yap aggressively at the little gate every time our kids were outside. She had an allotment so was always wheel barrowing stuff through and taking her dogs on walks. We couldn't enjoy our own garden. Then she had building work that went on for months so all the builders were constantly coming through. When she sold the house the new neighbours told us there was a delay as she had to get a solicitor to add the right of way to the deeds. So all that time she didn't even have the legal right to cross over our garden. Absolutely CHECK THE DEEDS. Also, I know you're on your own with 4 kids and you might feel intimidated but at the end of the day remember she doesn't care about the safety of your kids or being intrusive in your garden. She sounds entitled and not afraid to be unreasonable and before long she'll be moaning about something else so you do what's best for you and your kids.

My previous house was a terrace with a right of way for residents along the back.

Weirdly, the right of way was halfway down the 100' back gardens, and it was wide enough to get a car or van along it. It was bloody handy for deliveries of large or heavy items, as the front doors were down very steep steps, like the entrance to a basement flat. Most of the gardens were fenced halfway down, so to get to the bottom part, you had to go through the back gate and across the right of way, but some people didn't bother. Where people had built garages at the back, they drove across a couple of gardens to get to them!

I've never come across a similar arrangement anywhere else, but it was quite nice in a way. The bottom part of my garden was just grass, and I scattered wildflower seeds. In the summer, it was like a little meadow in the middle of Croydon, and attracted loads of birds and butterflies.

I wonder if this is more common in some parts of the UK than others. I feel like in London only a minority of terraced houses even have an alley at the back. Mostly the gardens are divided from each other by fences end to end and at the side so if you wanted to get to your garden not through the house you’d need to be jumping over fences like that scene in Hot Fuzz.

She can, and people have. You are not allowed to block or restrict an easement in any way.

If you read about easements on gov.uk you will see this is the case.

Legal action can cost thousands of pounds in cases like this when people dig their heels in.

How does she get through your garden into her property. I get she has a right of way from your gate and is just crossing your garden but how does she get into hers - does she have a gate? Is there any scope to move where your gate is and to open up an entrance way into her garden elsewhere? Can you post an anonymised plan as others might be able to help you work this out with her. When I lived in a terrace it had a lane at the bottom but it sounds like all of the houses are landlocked - is it just her that gets to go through your garden?

This seems very good advice OP. Why don't you try this. You can say something like you're planning on buying an expensive bicycle or something

I mean it's lesson for all of us to check the paperwork when buying a house!! I learned so many new things today, I'd never expect this was a thing. Absolutely dreadful

I live in a mountainside village of terraced miners cottages where there are variations of it throughout the village.
I have a road (just wide enough for a car) between my front door and my front garden.
Others have public rights of way footpaths through front gardens or back gardens depending on orientation of house on mountainside. Some just have 'rights over' by neighbours.
I viewed 4 houses when i bought mine. 3 had some version of this setup.