Can my neighbour come through my back garden to get to his?? Ok

[dg8484]

I've moved into a rented property before (never rented before, recently divorced so moved out of mortgaged home)
I was in my kitchen today cleaning and getting ready for Fridays removal van. When out the corner of my eye, I saw a man directly walking past the kitchen window. It is a row of town houses, I am the first one, so instead of using his front door, this man is opening the side garden gate to the house I'm in, and going through to his garden. I will be phoning the rental company in the morning, but surely this isn't right!? I am going to tell the rental company I want to put a lock on the gate. Also, I have a heavy garden table which I've put directly next to the gate. If I see him climb over it then I won't be happy. It's not a communal garden, it's individual gardens. Any advice??

@SunshineCake I thought that too, was hoping it was an one off

OP I know this seems normal to some, but I would totally hate this. Back garden is an extension of my home, and I wouldn’t be able to relax knowing someone could wander in at any moment.

I know houses where half the back garden is separated by a lane, so I suppose is people fenced over the lane then they would have to give access to neighbours.

But if it turns out there is a right of way through the garden I would see if you can get out of the lease. You need to feel comfortable in your home, and this set up doesn’t seem to suit you.

You can download deeds from the gov.uk website, think it's about a fiver to do so.

I would say it's not common in all areas for right of access. I lived in a terraced house for many years and the only access to the garden was through the house.

When we were looking at properties one had right of access directly past the kitchen. Didn't bother with that house, and it was priced lower than other similar houses in the area.

I would ask the landlord to move the gate to the bottom of the garden, and fence that off if the neighbours MUST have access. If they aren't willing then they should put in other measures to ensure the safety of your children.

@Dollymixture22 exactly right, I have a 2 year leese too :( but I feel if he does have right of access this should've been made clear to me. Completely get your point I also feel it's an extension of my home and on warm days and my days off I'd like relax in my garden without someone traipsing through! Just doesn't seem normal

@loutypips thankyou I didn't know that. And I will be doing all I can

I hope he doesn't have right of access, but has just got into a bad habit because your house has been empty.

Maybe he glimpsed you from the corner of his eye and nearly had a heart attack because he didn't know the house is now occupied and 'll never use the garden again!

I know you probably already answered this but is there s gate between your garden and his?

He might have lost his front door key so is lazily using the backdoor instead.

If all the gardens have gates at the sides it seems like this is intended for access. It would have been better to put the right of way at the bottom of the garden but I think you might be stuck with it. I rarely used this access when I had a house like this but the woman I bought it from said she used to walk along it regularly to claim her right of way (she was quite a stroppy character). The man might be doing the same.

Of course he will have right of access but not necessarily in the manner he is using it.

I live in a terraced house and my neighbour has access through my garden for emergency services, repairs, inspections, bins etc but not just for everyday use when they feel like it.

If you have just moved in he is probably being nosy to see if he can see his new neighbours. I would hate this too but try not to be too negative about it - he might be a nice useful neighbour who is an asset rather than a pervy creep spying on you or whatever. If it's only him it's not so bad as long as he is friendly and happy to close the gate. You might even want to invite him to your bbqs!
You could (if you hadn't been give prior warning by the landlord) insist he puts a ?spring on the gate to ensure it closes after use and a better lock so the DC can't reach or open it.

We live in a terrace of eight and there is a right of way round the back. People use it when they have large items delivered to their sheds, which are round the back, like washing machines, freezers. We always ask if we need to use it, even though legally we have the right anyway, but recently, when our elderly neighbour needed his washing machine removed, we were helping him, so I went to ask the lady living on the end if we could go through her back garden (just to warn her really so that she wasn't standing in her kitchen in her bra and pants, or worse) and she was incredibly rude.

Next time I won't ask.

@71wheretogo is this directly through people's gardens? Or through an access alley or path?
If mine is shared access it really is a bit of an invasion of privacy with how the gardens are set out

Tried to add a picture but as I'm new on here it won't let me :/

In my old house the right of access was directly past my back door, with the garden beyond. This is very common. But I had a shed in position that meant if a neighbour came through they wouldn’t necessarily see me in the garden.

It's quite common where I am (southwest) for rights of way to run along the back of a terrace of houses between the house and garden. This came as a surprise to me as I'd only previously seen them running along the end of the garden.

If there is a legal right of way you can't block it. You can ask the neighbours politely if they could close the gate after they go through. Maybe put a polite notice on it. But if they have a right of access you won't be able to stop or limit this.

Check with your landlord.

My friend lives in a terrace and there is a right of way across the back gardens. It’s a pretty common set up.

When her children were very small, they had a fence on the garden side of the common path.

I would ask the landlord to move the gate to the bottom of the garden, and fence that off if the neighbours MUST have access. If they aren't willing then they should put in other measures to ensure the safety of your children.

You can't just move a legal right of way to a position preferable to you. It is where it is.

Yes it will be marked on the deeds

You need to check with the landlord because this bloke may have just installed this side gate because it’s a rental. Some people are cheeky arses. And it’s either your landlord or the neighbour.

Would you have rented the property knowing the garden had a right of way? If not I’d get done to the cab and ask what your rights are and if this would be grounds to get out of the contract early? Is there a break clause In the lease?

Check what you have signed in the rental agreement first. It may be in the small print in which case you’d effectively know about it even though the ll omitted to tell you

The landlord can't just move the access to the end of the garden if it is an established right of way as it will affect all the other houses in the row.

my garden is the only access to his back garden.

Can he get to his garden via his home?

If not then that’s a pretty clear indicator that he has access rights.

But good luck talking to the agency today. Hopefully it will all work out.

We had exactly the same. A block of 4 houses, ours was the first so had the alley next to our house so nextdoor had access across our back garden to theirs. It was only the one house as it was a block of 4 so the next 2 houses had the same set-up. We got on well with our neighbors and they only really used it on bin day and when their DC took their bikes out.

@LittleLongDog yes he has his own back door access to his garden. Will see what I can do today

I've seen terrraces where front gardens were several houses away from each house. It was a wheeze that controlling paternalistic estate owners came up with, on the grounds that people would force whoever owned the garden in front of their house to keep it tidy (couldn't think of a shorter way to construct that sentence )

I grew up in the end house (number 1) of 6 terraces houses. House number 3 had right of access through number 2 and ours, house number 2 had right of access through ours. It was used mainly by the binmen in the days before wheely bins but the residents had a right to access through our garden and out our driveway. Houses 4 and 5 had the same access through house 6.

Our neighbours were great and there were no problems but I can see how there could be, asand as an adult I wouldn't like it. I have a dog and children and like to see my garden as a private space that is an extension of my house. So I can appreciate why you dont like it but also appreciate that the man has a right to it.