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??

I'd be really annoyed that you put a lock on the gate rather than knocking on my door and having a conversation.

I don't think you are behaving very neighbourly and if it turns out that he does have ROW it's likely he'll use it more than he would normally - just to claim his rights.

Yes. Putting a lock on the gate is not acceptable and will get you into legal trouble if your neighbour has right of way. You could live to regret that.

Why don't people talk to each other? Just knock on his door, introduce yourself as his new neighbour, and ask about the ROW issue.

Ok well it’s not good that the agents haven’t clarified yet, but good that he hasn’t passed through your garden again as it suggests that if he does have right of access it’s not something that he uses very frequently

Remove the lock. You could be breaking the law if he has RoW and also be in breach of your tenancy agreement if you don't have permission form your landlord. You don't own the gate. You can't attach a lock to someone else's property. As others have suggested, knock on his door and ask him.

As others have suggested, knock on his door and ask him.

Are you kidding? This is 2019, we don't talk to people any more.

Better just the burn the whole house down and be done with it.

@katewhinesalot
I've met all the neighbours in the row of 4 I live in. This man I saw coming through my gate is none of those people.
It's been unlocked all week, no one using it....

As I've stated, it's been unlocked all week. I'm on mat leave and have been in all day every day. No one has used the gate, the man doesn't live in the row of 4 I live in

Could you not just check the deeds yourself?

Why don't you ask one of your neighbours what the score is?

Sounds like he has right of way.

You can't put on lock on the gate unless you are sure that there is no right of way and it seems very odd that people would put gates were they don't have right of way. You are just going to make yourself very unpopular.
Our neighbours didn't use their right of way at the back of the garden that much.

Surely if the man doesn't live in any of the four houses that's even more reason to have a conversation with your neighbours? Just because they have a right of way doesn't mean he has. You might be able to put a lock on if you give your neighbours a key.

Maybe he was delivering something to the back of one of the houses? As I mentioned before, parcel delivery people have to use the shared access to get to my daughter's house to leave parcels at the back door.

Why would you walk all around the fecking block to get to your back door (including tramping across next door’s garden, just because you can) instead of just walking in the front?

We were second to last in a row of terraced houses. The front door opened straight into the living room & DM didn’t want us tramping straight onto the carpet with shoes. We had a porch at the back. Most people in our row used the back doors, we had to walk past all the other houses to get to ours but only had one household that had to go past us.

Op if you are renting does it say anything on the details about the garden being a right of way? Is it possible you’ve missed it?

No one has used the gate, the man doesn't live in the row of 4 I live in

Clearly a ghost. 👻

I live in a Victorian terrace and the only access to our back yards is through our own house. So I find it really strange when posters are saying you MUST have access otherwise you would have to bring the bin/garden waste/bike etc through the house. Well that's what we have to do! Most people leave their bins out the front but everything else comes in the front door. I've lived in other terraces in my city as do most people I know and it's the same for all of us. I dream of side access 😆
OP, I feel for you. I would not feel comfortable with this at all.

No one has used the gate, the man doesn't live in the row of 4 I live in

So he was either a relative, guest or visitor to one of the other properties? You could have resolved this whole issue by asking any of you neighbours if they had right of way through the garden 6 days ago. Just because he doesn't live in the properties doesn't mean you can stop him coming through with a lock on the gate if the properties have ROW through the garden then anyone going to one of those houses could use it.

Why would you walk all around the fecking block to get to your back door (including tramping across next door’s garden, just because you can) instead of just walking in the front?
Its highly unlikely that there'll be any tramping across gardens. The ROW access is likely to be a narrow path right next to the back walls of the houses.

Have you asked your neighbours what the situation with the access is?

If I looked at a property and saw a gate between the gardrns I would have asked tbe agent at the time.

I have lived in many houses with shared garden access mostly as a student in Sheffield. But I also bought a mid terraced house in Nottingham that had shared access.

I prefer my current house with private garden but it really was never a problem in other houses.

It is quite common for neighbours to have a right of access and if this is the case there is nothing you can do - except put one of those self closing things on the gate and keep a weather eye out. Personally I hate this arrangement - always been a dog owner - and have refused to ever live in one of these houses - bit to blooming communal.

On the 2nd September you said you would be calling the rental company.

If they have misled you, then they need to be looking to potentially reduce your rent because others having access through your garden, although allowed, is far from appealing and will affect rental and property value.

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

So, you have moved, or you are moving? Why was the removal van coming? The OP is confusing, as you say you have moved into a rental from your mortgaged family home.

@TruthOnTrial wow didn't think when asking for advice I'd be put on trail.....
I had already completed on the rented property, have had all week to clean the new house before I moved into it. I have now moved into this property

We've had this in our two previous houses. Generally it was fine and the neighbours only used the gates in bin day, for the window cleaner or when having other work done.
However one lot of students we had next door used to use it as a regular entrance, always leave the gates open and have parties that spilled out into our garden. Thankfully they were only there 9 months.
Also our last neighbour was a bit too friendly and would burst through the gate for a chat every time she heard our back door opening.

Probably a visits, and probably the neighbours were using the gate while the house was empty. Now you've moved in, they've stopped? If just go round and ask, in a friendly manner.

@notso oh no that must've been awful. I like my privacy really so it's not the best situation. Not sure that my new landlord and the letting agency who manage it are going to be the most responsive people to deal with so may take a while find out what's what