Boundaries and exact details

[PegsPigs]

I own a mid terraced house and I want to revamp my garden. I have side access down the side of my neighbour's property, separated by a fence on both sides (so an alley way/path way). It then goes across the bottom of my neighbour's garden separated by a fence to my neighbour and a fence at the bottom to the resident whose garden sides onto our road's gardens.

My neighbour has lived there since it was built c. 1975 and I've lived there nearly 8 years. By a quirk of our neighbourhood I am friends with the people who I bought the house off and they bought it in 2002.

I want to Tarmac over my side passage as it's overgrown with weeds. I know I'll have no issue with the actual passage starting at the gateway (need to fit a gate) but wondered if I could a) Tarmac over the access from the road straight up the passage. This is currently grass and looks by eye to be part of his front lawn but if you look really closely it looks like there's a 3 or 4 foot wide path which is slightly different to the rest of the lawn.

b) I'd also like to Tarmac over the bit at the back of his garden which is between the two fences. It's wider than the alley/path way up the side and has a bank of soil at the back against the side on garden resident's fence. It's about 8 or 10ft wide and would be a really useful area which we could use to put a garden shed which would make loads of extra space in our garden if we demolished the existing shed. The bit at the back of his garden is probably 8/10 ft by 20ft.

So there's the background! I think I need some deeds but looking at the Land Registry example of the Title Plan I'm not sure it's specific enough to understand the width of the access pathway I have. So my question is how do I go about getting the specific details necessary to know what I can Tarmac over? I may also want to replace fences so would like to know which fences I would be able to replace without annoying either boundary neighbour. Where do I get this information please? All of these changes would be of real benefit to my property. I am on good terms with the neighbour but he is very elderly so may not want the hassle or bother of all of this if it requires efforts by him. Your help is very much appreciated!

The solicitor who did your searches when you.purchased the.property may still have details, otherwise the deeds. You will need to confirm you OWN the walkways before you can do anything, it may be that you have access across them ie right of way but not ownership.

Shouldn't you first speak to the neighbours? Only if there is some objection need you consider your position in law.

IIRC a dominant tenement owner has a right to repair land over which they hold a ROW if it has fallen in to disrepair, but they are not, I believe, entitled to improve it. So, if it was tarmac in the past but it has broken down and become weed infested you can do it.

There's nothing you can do about the fences unless you've the consent of your neighbours. Your ability to exercise your ROW is not dependent upon the path being fenced in.

That's a good place to start thank you.

as an aside, before you start chucking tarmac down think very hard about flood risk and drainage. And weeds can get through it.

gravel would be a much better bet.

Yes special that's true. I haven't decided exactly on the material just needs to be easy to roll the bins over from the front to the back of the house.

Fidelia What you say is correct but with the following caveat:

OP can tarmac the path if it has previously been tarmaced. She cannot improve the path's surface.

It would be worthwhile taking a look at this thread on another forum:

The registered title will only give you information re the general boundaries and any rights that may exist.
The title is a useful starting point but as others have mentioned much will depend on you and your neighbour discussing and agreeing a way forward.
You mention the neighbour has been there for some years so their title may not of course be registered and they may rely on old deeds/documents - that should not matter and may indeed help in adding a bit of historical detail to the pitcure.

Agreeing where the existing boundary line is would be a starting point and the deeds/title may well offer some insight into who is responsible for what - however what was agreed in 1975 or indeed at any point in the past may not now be binding re responsibility for the fencing say so again discussion and agreement is the way forward.

As far as the land at the rear is concerned I assume the neighbour owns it - if so then even more reason to stay on amicable terms and to discuss whether he would sell it to you.