We have an elderly relative who is trying to sell her house - its my mother in law and she does have a solicitor who I'll be speaking to on Monday but in the meantime I'd welcome views here.
I'm attaching a diagram which I hope will help. There is access to my MIls courtyard and then the house via a walkway - this leads from a small parking area, and then between the wall of some flats and a very old boundary wall at the back of some houses. In her title deeds it is written that as the owner of the house she has a right of way across the walkway and the hatched area in the diagram which is used as a small parking area for the flats.
Currently, the land of the walkway is unregistered. There is a gate where marked on the map which only she has a key to. There is no further gate but I put a line in at the right hand end of the walkway because that is where Mr X wants the gate to be moved to.
Mr X has, for at least the last 20 years, been trying to establish an entrance where I've marked on the diagram. You can see that the rear garden of his property is land-locked - there is no rear access and his previous attempts to cut an access through the ancient wall and into the walkway have resulted in him being told by solicitors (of the previous owners of MIL's house) to stop.
Earlier this year, Mr X or his representatives (we are not sure which, my mother in law is in her eighties, lives alone and can be both easily manipulated and easily confused. She's also quite deaf and doesn't listen) called on my MIL and explained that they would like to be able to bring things in to the house through the back, and it would be really helpful if they could have rear access through the wall into the walkway. She said she thought that would be OK but she'd ask her solicitor to get involved (she is in many respects very on the ball!).
Solicitor looked at the case, got advice from counsel, and then sent a letter to Mr X via his legal advisors telling him no. This is based on the only person with a right of way over the walkway is MIL, the amount of time the gate has been in situ (since 1933!) and because previous attempts have been thwarted.
MIL's house is now on the market. She has received a letter from Mr X's legal team threatening legal action in one letter, and then in another making an offer that he will pay for and arrange for the gate to be moved to the right, so that he can then cut his access into the walkway and use it. He is offering £1.5K for the inconvenience.
It's accept his offer or face legal action.
We are confused as MIL's title deed shows very clearly that her property does not include the walkway. She has a legal right of way over it but the land itself is currently not registered. So my first thought is that legally this has nothing to do with MIL - she has a right of way over some unregistered land to a gate. My second is - we really need to get her house sold as she is moving to sheltered accomodation. If we call Mr X's bluff there will be a potential legal dispute which will need to be resolved before the house can be sold - we think Mr X knows the house is for sale and that is why he's making another attempt now. We could roll over, take his money, move the gate, sell the house and walk away. He has no right of way over the walkway but that won't be our problem. He will also have no right of way over the hatched area either but that also won't be our problem.
As I said I'll be taking advice from the solicitor on Monday but I wondered if any legally-minded folk had any thoughts?