Shed on access path

[ItsNotAGameOfSubbuteoMatthew]

In my deeds as a mid terrace I have side access (fenced path) up my neighbour's house, across the bottom of her garden (fenced off) and a gate through to my garden. Behind my neighbour's garden is my access path which is 10ft from his fence to the back fence. I would like to get a garden shed to put there which is long and thin (maybe 5ft by 8ft). It's in my deeds as mine and she has 2 sheds and a fence at the end of her garden so would completely block her view of my shed. I'm just not sure if I'm legally allowed to put a shed at the end of someone's garden (the shed would be up against the far fence not the neighbour's fence. The path would still be between the neighbour's sheds/fence and my shed. My garden is far too small for a shed itself.

Looks like its just access then and not yours at all so you can't put anything in it. The extra space might be for access to utilities and other properties as you've mentioned your back neighbour has access too.

That's access only. You can't erect a shed on it.

No my back neighbour doesn't have access. I was explaining the layout. Only I use the passage. Noone else. Literally no one! The neighbour has a 1m wide gap with a gate on it next to her house.

The back neighbour sides onto our whole road (long garden) and is a semi so has a side access at his house.

Our garden isn't accurately reflected in the plans because of the extension the previous owner did. Also it's on 2 levels. A similar size lower patio to the grass bit at the top. So the actual 'garden bit' i.e. the grass bit is only about 5m by 5m. So you can see why a 6m x 3m space behind my neighbour's sheds/garden is appealing to put a shed on!

A couple of you are saying 'access only' but the wording of the deeds doesn't say that specifically.

It's a path entirely maintained and used by me. Noone else has or needs access to it. And I'm not even blocking my own access. I'm thinking 6ft by 5ft ish shed.

It's a path entirely maintained and used by me
That doesn’t make it yours though. I’d recommend checking your neighbour’s deeds to see if they technically own it.

Shed is the orange line. Totally not to scale because the yellow bit is wider than it looks.

@Rhodri

It's a path entirely maintained and used by me That doesn’t make it yours though. I’d recommend checking your neighbour’s deeds to see if they technically own it.

She's owned the house from new (1970s) so it's not on land registry unfortunately.

If it borders your neighbours land it's very possible it belongs to them, with you having the right of access only.
Bearing in mind some much older terraces give the middle houses right of access over the corner house's gardens. Access rights aren't always clearcut.

It’s not yours. You don’t own it. If you put a shed on it, you are trespassing.

Yellow area is not yours to use, other than for access, or enclose permanently. It may belong to the ndn or it may have been retained by the developer. Are there any covenants or easements associated with the property, such as your deeds suggested re. front fencing. NDN is only obliged to give you access across the indicated width , probably a metre as per the side. Any extra from when the fence was put in is a benefit but not one you can claim rights over.

There is no more detail in the deeds than the photos up thread. There may be in my neighbour's but they aren't accessible.

Ask your neighbour to check their deeds because you want to confirm ownership of the access path? My guess is that neither of you own it and it’s owned by the council or the developer, in which case you may be able to purchase it.

Why did you say the area you wanted the shed to go was marked in red? It's clearly yellow and on the access path?! That said you could just put one there as long as you were prepared to remove it if required to.

My house gained some land, it was an area of waste land that the developer was going to put garages on and they went bust. The previous owners asked the council if they could fence it in. They were granted permission. It was added to my deeds when I sold the house on using adverse possession. Could you try that?

A couple of you are saying 'access only' but the wording of the deeds doesn't say that specifically

Actually, it does say that as I said in my original post. You have the right to 'pass and repass' which means you are able to literally walk through it and thats it. No stopping to contemplate the passing clouds, no sitting there for a bit because the sun shines nicely over that bit. You are able to go to your house and leave and thats it.

Info for you here www.boundary-problems.co.uk/boundary-problems/priv-r-o-w.html

You literally have the right to walk across the path. You don’t have the right to stop there to sunbathe, to put your clothes on an airer out there, let alone install a shed.

Whether anybody would notice or care is a different issue.

If the land is not registered, and has maybe been forgotten about, then it may be that nobody notices or objects to the shed. But you need to be prepared to move it if somebody does object. If you put a shed on it and nobody objects for a long time (can’t remember current rules! Maybe 12 years?) then you can apply to become the legal owner of that land.

@titchy

Why did you say the area you wanted the shed to go was marked in red? It's clearly yellow and on the access path?! That said you could just put one there as long as you were prepared to remove it if required to.

Because I've got 2 copies. The original (coloured dark red/brown) and the land registry version (attached to this thread) where it's now coloured yellow.

[quote PolPotNoodle]A couple of you are saying 'access only' but the wording of the deeds doesn't say that specifically

Actually, it does say that as I said in my original post. You have the right to 'pass and repass' which means you are able to literally walk through it and thats it. No stopping to contemplate the passing clouds, no sitting there for a bit because the sun shines nicely over that bit. You are able to go to your house and leave and thats it.

Info for you here www.boundary-problems.co.uk/boundary-problems/priv-r-o-w.html[/quote]
But the deeds explicitly say not to erect a fence at the front. It doesn't explicitly say 'and not erect any xyz on the land'.

My neighbour has never maintained the path ever. Quite the opposite! Her weeds grow from under her fence all over it.

Why would you want to put a shed there? Your garden looks plenty big enough for a shed to go in there.

I'm surprised there is nothing on land registry even if it has been owned since new. There will be an obligation on whoever owns that land (probably ndn) to keep that area clear to a specified minimum width for access to your garden. We have similar obligation to keep a path 1m wide clear between our house and ndn for the benefit of them to access their garden. We own that land. Technically they cannot even place their bins there.

We had this exact thing when we moved on to a new build terrace, we were the end one and the neighbours had already put a gate on the path so that the piece of the path that ran along the back of my garden was blocked off and became a part of their garden.

The builder made them take the fence down and clear the path as it had to completely clear for access.

*But the deeds explicitly say not to erect a fence at the front. It doesn't explicitly say 'and not erect any xyz on the land'.

My neighbour has never maintained the path ever. Quite the opposite! Her weeds grow from under her fence all over it.*

It says not to erect a fence etc at the front as this would stop you from having access to the path, not because you're entitled to place anything on the path. The deed tells you what you can do, so it doesn't need to tell you what you can't. Why are you not understanding that it is not your land? If you do not believe us then go and get proper legal advice from a solicitor.

If your neighbour isn't contributing to the maintenance of the path then this is a different matter and you should bring it up with her.

The situation is very clear.

You don't own, and never have owned, the path coloured yellow. Someone else owns that. It might be your neighbour, or someone else.

You have no right to place a shed on it, but only the owner of the land can stop you doing so.

The only right you have over the path is stated clearly: "Together with the right ...to pass and repass on foot only over and along the footpath coloured yellow."

I’m not sure if you’re being deliberately obtuse, or if you are really not getting this.

You do not own the path. You have a right to walk along it. You have no other rights over it. It is an access right only.

You cannot legally put a shed on there. You might get away with it, but that’s a separate issue.

If you don’t want to believe all the people who’ve taken time to help you understand this then go pay to see a lawyer.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Why would you want to put a shed there? Your garden looks plenty big enough for a shed to go in there.

It isn't a long thread but I have explained

Extension plus patio plus grass means the grass area is only 5m x 5m. House is 5m wide. Extension is 4m. Patio area is 5m. Grass is 5m. That's why it's not 'plenty big enough'. The garden is on 2 levels. Patio level with extension and grass/garden is up a 1m high set of steps.

The back of the house is all glass doors so putting a shed there would block out light.

@LIZS

I'm surprised there is nothing on land registry even if it has been owned since new. There will be an obligation on whoever owns that land (probably ndn) to keep that area clear to a specified minimum width for access to your garden. We have similar obligation to keep a path 1m wide clear between our house and ndn for the benefit of them to access their garden. We own that land. Technically they cannot even place their bins there.

That's the message on land registry.