Neighbour claims they have access through our wall and to drive over our land.

[custard01]

We have been approached by people buying a property near ours. They claim they have access to theirs through our boundary wall which has always been there and over our land. It has never ever been accessed this way previously.

I have checked our title plan and there is no access routes on there, just a solid boundary line all away around. But their title deeds show a dotted line through ours and straight through our garden wall.

Why would this not show on our title plan? They seem adament that they are going to be knocking our wall and edge down and driving over our land, so what do I need to do and how can I find out exactly what is what please?

Check the title deeds on land registry and then Id get a lawyer involved. Ask for the name of their lawyer too so you can get them to hash it out.

No real practical help to give really but how stressful. This is not a good way to start neighbourly relationships is it?

Could you contact the solicitor you used to buy the house? It sounds like you need one. Do you have legal cover on your insurance?

Nothing like starting on good terms with the neighbours is there?
Good Luck!

Why on earth do they even need to? I am assuming that they are buying a property that is currently being accessed on some other way right now. Definitely get your lawyer to speak to theirs.

Isn’t there something technical where if an established practice is present, that’s what is final? I’m not a legal person as you can tell, but I had something similar in the house we’ve bought. There was a right way through our garage to our garden. Very weird but it turned out this was from before some building work years and years ago. We had to prove sole use for 20 years (which involved statements from previous owners) and then all was sorted. Good luck with this and those new neighbours. 🤨

Have you downloaded the ACTUAL title plan of their property from the land registry website to be sure? It costs £3. I'd get yours and thetes from there to check against each other. Maybe look at covenants etc in the title might contain relevant information. you need a solicitor. Irrespective of whether they may have access they cannot just demolish your wall.
Out of interest us one house much newer than the other?

This is a really tricky legal issue, and you will need to take advice from a solicitor who has experience in dealing with property disputes. I suggest you do that asap and get your solicitor to write to them saying that you do not accept the rights they are asserting.

It's most likely that your neighbours do not have a right of way over your land, if it is not on your title but the law in this area is tricky and depends on when the right was registered, who has used it in the past and when.

“Easement” is the technical word I couldn’t find earlier. That’s what I was trying to describe!

www.land-search-online.co.uk/information/rights-of-way-over-neighbours-land/

Vested interest in this thread (I'm not your potential new neighbour!)

My mum did have access through her garden and left gates on. After a period of time when the gates hadn't been used she could block them off. She retains access over the other houses in her terrace as she is the last house but nobody had used hers for the required number of years.

Full deeds and any covenants required for further investigation OP, and your new neighbour cannot just decide to knock down your wall!

Just another thought, if it proves to be an ancient right of way then it still may not allow for motorised access, just pedestrian or something like 'the right to drive livestock over the land'. My previous 80s-built house (modern estate, crampes gardens etc) stipulated how many poultry birds I could keep on my postage stamp sized garden, but forbade goats.

How old is your house/wall? How long have you and your current neighbours lived there?

To start off, tell them if they speak to you again that you do not believe they are correct, do not accept that the legal rights they are asserting exist.

A dotted line on a plan is meaningless by itself.

They will need to prove that they benefit from an easement, and that your land is still legally subject to it.

If they buy the property you will need to see a lawyer who specialises in property disputes relating to easements.

Your home insurance may cover the cost.

Your lawyer will need copies of your deeds, a plan/photograph showing the area you’re talking about, and any evidence you have about how long the wall has been there.

Good luck!

Nothing like starting a new neighbour relationship by telling you what they plan to do to your property... Hopefully they get told to jog on once you've got all the information and legal advice needed.

a dotted line on a picture is irrelevant - if they have this right there will be a paragraph about it in the text of your title-deeds document. if it exists it will be specific about whether it is just for pedestrian access or vehicular access. if the text of your document makes no mention of it then it is not an established right, but they can create an established right if they can prove it's been happening anyway (which clearly it hasn't as theres a wall there). they are being CFs, hoping to bulldoze you into compliance with their unfounded demands. your home insurance should include legal cover to help you with the cost of dealing with this - which makes sense because if a new easement gets established that will effect the on-sale value of your home so it is economically rational to invest in avoiding that.

First thing today get the title from land registry, they don't cost much. If the line isn't shown i would state this to the buyer and ask for the name of their solicitor, call their solicitor yourself, if may be able to be clarified quickly without you paying for yours. If it's a case that your copy of the land registry is incorrect or they are pursuing then you will need a decent solicitor and to establish it's not valid - 12 years is the minimum to set a precedent but access rights may still remain but not necessarily for cars. If you can establish when the wall was built it may help

They seem adament that they are going to be knocking our wall and edge down and driving over our land

They haven't even bought the house yet and they've already approached their potential future neighbours to tell them they're demolishing walls? Wow.

Living in a terrace, we used to have right of access via our neighbour's garden (to the left of us, end of terrace) for works that could not be done by going through the house. This included utilities, garden projects, tree cutting.
Likewise the neighbours to the right of us had access via our garden & the end of terrace's garden.
It was not shown on any map/plan but was written in the deeds. If our solicitor hadn't read the paperwork thoroughly, we would never had known.
The end terrace had a gate on the outside wall and both myself and my right hand neighbour had fences with sliding panels.
In 6 years we used it twice and our right hand side neighbours used it once.
Get a solicitor to go through all your property details and take it from there. Good luck!

They sound like they’re going to be great neighbours.

I think I need a diagram. Seriously though OP they sound shitty and I hope you get it sorted ASAP

When did you purchase? Can you contact your solicitors who acted on the purchase & ask for a telephone advice?

Have you spoken to other neighbours , I would assume other houses in the road would have this if it were true . I can imagine when the houses were built there was much call for access for cars . What a shit thing to be happening for you x

Thank you to everyone, there's alot of good advice there. Our house and wall is 200 years old.

I have downloaded title deeds from land registry for both. Nothing showing on ours at all, theres no dotted line and no paragraph stating anything about any access rights for others over our land, plus our solicitor never mention anything about it when we bought the property either. But on theirs there is a dotted line and a paragraph saying that 25 years ago there was an agreement made that agricultural access was agreed over the dotted line. This was before we bought the property and it was never ever made used of. They have always gone through the other street, two streets away from ours and used the existing access gates there.

This came as a shock, and im still trying to get my head around why nothing shows on our title deeds. I'm going to ring my solicitor that we used to buy the property today. Hopefully they can confirm exactly.

Knocking down your wall would constitute criminal damage - if they come knocking again, make it clear that you will call the police if they attempt anything like that.

How long have you lived there OP? Check your and their deeds. May be worth contacting the previous owners in case you need to prove easement.

Agricultural use wouldn't be day to day cars, would it? So I doubt they can claim that! Plus as it was never used you have that 20 year proof a PP mentuoned?

Caveat - I'm not a lawyer
It mentions agricultural access. Is the problem property a farm?
Are they planning on bringing the harvest through your wall? (assuming this easement is real) That would be annoying but is technically agricultural activity.
However if they want to use it for daily domestic access that it not an agricultural activity, neither is using it to transport building materials for building an extension.

I think if the access way hasn't been used for 20 (plus) years then there is a strong case for abandonment. Hope your solicitor can help you resolve it