Wonder if anyone has knowledge of the legal situation here. Posted earlier in property but folk there suggested posting here in legal.
Difficult neighbours - more than ten years of general hostility and awkwardness, so we have no inclination to be helpful.
They need (and have the right according to the title deeds) to come onto our property to do repairs to their property they can’t easily access from their side - the house is close to the boundary fence.
They turned up unannounced demanding access immediately on the day a couple of months back so we refused - it was the middle of a working day, it wasn’t an emergency and they disturbed us during WFH multiple times through the day despite us saying no the first time and making them aware that we were working and send their workman around rather than bothering to approach us themselves which didn’t help! No discussion beyond that since.
Now they have informed us they want access, with seven days notice. Which is more reasonable.
They have not needed access in the decade we have lived here.
However there are two issues:
- To access the area needed, a large greenhouse would (potentially) need to be moved - though someone in property suggested just removing the roof glass so that’s also a potential solution which would be easier
- We work Mon -Fri and can’t take annual leave on a few days notice
So in regard to 1) above, would they need to arrange dismantling, moving, re-erecting at their cost? And should we ask for evidence of insurance from their workmen to cover any damage, before allowing access? Are we required to allow them to dismantle it at all?
And in regards to 2) above, can we reasonably ask either that the work is scheduled for a weekend or evening? If not, can we reasonably ask for a longer notice period to allow one of us to book time off work? Should we expect to be compensated for the time taken, as we would need to oversee the workmen throughout to ensure there is no damage? I’m not comfortable leaving people to ‘get on with it’ - we have expensive garden tools and so on that could easily be stolen and I would never leave anyone not known to me unsupervised.
The relationship with the neighbour is already appalling - could write a book and obviously believe we are the more reasonable party! - so preserving any semblance of cooperation isn’t really relevant - they commenced hostilities within weeks of us moving in, so we don’t feel at all bad if we are seen as ‘difficult’ now that they need us to cooperate with them. Indeed it might make them reflect on their historic behaviour - though I doubt it! Any insights into what we are legally required to do would be appreciated.
Thank you!