Neighbour dispute over shared access

[Bombshell2022]

Can someone please help. My neighbour has set up a home salon in their shed. They are using shared access for customers. So there are strangers are constantly walking down the side of my house and around the back of my garden to access her garden. I complained to council in March but haven’t heard anything. Surely this isn’t allowed. I don’t know if they are her customers or burglars!

Diagram needed

Iv spoken to my solicitor who did the conveyancing on the house. She’s confirmed that the neighbour is in the wrong and is putting an email together for me on Monday to pass on to the neighbour 🥳🥳🥳

Brilliant news! It may still be a fight but that’s a massive step forward.

Brilliant news OP - wishing you the best of luck in getting it resolved. I would still make a complaint to the Council's Enforcement Team - Fridays are dreadful in getting hold of anyone in Local Authority, as anything to do with your deeds is a private matter between the 2 of you.

Imo she will laugh and ignore you...

That may be true but she'll have a harder time ignoring the council.

Clearly, your neighbour hasn't a leg to stand on, but your local Planning Department has been less than helpful; planning enforcement is their responsibility and you shouldn't have to go the expense of employing a solicitor to sort out this issue.

I've found in the past the best way to get a response from the Planning Department is to visit their offices. It shouldn't be necessary, but removing a polite person with a legitimate complaint is a lot harder than promising to do something, then putting the phone down not doing anything.

@Bombshell2022 Running a business from a house with people calling in usually requires planning permission. Your planning department should be saying the business needs pp in her building. It would not have been built for a business purpose.

Iv drafted a letter with the information I have so far and included title deeds. I will keep pestering the council until I get some answers and hopefully they will intervene. I’m hoping that the threat of legal action will be enough to stop her. Iv also stated I’m installing security cameras to keep a record of who comes and goes and that I will be informing anyone who try’s to use the shared access they are trespassing, taking numberplates, maybe even state that the police will be called. Obviously I will do so in a polite manner.

Iv also stated Iv yet to see any evidence of permission being granted and am in communications with the council over this

This is rubbish a business doesn’t have to be publicly registered. A business can be registered with hmrc and there is no way for a 3rd party to check unless it’s over the vat limit and vat registered

Is her shed connected to water mains and drains then?

Not that this helps the OP, but I bet she isn't insured for this. The 3rd party liability cover in her house insurance almost certainly precludes using the house as a business where you bring clients (as opposed to running business admin from the property). Meaning that, if a client is injured, they will have no redress other than her personal assets.

Sorry, OP - when I say 'she', I mean your NDN, not you! Not suggesting that the insurance is your problem.

Why report to HMRC,that is just vindictive

I’ve no idea how insurance works for shared access over another persons property but what is one of the cusomters has an accident whilst on op property, op would then most likely be liable as her presumably her insurance would only cover for the “allowed” use of the access. Maybe check out this point op as it would give you a good excuse to prevent customers using, not that you need an excuse but it’s another reason you can use to justify with ndn

You are BU for:

1. living somewhere with alleyways behind your house and Everyone knows houses should be detached and back onto fields .

On a serious note, would it be worth investing in double glazing/ sound insulation if the mere sound of someone walking along alleyway is penetrating your house and waking your DC

Her husband dig the garden up and connected it. Not even sure she has building regs!

I’m not going to do that, I’m sure it would catch up with her at some point. That’s her problem.

So are they walking on your land or not? I have looked for the response but can't see it

It’s not the main issue to be honest. Plus if windows are open you’re going to hear regardless. I don’t want strangers trespassing through my access is the main point

this is the deeds. The brown is the access to both our gardens and is on the other side of my fence. So it goes up the side of my front drive, down the side of the house and round the back of my garden to the back of her garden.

I will see her in court then. Last laughs always the funniest!

I will be honest she has never spoken to me in the year and a half that she’s beff eggn here. So I’m not fussed in maintaining a relationship. I tried to be neighbourly to begin with but gave up! She is extremely rude and abrupt so I don’t think she will budge on this without more enforcement

I’m not interested in ruining her business I just want her to be respectful of her neighbours which she has not been. She didn’t even have the common courtesy to inform me strangers would be using our access. People just started turning up!