"Subject as to the trackway to such rights of any other people thereover as now exist" - can anyone translate?

[VanillaImpulse]

I want to buy some land attached to my back garden and I've tried before with the house builders who offered it at a really cheap price but then said it wasn't possible due to it being a right of way?
I've got the title plan from Land Registry and this is what it says:

Subject as to the trackway to such rights of any other people thereover as now exist

Can anyone translate what this actually means? No one uses the section behind our house so does that mean it can be changed or will it forever just be abandoned space?

Thanks in advance

I could be wrong but it sounds like there is a public footpath on the land you want. I understand from looking in to a plot of land myself, that one can apply to have footpath right of way moved to the side of land if it is in the middle.

But people would have the right to walk across yours garden, and could at sometime in the future do just that.

It's just weird as it's a dead end so doesn't go anywhere. Maybe years ago it did. Not sure if you can apply to get it changed?

Maybe the developer/land owner has blocked it of unlawfully, and does not want you to draw attention to that fact.

You can find maps of old footpaths if you google it in your area you might find the answer there

If it is a public right way then it will show up on the "Definitive Map".

If you search for something like "Public rights of way definitive map [name of your county or city]" then you should be able to find an online copy for your area.

Then have a look to see if there is a public footpath running through this piece of land.

If there is then you're stuck with it (unless you make an application to have it moved).
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However, it may not necessarily be a public right of way. If it isn't a public right of way then it may be a private right of way.

What this means is that whoever owns the piece of land that has rights over your land can use that track whenever they like.

You mention that it is a dead end. It may be that the owner of the land at the far end (that is the dead end bit) has the right to use that trackway.
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Regardless of whether there is a public or private right or way, there is nothing stopping you buying this land at all.

If it is a private right of way then you can fence the land but if the owner of the land who is entitled to use that trackway then comes along you will later need to give them access.

You can also buy land with a public right of way on it as well. There is no bar to selling or buying land with a public right of way on it. In a village near to us there is a public right of way that literally goes through the back garden of two houses. And with one house you walk right past their kitchen window!

So, yes, you can certainly buy this land but do be aware of not blocking up the track if it is a public right of way.

Check with the council to see if it is recorded as a public footpath.
I can't interpret that sentence - a solicitor might be able to, at a guess I would say it could be referring to private rights (could be for access or other rights like grazing) so enclosure would be at your peril if someone decided to exercise those rights again.

Definitely not a public footpath.
The only thing it could be is it runs alongside some narrow back gardens from a terrace of cottages. It's possible that in the past it was used to access bins maybe? But now they all seem to have gates leading into each others gardens near their back door for that purpose so never go to the end of their gardens (it's all full of brambles and inaccessible anyway).

Not sure if I'd be able to get the right of way removed as surely in time things change. It said on the title plan that it was from the 1960s. The new houses surrounding it are now nearly 20 years old.

Rights of way can be very difficult indeed to sort out.

"It said on the title plan that it was from the 1960s. The new houses surrounding it are now nearly 20 years old."

It may be that the right of way was inherited by those houses that have been built on the same land as the old houses.

Or it may not. Depending on exactly what was done before the new houses were built, it may have been extinguished if a single developer bought all the old houses.

Without looking in detail at the history of the ownership of that piece of land you're never going to know for sure.

"Not sure if I'd be able to get the right of way removed as surely in time things change."

Again, it depends. Depending on what happened in the past with ownership of the land then the right of way may have been extinguished at some point anyway if the land came into common ownership, regardless of what any deeds may say.

However, if it has not been extinguished then it is very difficult indeed to remove a right of way. You have to prove that it has been "abandoned" and that is very difficult to do.

Just because it isn't being used doesn't mean that it's been abandoned. The person who has the right of way over that land has to do something positive to show that they have abandoned it permanently.

There was a notable case in 1992 that went to the Court of Appeal (Benn v Hardinge). In that case, the right of way had not been used for 175 years but it was held still to exist.

But if you were to buy the land and build something substantial that blocks the trackway (eg maybe an extension to your house) and the person who has the rights to use the trackway did not intervene then they may be prevented from asserting that the right of way still exists.

It all gets very complicated.